Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [250]
Jack’s Bakery ( 066-976 1132; Lower Bidge St; snacks €2-6; 8am-6pm Sat-Mon) Serving the weekend swells who enjoy the Ring, Jack Healy bakes amazing breads and also makes patés and beautiful sandwiches. Think picnic. Sunday is hot apple tart day.
Sol Y Sombra ( 066-976 2347; Lower Bridge St; dishes €5-13; Wed-Mon Jun-Aug, Wed-Sun Sep-Jan & Mar-May, closed Feb) This tapas bar, in a beautifully renovated church, transports you to Mediterranean soil with its tapas and larger raciones dishes (for sharing), such as grilled squid, marinated anchovy fillets and an array of tostadas. Bands play at weekends; dancing is fuelled by the huge wine list.
Nick’s Seafood Restaurant ( 066-976 1219; info@nicks.ie; Lower Bridge St; mains €20-38; 6.30-9.30pm daily Jun-Sep, Wed-Sun other times) French-Irish flair makes this classic restaurant an enduring favourite. Dishes such as moules (mussels) and shellfish mornay get the first-class preparation they deserve; or choose the best Kerry beef and lamb or great vegetarian dishes.
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KERRY BOG VILLAGE MUSEUM
On the N70 between Killorglin and Glenbeigh, the Kerry Bog Village Museum ( 066-976 9184; www.kerrybogvillage.ie; adult/child €6/4; 9am-7pm Easter-Oct, to 6pm rest of year) re-creates a 19th-century bog village, typical of the small communities that carved out a precarious living in the harsh environment of Ireland’s ubiquitous peat bogs. You’ll see the homes of the turfcutter, blacksmith, thatcher and labourer, and a dairy. Commune with the Kerry Bog ponies.
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ROSBEIGH STRAND
This unusual beach, 1.6km west of Glenbeigh, is a tendril of sand protruding into Dingle Bay, with views of Inch Point and the Dingle Peninsula. On one side the sea is ruffled by Atlantic winds; on the other it’s sheltered and calm.
Burke’s Activity Centre ( 066-976 8872; Rosbeigh) offers horse trekking, crazy golf, a hedge maze and a working farm.
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CAHERCIVEEN
pop 1300
Caherciveen’s population, over 30,000 in 1841, was decimated by the Great Famine and emigration to the New World. A sleepy outpost remains, overshadowed by the 688m peak of Knocknadobar. It looks rather dour compared with the peninsula’s other settlements, but it’s close to a cool castle and some good accommodation. In many ways this village does more to recall the tough 1930s in Ireland than any other you’ll see in Kerry. The town makes a good staging area for the ferry to Valentia Island.
Information
Caherciveen has a post office and banks with ATMs. AIB has a bureau de change.
Tourist office ( 066-947 2589; Community Centre; Apr-Oct) Opens sporadically. The Old Barracks Heritage Centre also has information.
Sights
O’CONNELL’S BIRTHPLACE
The ruined cottage on the eastern bank of the Carhan River, on the left as you cross the bridge en route from Kells, is the humble birthplace of Daniel O’Connell, ‘the Great Liberator’ (Click here). On the opposite bank there’s a stolid bust of O’Connell. Paths along the river have boards explaining the area’s wildlife.
BARRACKS
The Old Barracks Heritage Centre ( 066-947 2777; www.theoldbarracks.com; off Main St; adult/child €4/2; 10am-4.30pm Mon-Fri, noon-4.30pm Sat & Sun Jun-Sep, other times variable) is housed in a tower of the former Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks. Anti-Treaty forces burnt it down in 1922 and today it looks over-restored, like an oddball confection.
Topped by a spiral staircase ascending to a lookout (best suited for those who don’t care to see anything), the museum covers subjects of local and national interest, such as the Fenian Rising, Daniel O’Connell and Caherciveen’s other great son, Gaelic football star Jack O’Shea. There are re-creations of a local dwelling at the time of the Famine and of the barracks during the 1916 Easter Rising.
BALLYCARBERY