Small tour of Cork & Kerry

We took a few days off from the treadmill of life to go sight-seeing around the counties that lie to the West and South of us.

The Shannon ro-ro ferry that plies between Killimer in Co Clare and Tarbert in Co Kerry saving  many miles tedious driving.

Shrone Beg showing the Paps of Anu in the background and in the foreground a spring well that has been venerated continuously for thousands of years; today it is known as Mary's Well, prior to that it was named after three female saints whose names closely resemble ancient pagan deities.

Inch Beach is a 3 miles long by approx. 3/4 mile deep peninsula with sand dunes and provides a natural breakwater to Castlemaine harbour to the east.

The speed limit through the small village of Adrigole on a well dressed tarmac surfaced road is safely signed as 60 km/h (35 mph) So it came as a surprise to me to see that the speed limit on twisty, stony boreen (track) was signed as 80 km/h (50 mph) ! I wonder who in Cork County Council is responsible for this bit of mis-management and whether they were sober at the time of signing the appropriate order ?

We visited Eyeries a small picturesque town where every building is painted a different colour. Eyeries nestles on high ground between the Slieve Miskish and Caha Mountains. It was holding a Family Day in aid of the local school, here amongst the many stalls we found a friend of ours selling her Eco-wares.

I am drawn like a magnet to businesses that sell good food and wine. One such place is Val Manning's Emporium at Ballylickey, a few short miles west of Bantry. Here we managed to find a table for two and in warm sunshine we feasted on Lemon Polenta cake washed down with delicious coffee and enjoyed our talk with Val, who is a legendary conversationalist with a wealth of knowledge on many subjects.