May 12—Goat Street in Dingle,
and on into Kenmare

Yes, that's where we spent our first night in Ireland—on Goat Street in Dingle. We'd made our way through Limerick without even attempting to come up with one, and then toured along the western coast and out the Dingle Peninsula, enjoying the scenery through our jet-lagged haze (or was it simply the Irish humidity?), ending up in Dingle itself, a relatively large resort-and-fishing town. The story picks up...

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger view, and then on the enlarged image to return.)

	We stayed in Dingle at the B&B on the left with the nearest sign in front, one of several all grouped together on Goat Street. It was clear that we weren't going to have any trouble finding accommodations in Ireland...
	This rock has been illegally parked at the Goat Street curb in front of a fire hydrant for several centuries. Upon inquiring, we learned that it was considered to be holy, and Masses are said in front of it occasionally. Okayyyyyyyyy...............
	The main reason that the five of us went to Ireland, of course, was for the shopping. Here, John tries on a gorgeous raspberry woolen cape. Sadly, it wasn't his size and he had to pass it up. Joe and Mike did much better, both purchasing new sweaters that, as it turned out, they made good use of throughout the remainder of the trip.
	Here's a shot of Foxy John checking out Foxy John's Rent-a-Bike in downtown Dingle.
	Had to get a shot of this sign. Foxy John's is actually Foxy John's Bar, Hardware, and Bicycles. We went in and checked—it's true! There was a lively bar, and a very inactive, dust-covered hardware section. We need these types of establishments back in the States! "Honey, I'm going down to the hardware store—be back in a couple of hours!"
	You can't see it too well, but these two old-timers were both silently puffing away at their fags in earnest.
	Shopping behind us for the time being, we reluctantly left Dingle and headed out to continue the loop around the stunningly beautiful peninsula. This photo gives an idea of the type of roads we traversed.
	Note the unusual stone roof on the building in the background—made strong enough to last for centuries on the rugged Irish seacoast. In the foreground, Doug espouses an alternative source of strength.
	The Dunbeg Fort is a stone dwelling right on the coast that dates back 2500 years! Now, the inhabitants are all sheep.
	This is the view that the current inhabitants get to enjoy. Click the lower thumbnail on the right for a 1.4MB  panoramic video of the locale.
	Mike makes it through a passage in the fort without incident.
	The  donkey here stood keeping this pose, completely still. Only the abundance of flies landing on it tipped us off that it was real.
	More inhabitants.
	Joe took this shot of Doug, who in turn thought he was videotaping Joe. It wasn't until a couple of days later when Doug realized that you had to press the little red button in order to make it record.
	Our culture for the day accomplished, it was time for ... a pint of Guinness, of course! Joe, our driver, opted for the pint of Bullmer's cider barely visible behind the stout. Only when we were back on the road did he realize that Bullmer's packs a lot more punch than does Guinness...
	For some reason, Mike brought along this funny fake nose, which Joe (always the cut-up) is seen here trying on.
	Narrow as the roads in Ireland are, they still must be shared with all manner of man and beast.
	An ardent arborist, Doug often implored Joe to pull over and stop at the side of the road so that he could examine some of the abundant local flora. Interesting stance...
	Even this early in the trip, Mike "Half Pint" Counihan is already back to his unconscionable habit that he displayed on the previous trips of wasting good pub time by ordering half pints.
	Dave and Half Pint share a toast in a skanky pub that looked nicer from the outside than it was, in the town of Kenmare, where we would be spending Friday  night.
	We found an establishment in town that offered 1) beds, 2) a restaurant, and 3) a pub all on the same premises. In other words, everything we could possibly ever need or want! In fact, it's pretty damned close to Nirvana. Here's a pretty good delayed-shutter shot of the five sated and semi-inebriated travelers.
	We couldn't resist sneaking a photo of these two older gals at the next table over, enjoying their Guinnesses (Guinnae?) just as we were doing. Gotta love 'em!
	After dinner, we went out for a walk (hey, the sun doesn't go down till 10pm) and found a lovely old stone bridge, under which we performed our first public rendition of a cappella doo-wop (that is, not in the back seat of the car). Click the thumbnail on the left for a 3.9MB "music" video of the performance.
	Afterward, we repaired back to our inn, where we savored dessert (ice cream for some and Guinness for all) before retiring.