May 30th, Kenmare to Cahirciveen

Today was wet and dreary and started out really badly with me trying to find a replacement tire. The guys got off to an early start with a stop near the bed and breakfast where we stayed. Cromwell's Bridge just a bit down the street and dates back to the 11th century, built by Augustinian monks. Although the name is thought to be an association with Oliver Cromwell, it is more likely a corruption of the Irish word cromleach or sloping stone. Then they were off on the long journey to Cahirciveen.

I headed to the place that had been recommended only to find it closed. The guy next door was willing and very helpful, but he didn’t have the right size. He gave me directions to Kenmare Tyre but I couldn’t find it. 

 

On a bright note, I did find a chocolate shop that made their own chocolate. They actually had a workshop going but I couldn’t beg entry because of my tire issue. 

I finally found him, he had it and I was on my way sometime around 1!

The roads were awful but beautiful.  We went through 1 and 2 lane roads that were flanked by trees, flowering bushes, just creating an impression of being alone in a forest.

I followed the guys route which hasn't been real descriptive of where you should be going and this one was worst then most. It said you could take a side trip to the Staigua Fort. Not knowing what it was, I said why not. Not knowing meant that I didn't know it was 10-15 km from the main road over roads that were no wider than a small car! But it was beautiful and at one fork in the road, I saw this bridge.






I headed to the Staigua Fort which was way off the beaten track. Encountered some interesting scenery and some interesting situations with other cars. But the fort was impressive. They can't tell how old it is but they think it was built in the early AD's by a wealthy chieftains who had security issues. The fort was over 6 m high and the walls over 4 m thick.






There were steps built into the walls that you could go up to the top of the walls with.

And the surrounding area was beautiful although for the most part, only the sheep were there to appreciate it. It was also hard to appreciate and even harder to photograph because of the mist.

Waterville in the rain

It was hard to stop and take many more pictures because the weather was so bad. I don't know how the guys did it. I did stop in Waterville for tea and whiskey fruitcake, like the fruitcakes I used to make but with a LOT more booze in them. I enjoyed it in a cute café run by 2 very old men reading my book about 20th century witches and vampires in 16th century London (it is far better than it sound, really wonderful) until I got the message that the guys were about 20 minutes from out B&B and wanted their nice dry, warm clothes! I was just 16 km away, so I got in the car and headed to the B&B. One of the issues we have had this time with the biking company is that they haven't given us directions to where we are staying and addresses in Ireland are not the most specific. So they then had to text me how to get there. But I arrived about 10 minutes after them.

This B&B is one of the best we have stayed in. Our hostess is an American nurse who married an Irish guy. It has been a totally wonderful place to stay and I am glad it is one of the places we are at for 2 nights.