Our journey took us through Ballydehob, a town that is known today as a haven for artist and music festivals. In the 1840s, before the great famine, it had a population of 20,000, however, today there are only 350 residents. When Tom’s grandfather came to the United States his entry documentation listed Ballydehob as his home of record, but the town was the administrative of the region. A famous landmark is a twelve-arch bridge made of stone. The bridge allowed the narrow-gauge Schull and Skibbereen Railway to cross the Bawnakeane River. The train was known to locals as the “The Flying Snail”. The derogatory name was accurate because the maximum speed of the train was 15 mph.
Before getting back on the road, we walked around the park enjoying watching the waterfowl fish the river for their morning breakfast.
Continuing the adventure, we decided to skip Schull (also spelled Skull) and followed the road to Mizen Head. It was not long before we saw a pull-off with a beautiful view and a strange rock formation. Reading a sign, we learned the rocks made an Altar Wedge Tomb and dozens can be found on the Mizen Head peninsula. The structure served as a burial vault between 3000 and 2000 B.C and was used through the Iron Age before going dormant. The spiritual rocks were used once again in the 1700s when Catholics had to hold Masses secretly.
Alone, we just walked along the shore. The sea was beautiful and the tide was coming in rapidly. Climbing out on the on the rocks, the sea enveloped us in its fury. The water was being driven by a strong north easterly wind which stimulated all our senses. There was freshness and purity in the sea air, which was not what we had experienced walking up Windmill Lane yesterday. Listening to the water crash and watching the birds soar totally relaxed us.
It was tough to leave this little pull-off, but Mizen Head was still forty minutes away, so we pressed on. We have spoken about the roads in almost every post and today we will mention them again. The expression used by the rent-a-car agent, “keep the car between the ditches” was once again very relevant. We did not experience many potholes, if any, but many of the roads were not much more than driveways in the US. Oh well, as long as one does not meet a fuel truck or other large vehicle on the road, driving is pretty easy being on the other side.
Arriving at the Mizen Head Signal Station parking lot, we had reached the very tip of the peninsula. What we saw in front of us both shocked and made us chuckle. Sitting on a cliff almost 200 feet above the raging sea with howling winds separated only by a chain link fence was a very nice playground. Rest assured that this is one playground when a ball goes over the fence, one is not getting it back.
The Mizen Head Signal Station was completed in 1909 and was built instead of a lighthouse to warn ships of the dangerous rocks that ring the peninsula. It also had a Marconi Radio Room which served an important role for ships making a transatlantic crossing for decades. Finally, Mizen Head was the last sight of Ireland for many emigrants on their way to a new land.
Before hiking out to the station, we walked around the museum. There were some very interesting exhibits. One of the displays even allowed Tom to take the helm.
However, a very interesting art wall caught our attention. Here are a few of the sculptures that were mounted on the wall.
The bridge is 175 feet long and cross 150 feet above the sea and jagged rocks below.
Heights with sheer drops are not one of Tom’s favorite things. However, there was a seal far below us and it was fun to watch from a bird’s eye perspective.
We made it across with Janet laughing at Tom all the way across. The signal station had a few exhibits set up that showed what life on the rock was like 100 years ago. The small building provided shelter from the wind, which was now really blowing hard! Tom even found someone who would listen to him and how brave he was to cross the foot bridge.
Stepping out of the back door, we made our way to the very end of the peninsula. Standing next to the fog light, we were once again just in awe of the beauty and the power of the sea.
The castle is on private property, which appeared to be a working farm. There is a parking lot (of course with a small fee) at the gate and then you hike to the castle. However, the gate was chained, and the sheep were in the front field so we decided today may not be our day to explore Dunlough Castle. Making a circle around the gravel parking lot, we returned to the road a headed to Schull for lunch.
Schull, like many Irish towns has a main drag that is populated with a mixture of shops, homes, and of course, pubs.
At the top of the hill, we found the Bunratty Inn. A quaint restaurant bar that offered what had become our standard Irish lunch, soup or seafood chowder. Of course, it was accompanied by that brown soda bread that is just wonderful for soaking up whatever remains in the bowl.
Since we could not visit Dunlough Castle on Mizen Head, Janet located another target of opportunity north of Skibbereen. We plugged in Castledonovan, the ancestral home of the O’Donovan clan, north of Skibbereen. Built in 1560, the castle is an example of an Irish Tower House. Unfortunately, Cromwell’s army destroyed it in 1641, and it was never rebuilt. It is so weird to see these humongous stone building in the middle of fields, but there is no shortage of them in southwest Ireland.
The horse just walked back and forth like it was guarding the castle. The solitude of the location was extremely relaxing, but all good days must come to an end. We headed back to Skibbereen looking forward to another amazing dinner!
As I posted in yesterday’s blog, the lady at the front desk of the hotel had recommended two restaurants. Tonight, we would experience the second restaurant recommended with high hopes that it would be as good as Wild Ways at Dillon's Corner from the previous dinner. The restaurant is unique in that it originally was a Methodist Church.
Built in 1833, is served the Methodist community up to 2003. When it closed its doors, it was renovated and became a restaurant in the center of town. Unfortunately, in 2006 the building was heavily damaged by fire, but the owner once again restored the church to its original state with high wooden ceilings and stain glass windows. The food, like the ambiance, was over the top! Going with Irish beef sitting on a bed of potatoes surround by root vegetables, we were surprised our dish came with… what else but a side of mash potatoes. Much more traditional dinner than last night, but oh so good!
Our time in Cork was coming to an end. When we first pulled into Skibbereen, we were a little skeptical that we had planned too many days here. Now we were sorry that our time had run out. However, we were excited to head north on our next adventure in Ireland. Until tomorrow – Good night.
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