Ireland 2025 – Pre-trip Reflections – Thursday, September 4th
Elizabeth and I leave tomorrow, September 5th for a 112-mile hiking trip in Ireland. This will be my third trip to “The Emerald Isle”. The first trip occurred 15 years ago when our youngest son Carter wanted to go to Ireland for his senior year spring break. The second trip occurred 6 years ago when my friend Pete wanted to celebrate his 60th birthday with a cycling trip in Ireland.
On the first trip we drove throughout central and southwest Ireland. We started in Dublin, and then spent time in County Clare, before hugging the Irish Coast known as the “Wild Atlantic Way” all the way from the Cliffs of Moher to the “Ring of Kerry”, and then to Cork. We then visited Waterford and Wicklow before heading back to Dublin.
On the second trip with Pete, I spent time in Dublin and then cycled the Beara and Iveragh peninsulas in southwest Ireland. If you look at a map of southwest Ireland, there are five peninsulas that reach out into the ocean, like the back of a hand. They are from south to north, the Mizen, Sheep’s Head (the smallest), Beara, Iveragh, and Dingle. I am told that hiking Sheep’s Head is amazing.
If you ever want to remember which one of the peninsulas has the famous ring of Kerry Road on it, think of the fourth finger, or the ring finger, which would be Iveragh. Iveragh is by far, the largest, and is the peninsula I cycled on my last trip (See map in photos). Other than heading down the mountain on a bike at Bryce National Park in Utah at 20 degrees, cycling in sideways rain near Mt. Carrauntoohil on Iveragh peninsula in Ireland is the coldest I have ever been on a bike.
One of my favorite days during my second trip to Ireland and cycling the Ring of Kerry was the day we took the ferry over to Valentia Island and did an 11-mile bike loop around the island. We then took the ferry back to mainland and went to the Point Bar Pub to enjoy some amazing prawns cooked in olive oil, garlic and peppers, and washed down with – you guessed it – a Guinness. If you are ever in this part of Ireland, I highly recommend taking the ferry over to Valentia Island, which, because of the warm ocean currents, looks semi-tropical.
On this trip, arranged every two years by my friend Rolf, we will be traveling with our “every two-year hiking group”. After hiking Montenegro and Croatia two years ago, we decided to hike “The Dingle Way “on the Dingle Peninsula on this trip. It is the fifth peninsula and would be the pinky finger if looking at the back of a hand. So, by the end of this trip, I will have cycled two peninsulas and hiked another.
When I cycled this part of Ireland 6 years ago, each cycling day of our trip was unique – from a day of cycling in brutal driving rain in the rugged mountains, to a cloud shrouded excursion on a beautiful island, to finally, a sunshine filled morning ride near lake Caragh. I enjoyed each of the days in their own unique way. And I am expecting this hiking trip to be the same. Every day will be different and unique.
