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VENTRY |
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The first village of interest west of Dingle is tiny VENTRY ( Ceann
Trá ) five miles further on, once the main port of the peninsula and
another fine natural harbour: a wide curve of sandy beach beneath the
enormous, gnarled shoulder of Mount Eagle, dropping almost sheer to the
sea with only a precarious ledge for the road.
It's in the inhospitable surroundings on the stretch out from Ventry to
Slea Head that the main concentration of ancient monuments can be found.
What follows here can only be an introduction to the major sites; the
minor ones alone could take weeks to explore. A good local map , such as
the one available at the tourist office, is essential for exploring
minor sites, while several excellent guides to the peninsula exist for
real enthusiasts (available at bookshops in Dingle town).
First off there's the spectacular Dún Beag (dating from the eighth or
ninth century AD), a scramble down from the road towards the ocean about
three to four miles out from Ventry (entry £1/¬1.27). A promontory fort,
its defences include four earthen rings, with an underground escape
route, or souterrain, by the main entrance. It's a magical location,
overlooking the open sea and the Iveragh Peninsula, the drama of its
setting only increased by the fact that some of the building has fallen
off into the sea.
Between Dún Beag and Slea Head , the hillside above the road is studded
with stone beehive huts, cave dwellings, souterrains, forts, churches,
standing stones and crosses - over five hundred in all. The beehive huts
can be deceptive - they were still being built and used for storing farm
tools and produce until the late nineteenth century, so not all of them
are as old as they look. But once you're standing among genuinely
ancient buildings like the signposted Fahan group (entry £1/¬1.27) and
looking south over a landscape that's remained essentially unchanged for
centuries, the Iveragh Peninsula and the two Skellig Islands in the
distance, you get a strong sense of past lives.
Ventry itself consists of a sprinkling of houses with, at the east end
of the bay, a shop, post office, pub and a few accommodation options. Up
the lane past the post office are Ceann Trá Heights (tel 066/915 9866;
£40-55/¬50.79-69.84) and The Plough (tel 066/915 9727;
£33-40/¬41.90-50.79), two B&Bs which are worth trying. The very
comfortable Bally Beag Hostel , signposted from the main road at the
turning for Ballyferriter (tel 066/915 9876), has dorms, family and twin
rooms (under £26/¬33.01), and offers bike rental, laundry facilities and
also gives lifts to and from Dingle. Penny's Pottery Café (summer only)
is a good spot for inexpensive coffee, cakes, crumbles and baguettes. At
the west end of Ventry is Páid Ó Sé's , a bar noted for traditional
music sessions which also serves food .
Just west of Ventry is the Celtic and Prehistoric Museum (May-Sept daily
10am-5.30pm; phone at other times; tel 066/915 9941; £3/¬3.81), a small
up-beat family-run museum which boasts a large nest of dinosaur eggs,
beautiful Celtic jewellery and the only woolly mammoth skull fossil in
Ireland - complete with huge curling tusks and affectionately named
Milly. Try and take one of their personalized tours in which your
enthusiastic guide will encourage you to handle Neolithic flint axes and
will tell tales of local mythology. There's a pleasant tea room on site
here too.
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