Roofing old shed in Allihies on the Beara peninsula. These old stone sheds need looking after so that the Irish countryside retains some of its farming heritage. Easy to knock down an old shed and rebuild a bigger and better one, but that means we lose some of the stone work that used to be so common in the old days. This shed only needed one side doing as the other side was replaced a few years ago as it receives more of the oncoming weather. Just need a nice fine day to repair the concrete at each end of the roof.
Beara Best Peninsula ? is the question that springs to mind. Recently there have been a spate of articles on the internet about which is the best peninsula to go to and why. But what is the reason that more and more articles are voicing an opinion in favour of the Beara. Is it because of the rugged natural beauty of the Beara, or maybe simply that the peninsula is so isolated. Not really : the Sheeps head is just as rugged and in some ways more isolated. Is it because it has enough small villages with accommodation options to cater for the intrepid traveler? Again not really.
The Beara is the number one peninsula to visit due to the reason that it has some spectacular roads that allow the visitor all the way to the end of the peninsula but also give or take a few miles an option to circumnavigate the peninsula without having to back track. Apart from if the visitor wants to visit the Dursey Sound, there are a few miles off the circuit to drive along to get to the famous (Ireland’s only) cable car. So, ultimately, it’s a war of the “Ring of’s”… Only the Ring of Beara or the Ring of Kerry really enable the visitor to do a circuit of a peninsula and it seems when one looks at the ROK that this is what people are really looking for, the adventure of a spin around a peninsula to enjoy the scenery and not have to back track.
The jewel in the Beara peninsula is peace and quiet, simply that, it is impossible to drive around the Beara Peninsula in a coach and this is it’s saving grace. And the reason that it is not possible to drive a coach around the Beara is due to the bend signalled in the following picture.
Beara Best Peninsula
So there is the answer, if you want to be an adventurer and only have one peninsula to do, Beara is the one… If you want to be a sheep following the madding crowd, go to Kerry, you’ll meet loads of people and their coaches and probably want to forget them.
One of the nicest pieces of road in Ireland, on the Beara Peninsula maybe the best peninsula as no coaches can get around it.
The best recommendation however is to take your time and do all of them, right to their very ends, and if you have the choice stay in the smaller villages towards the end of the peninsulas to get to meet real people and enjoy the craic.
Heidi Allihies trip in June 2014, a one nighter to Allihies to enjoy the fabulous weather. The kids managed to kayak, walk and scramble on their short trip out further west than their own home. The weather was fantastic, Allihies is about a one hour drive from her place.
Heidi Allihies
Day one Kayaking
Rock Pooling
Ice Creams
Scrambling around old copper mines
The Allihies Man Engine, left after the Copper Mines of the nineteenth century
The mines and further on Allihies and Balydonegan Strand
