Saturday, November 26, 2011

Fascinating Views To Experience for Travelers to The Dingle Peninsula

By Richard F. Downes


The Irish word for Dingle is 'Daingean U Chis'. 'Daingean ' means stronghold in the Irish language ; there are 1 or 2 possible meanings of 'U Chis ', but Hussey being the most accepted translation, the final meaning is Fortress of Hussey. The Husseys were a clan that emigrated to Dingle from Flanders in the thirtheenth Century. In the middle ages travellers departed from Dingle to Spain, to visit the grave of St James at Santiago de Compostela. Today, the Church of Eire on the Main Street in Dingle Town is called St. James ' after the Spanish Saint.

Time and time again Dingle comes up tops in travel polls ; word of a great thing gets around quickly! The Nation's Geographic once called it 'the most attractive place on earth'. Contributors on Trip Advisor voted for it as one of their top 100 destinations in the world. CNN have also given it the thumbs up as a good idea for a winter destination, and it lately won its place in the list of top ten places to be on New Year's Eve.

The Blasket Islands lie three miles off the Dingle Spur. They are comprised of the Great Blasket Island, the most westerly point in Europe, Inishtooskert, Inishnabro, Inishvickillane and Tearaght Islands, and Beginish, the littlest, which is utilized as a source of food for cattle. Lesser black-backed gulls, great black-backed gulls, common gulls, fulmars, Manx shearwaters, typhoon petrels, guillemots, cormorants, kittiwakes, razorbills, puffins, shags, and herring gulls all use the island as a safe harbor on which to breed, as the cliffs and ocean provide the perfect environment for them to build their nests. The variety of seabirds that breed here is amongst the highest in Eire or the UK.

It cannot be denied the quaint Dingle Town has something special. Maybe it's Fungie, the wild dolphin who chose to stay around Dingle Harbour to play with the boats and has done so for the last twenty-five years? Or the bodhrns, tin whistles, fiddles and accordions that can be heard in the pubs ( There are about 52 ) most nights of the week? Maybe it is a collusion of many different factors.

About twenty-five years ago, a dolphin appeared in the bay and has stuck around since. His curiousness of, and benevolence towards, humans has won him a big following and he has affectionately been named Fungie. A considerable number of bars double job as shops, so one can enjoy the surreal experience of popping in for a pint, a packet of screws and a couple of wellies.

Cloghane, in the parish of Castlegregory, is located on the northernmost part of the Dingle Peninsula. Besieged by mountains, streams, lakes, streams, and waterfalls and overlooking Brandon Bay, it is not difficult to see why this area is so well liked by visitors who need to get away from it all.

Lughnasa, a Celtic crop festival dating back to time immemorial, is celebrated by Cloghane on the last weekend in July. Revels take place in the village itself and on the summit of Mount Brandon. The Brandon Regatta ( where traditional currach canoes race each other ) is held in late August. Cloghane's tourist office is open from May to September, and is found opposite the church.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment