Lockdown in Ireland was strict. Wet Bars have been closed since March, and I’m just arriving in early September. There is a mandatory two week quarantine in place. So I pick up my rental car in Cork and drive directly east to a cabin on the outskirts of a small town to make camp. The truth is, you couldn’t pick a better place to quarantine. Co. Kerry is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

*Tip of the Ring of Kerry. Kerry Cliffs, Ireland. September 2020.*

I made my home in Cahersiveen, a small town that is about as far southwest as you can possibly go in Ireland, and set up in a faux-wood-paneled cabin on the outskirts of town. Something I learned very quickly about this remote area of the island: It gets dark. Very, vey dark. In fact, the Kerry Dark Sky preserve has a gold rating from the Dark Sky Initiative. Throw in the constant rolling fog banks and you get an intense feeling of isolation walking around after dusk. Those first few nights sitting alone by the fire on a 70’s-earth-toned couch just inches from the utter blackness outside brought back every single witch/werewolf/ghost story I had ever heard. After a few nights it really grew on me though. Everywhere I walked I could smell burning peat logs, a scent that will undoubtedly remind me of the experience from that point forward.

*Cnoc na dTobar (Knocknadobar in English if that’s any easier for you). Cahersiveen. September 2020.*

And that is the view from the yard in front of my quarantine cabin. Not too shabby.

Framing

Knocknadobar

Cuas Crom Beach

*Heavy Clouds over Portmagee Channel. September 2020.*

Since I have a bike at my disposal, I decided to go on several exploratory missions. The first roughly followed a route I found on the local bike rental shop’s website. It was pre built in Google Maps so all I had to do was download and hit the road. But the most breathtaking site I visited were the Kerry Cliffs. At sunset. I opened this post with a picture I took that evening, so I guess I’ll close with a few more.

Top

Inlet

Danger

*The Blue Hour, Skellig Michael, and Little Skellig. County Kerry, Ireland. September 2020.*

I took an afternoon trip from Cork and headed out to Blarney, a solid eight kilometer drive-slash-walk, to visit it’s eponymous castle (I hope I used that word correctly. I saw another travel blog that used it no less than twenty times in one post, so I figured I’d give it a shot.)

Walking up the claustrophobia-inducing staircase was almost as big of an adrenaline rush as leaning backwards over a 90 foot drop to kiss a rock. But the Blarney House and all of the surrounding gardens and forests were a very welcome surprise. And I think this picture of the Blarney House outshines any of the shots I took of the actual castle. In fact, I almost had the entire castle to myself due to the Covid tourism factor. The only other soul in the castle was Patrick, who was tasked with sitting beside the Blarney Stone all day and sanitizing it after each kiss. What a guy.

Blarney is absolutely worth a visit. The town is lovely, the castle is impressive, and the forested grounds are perfect for wandering. Plus they have a poison garden AND a carnivorous plant garden.

Blarney Castle

Butterfly

Church of the Resurrection