Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [269]
Lisbeth Mulcahy ( 066-915 1688; Green St) Beautiful scarves, rugs and wall hangings are created on a 150-year-old loom by this long-established designer. Also sold here are ceramics by her husband, who has a workshop at Louis Mulcahy Pottery, west of Dingle.
N U Goldsmith ( 066-915 2217; Green St) Original jewellery by Niamh Utsch is on display at this stylish little gallery. Individual pieces start at €40 and keep rising.
Getting There & Away
Bus Éireann (www.buseireann.ie) buses stop outside the car park behind the supermarket. To Tralee, where you can connect across Ireland or hop on the train, there are four buses Monday to Saturday and three on Sunday (€11; 80 minutes). Check for additional summer services.
There are eight buses a week to Dunquin and Ballydavid, on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
Getting Around
Dingle is easily navigated on foot. For a taxi call Dingle Co-op Cabs ( 087 222 5777), which can also give private tours of the peninsula.
Bike-hire places include Foxy John’s ( 066-915 1316; Main St; per day €10), where you can abandon your energetic ideas and simply have a pint. The regulars will approve.
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NORTHSIDE OF THE PENINSULA
There are two routes from Tralee to Dingle, both following the same road out of Tralee past the Blennerville Windmill. Near the village of Camp, a right fork heads to the Connor Pass, while the N86 via Annascaul takes you to Dingle more quickly. The former is much more beautiful. At Kilcummin, a road heads west to the quiet villages of Cloghane and Brandon, and finally to Brandon Point and its fine views of Brandon Bay.
Castlegregory & Around
pop 950
Castlegregory (Caislean an Ghriare), which once rivalled Tralee as a busy local centre, is a quiet village, with a highlight being views back to the often snowy hills to the south (a lowlight is the growing number of philistine holiday homes).
However, things change when you drive up the sandstrewn road along the Rough Point peninsula, the broad spit of land between Tralee Bay and Brandon Bay. Up here, it’s a playground. Not content with being a prime windsurfing location, the peninsula sees strange new sports like wave-sailing and kitesurfing. Divers can glimpse pilot whales, orcas, sunfish and dolphins. In the pub, the many-accented babble tells of a community of people who came for a day and couldn’t face ever going home.
Jamie Knox Watersports ( 066-713 9411; www.jamieknox.com; Brandon Bay) offers surf, windsurf, kitesurf (rental €50 per day), canoe and pedaloe hire and lessons. Look for the garish yellow trailers.
Beyond Rough Point are the seven Maharees Islands. The largest of the ‘hogs’, as the islands are known locally, is Illauntannig. The remains of a 6th-century monastic settlement there include a stone cross, a church and beehive huts. Two small adjoining islands can be reached on foot from Illauntannig at low tide, but make sure you know exactly what the tide is doing.
The islands are privately owned, but trips (taking about 10 minutes) can be arranged through Harbour House (below) or on a scuba diving trip with Waterworld ( 066-713 9292; www.waterworld.ie; Rough Point; 2-tank dive €70), a top-end dive shop based at Harbour House (below). The great underwater visibility makes this one of Ireland’s best diving areas.
SLEEPING & EATING
O’Donnell’s Old Ship Inn ( 066-713 9927; www.oldshipinn.ie; W Main St, Castlegregory; s/d from €60/80) An old pub has had a swab of the poop deck and emerged ship-shape. The B&B has rooms with modern, elegant style. The restaurant is really a gastropub, with simple preparations of local seafood and meats. The bar is ideal for a cultured pint.
Harbour House ( 066-713 9292; www.maharees.ie; Rough Point; s/d from €60/100; ) This busy B&B and its attached restaurant are in a great position overlooking the Maharees Islands, 5km north of Castlegregory near the end of the peninsula. It’s home to Waterworld dive centre (above); the 15 very comfortable rooms have what is accurately described as ‘epic views’. Food in the pub is solid, Lucy