Jenn Deits

“Be yourself, everyone else is already taken” Oscar Wilde

Upon my arrival in Ireland, “cool and awesome” became “brilliant and lovely.”  The food was excellent, the countryside was lovely, and the people delightful.

Having little interest in big cities and common tourist sites.  I tried to immerse myself in the country and culture.  So, George and I decided to hike the western coast of Ireland.  

There is a trail called the Kerry Camino which is similar to the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  It is a pilgrimage. There are many routes and we choose The Dingle Way.  It is 179Km or 111 Miles.  It follows a route called the Wild Atlantic Way. We choose to walk the trail which goes through hills, mountains, and the beaches.

The trail begins in the high hills.  I have never seen hills and mountains that were covered in grass instead of trees.  Ireland gets a great deal of rain.  I prayed for nice weather and it was terrific.  I only walked one day in rain gear.  It took us 8 days to walk the 114 miles.  We hiked from town to town B&B to B&B.  We walked with two Canadian Brothers one day, and a German couple for 2 days and we continued to run into people we had met earlier days later which was fun.  

I find the Irish culture influence all over the South. We have Irish Folk Music/Bluegrass, Folk Dancing/Clogging, plus everyone is friendly.  I had a few drivers who picked us up in town and drove us to the Inn and everyone waved when they pass.  

The Irish love Garth Brooks-I had no idea.  We arrived in Dingle and the owner of our B@B told us Garth was in town.  I guess he followed me. The town has only about 2,000 residents.  He showed up in a bar that night and played.  Not sure I could name a Garth Brooks song but he played to 200,000 fans one night.  

I found the Irish to have a great sense of humor.  The volunteer coast guard in Dingle wanted to raise money.  They got a large screen and were going to show Jaws  on the water.  They got a lot of locals to volunteer to allow people onto their boats to watch.  They had posters all over town.  However, they found out they did not have the right to show Jaws. (As if Steven Spielberg doesn’t have enough money.)  So people went out onto the water and were shown Moby Dick.  One of the B@B owners thought it that was hilarious that people were out there on the water only to find out they were not watching the blockbuster but a little-watched 2001 version of Moby Dick.

Things I noticed about Ireland.  First, it is very clean.  They are way ahead of the United States in recycling and seem very environmentally conscious.  The paper was asking citizens to cut energy consumption by 20% if possible.  They get their oil from Russia.  I think there would be a revolt if Americans were forced to recycle and cut energy us by 20%.  It is also the third safest country in the world. I rarely even saw a police car.

I would be remiss if I did not talk about the beauty of the countryside.  I must say first, that I really do not desire to see the big cities.  We spent no time in Dublin.  We walked through farms mostly right along with the sheep, cattle, horses, and goats.  There are 3.73 million sheep in Ireland.  On the trails we walked along mountains and hills the farms are separated by rock walls.  There  was a small later for the Pilgrims-those that hike The Dingle Way to cross.  

The West coasts of Ireland are filled with Mountains that give way to the coast.  Both were stunning.  The beaches are not Destin pretty.  The sand is dark and the water cold.  We walked about 14 miles on the beach and I can say I have never been able to sing out loud and know there is no one for miles.  I would pass a few surfers, and in parts a few walkers but it was mostly high dunes and nature.  I could not stop myself from picking up shells.  They were unlike any I had ever seen before.  

After we finished the 8-day hike we decided to park ourselves in Killarney National Park.  I was walking into the park one day.  George got up early and had already left.  I walked with an Irishman and his dog Sam.  His name was Ken and I slowly found out he was a bit of a nut.  After we talked briefly about Ireland.  He thought it was ridiculous how Americans drive all over the country in a week instead of enjoying the park and culture.  I agreed with that because I hate trips where we are trying to do too much in too little time.  Then he asked me if I believed in flying saucers, he claims to have seen two.  I said, “no not really.”  He was a big Trump fan.  I just cannot go there.  Though I did agree with him that Putin would not invade Ukraine with Trump in power.  However, most of his other views were pretty out there.  I am not sure he represents Ireland as a whole but I loved walking with him and his little dog.

My advice for what it is worth is even if you cannot hike a long way do not run from town to town or city to city.  Do not drive anywhere and stop at an overlook and take a picture.  Stay awhile in one place, talk to people, absorb the culture and live in the moment.

The title is a take on an album that is one of my favorite artists.  Any guesses?

This is Padre one of our hosts.