The Dingle Peninsula
The Dingle
Peninsula in south-west Ireland is the northernmost of five peninsulas
that jut into the Atlantic like the fingers of a hand and Dunmore Head
has the distinction of being the far western point of mainland Ireland.
Each peninsula has a ridge of mountains, and the Dingle's are the Slieve
Mish mountains. The highest peak which is Brandon, at 953 meters (3,127 feet), is
Ireland's second highest mountain.
The peninsula
is known for its spectacular scenery and its incomparable early Christian
monuments, Iron-Age fortifications and beehive huts. Dingle itself is a
beautifully situated village lying at the foot of Mt Ballysitteragh. It
still has a fishing fleet in its almost land-locked harbor and is an
excellent base from which to explore the antiquities on the peninsula.
Its own major attraction is Fungie the dolphin, who has lived in the
harbor since 1984.
The Oratory of
Gallarus is a tiny, eighth-century, drystone Christian church - the
best-preserved example in Ireland - and looks like an upturned boat.
Nearby stands the fifteenth-century Gallerus Castle and a group of ruined
beehive huts, one of which has been restored. Kilmalkedar, has a ruined
twelfth-century Romanesque church, with interesting stone carvings, and
an Ogham stone. Ogham is a script used between the fourth and ninth
centuries and is made up of notches or lines that represent 20 letters of
the Latin alphabet. At Riasc are the excavated remains of a
seventh-century monastery, which include several crosses and a carved
pillar stone. Due west of Dingle is the Iron-Age promontory fort of
Dunbeg, which stands on the edge of the cliffs, and farther west still,
more than 400 beehive huts, in varying states of preservation, stand on
the lower slopes of Mt Eagle.
