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| Gaelic signboard |
My 4 day long trip to Ireland can be called unusual in a number of ways. February is less than ideal to tour Ireland, owing to the winter cold accompanied by pouring rains. Add to the mix a raging storm and you have all the makings of an adventure holiday in your hands! Temperature-wise it was not freezing, but it was definitely winter coat weather. From London Stanstead we took a Ryan Air flight to Shanon airport. From there our trusty hire car took us all along the Atlantic coast for a full 4 day holiday.
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| Ballinskelligs Castle |
Ring of Kerry, our first stop was breathtaking to say the least. We first embarked upon a beautifully still beach at low tide, complete with the Ballinskelligs castle ruin in the background. What is an Irish holiday without a rainbow, we were blessed with two! The beach itself was a nondescript location, as there was no one but us. From there we drove to our accommodation, the Tig An Rinse bread and breakfast at Dungeagan for the night. All along, the views were so beautiful, we kept pulling over to take tonnes of pictures.
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| View along the Ring of Kerry drive |
The cottage was better than perfect. Rooms were very clean and superbly cosy and the breakfast was sumptuous. All through the night a storm was building up which gave us the jitters about how much we were going to be able to see the next day. True to weather reports, a yellow warning to be potentially updated to amber (higher storm alert) was issued. We later found out that the extra-tropical cyclone had been named Imogen.
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| Killarney castle |
The second day, we again drove along the west coast soaking in more views. On the way to our second cottage, we drove into Killarney, to visit the castle. By now the weather had gotten super crazy, the wind was very strong and rain kept lashing in intervals. But we persevered. However several of our plans had to be dropped, such as a visit to the Dingle bay to see the dolphins, due to ferry services everywhere being cancelled.
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| A beautiful driving route |
We drove further north to our accommodation for the night,. The entire way was pitch dark with not a street lamp in sight. We kept going in circles unable to spot the cottage and even the owner of the place was unsure how to lead us from where we were! I still remember him saying on the phone "Past 7pm, it is very difficult to find the cottage, it is up a steep cliff". After help from some locals, we reached the cottage, there was no light but for the car lamps. Getting off of the car was a task in itself as the wind would not let us open the car door. It was all rather spooky.
The night was spent worrying about whether the roof would stay intact at all! Come morning it indeed was. We were invited to the most breathtaking views from the kitchen. The house was right on the edge of a cliff with endless views of the ocean! It was quite surreal, seeing the ocean churning huge wave one after another, tens of Irish cows busy grazing, giving a hoot about the storm.
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| Home during the storm |
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| Irish cows |
The day was again spent driving along the coast. What shocked us was the condition of some of the beaches we had visited the previous day, an entire car park was strewn with huge boulders overnight.On the way a huge wave reached over the cliff and splashed our car scary, it was atleast a 30 feet high cliff, the notoriety of the wave became apparent.
A number of attractions were closed on account of the weather. The cliff of moher ferry service was off, so we saw the cliffs from the view point and could not walk close by. One of us was even pushed into a wall by the wind!
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| Cliff of Moher |
Overall we did not do a lot of the touristy things one is meant to do in Ireland. But I truly got the experience of a lifetime, seeing the Atlantic from close quarters in the middle of a storm. The entire experience was surreal and I definitely plan to visit Ireland when it is more sunny to see the country's beauty in calmer weather.
