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The Dingle Peninsula and Slea Head

County Kerry, Ireland · 18 stories · Half a day to 1 day

Follow the Dingle Peninsula from Tralee past Inch Strand and Tom Crean's pub to Dingle, then loop Slea Head's cliffs, beehive huts and the abandoned Blaskets before climbing the Conor Pass.

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Stories along the way

  1. 1. The Gateway at Tralee BayWhere the River Lee opens out into Tralee Bay, you are passing into Blennerville. Before a local landowner, Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, decided to rename the village after his own…
  2. 2. The Spinning Fort of CaherconreeAs you travel near the eastern end of the Dingle Peninsula, your eyes are drawn up toward the Slieve Mish range—a dramatic horseshoe of high peaks cradling the deep, glaciated…
  3. 3. The Madness of Ryan's DaughterImagine building an entire Irish village from scratch on the wild cliffs of County Kerry, only to sit around for a whole year waiting for the weather to get properly miserable.…
  4. 4. Tom Crean and the South PoleImagine walking thirty-five miles across a frozen Antarctic ice shelf with nothing to eat except three biscuits and a single stick of chocolate. That was Tom Crean. He was born…
  5. 5. The Solitary Dolphin of DingleAs you make your way around the sheltered waters of Dingle harbour, it is worth picturing an unlikely local celebrity who made these very waves his home. In 1983, a fully grown…
  6. 6. The Fort of Ó CúisComing into Dingle, on the rugged Atlantic edge of the peninsula known as Corca Dhuibhne, you are arriving in a town whose Irish name, Daingean Uí Chúis, means the fort of Ó Cúis.…
  7. 7. The Secrets of Ventry BayAs you sweep around this part of the Dingle Peninsula, you are looking out toward Ventry, known in Irish as Fionntrá, meaning white beach. That long arc of pale sand is what draws…
  8. 8. The Vanishing Fort of DunbegYou are travelling along the wild edge of the Dingle Peninsula, where ninety-foot cliffs drop straight into the Atlantic Ocean. Out on a rocky finger of land jutting into Dingle…
  9. 9. Ireland's Ancient Beehive HutsIf you look out across the rugged landscapes of the south-western Irish seaboard, you might spot odd, domed structures of bare stone rising out of the green hillsides. These are…
  10. 10. At the Edge of KerryYou are coming to the edge of the old world. In Irish, this promontory is known as Ceann Sléibhe—literally, the head of the mountain. Here, the steeply dipping, pebbly red…
  11. 11. The Empty Isles of BlasketLook out toward the edge of County Kerry, off the west coast of the Dingle Peninsula, where a cluster of dark islands breaks the Atlantic swell. No one is completely sure where…
  12. 12. Edge of the Irish MainlandYou are coming out toward the very edge of the Dingle Peninsula, where the slopes of Mount Eagle tumble down to the Atlantic. This is Dunmore Head, known in Irish as An Dún Mór,…
  13. 13. The Real Peig SayersAs you travel through Dún Chaoin, near the western tip of the Dingle Peninsula, you are looking out across the Atlantic toward the wild silhouettes of the Blasket Islands. For…
  14. 14. Ballyferriter and the Dingle CoastAround here, tucked right at the base of Croaghmarhin Hill on the western loop of the Dingle Peninsula, you are passing into a place known locally as An Buailtín, which translates…
  15. 15. The Siege of SmerwickAs you travel around the Dingle Peninsula, you are coming into Ard na Caithne—in Irish, the Hill of the Arbutus Tree, though it is widely known in English as Smerwick Bay. Looming…
  16. 16. The Mystery of Gallarus OratoryAs you travel through the landscape of the Dingle Peninsula, with Mount Brandon rising in the background and the harbour of Ard na Caithne nearby, look out for a structure that…
  17. 17. The Sacred Stones of KilmalkedarYou are moving through the green folds of the Dingle Peninsula, where the Atlantic breeze carries a deep sense of time. Around here lies Kilmalkedar. The name comes from the Irish…
  18. 18. Navigating the High Conor PassThe old Irish name for this place is An Chonair, which translates simply as the way or the path. But as you travel up into the high, windswept spine of the Dingle Peninsula, you…