THE RING, DINGLE AND RYAN'S DAUGHTER...

Another delightful day to circle the Iveragh Peninsula, otherwise known as the world famous Ring Of Kerry. (Tourist Tip: During summer, make sure you progress clockwise so the tourist coaches don't impede your travel. Mind you, at this time of year, we didn't encounter any!). The peninsula is dominated by the magnificent MacGillycuddy Reeks (the highest in Ireland), and just 20 minutes out of Killarney we arrive at Kate Kearney's Cottage, a former coaching inn where the infamous bootlegger distilled her illicit, fierce and wild poitin known as Kate's Mountain Dew.

The lads

We meet Danny and decide to take a horse and cart ride up to the magnificent Gap Of Dunloe.

The 10 mile round trip is exhilarating, and Danny keeps us royally entertained with his yarns told in a rapid fire broad Irish brogue dotted with interjections of "aha-aha-aha" and "whoa Rosie". Rosie, the piebald Irish draft horse, earned her money!

Onward, and we drive through the village of Glenbeigh and arrive at the glorious Rossbeigh beach, 8 km of golden rock (!!) and turbulent seas and wind.

We pass through the seaside fishing village of Kells

and the market town Cahersiveen (the most westerly railway head in Europe), both surrounded by breathtaking scenery, and we're pleasantly surprised to find that the car ferry at Renard Point has started operating over to Knightstown on Valentia Island, for over 90 years the European base for the trans-atlantic cable.

Legend says that when the vikings invaded Ireland they were so taken by  Valentia's beauty that they left it untouched - it's easy to understand when you see this tiny place.

There is a bridge from the island to the fishing village of Portmagee (and a well earned afternoon tea),

and from there the road - make that 'lane' - snakes its way towards Ballinskelligs,

one of Kerry's few Gaelic speaking districts. Needless to say, as we travel these narrow thoroughfares, the natural spectacle is something to behold, and it seems that around every corner or over every hillcrest is a more wondrous vista.

Waterville is located on a narrow strip of land between the wild Atlantic Ocean and the fresh water lake of Lough Currane. Its claim to fame rests with being a favourite haunt of Charlie Chaplin, and a monument to the Little Tramp is on the foreshore.

As the sun starts to sink we reach picturesque Sneem, the final town on the Ring. Like many of the villages in the region, Sneem is a former "Tidy Town Of Ireland" winner and is immaculately maintained. The local pub sneems a good place to have dinner and we happily reflect upon an amazing day.

Castlemaine (the home of the Wild Colonial Boy!) is the gateway to the Dingle Peninsula, described by National Geographic as "one of the world's most beautiful places" - a big call given its next door neighbour!

Apart from anything else, the Dingle is where David Lean's 1970 epic "Ryan's Daughter" was filmed, and along the way we stop at several locations used in the movie. Inch Beach is a ridiculously wide, sweeping stretch of sand.

This is where Robert Mitchum (Charles Shaughnessy) sees Sarah Miles' (MRS!! Rosy Shaughnessy) footprints in the sand walking suspiciously close to Christopher Jones (Major Doryan), the telltale sign of his dragging crippled leg giving the game away that there's hanky-panky afoot. Naturally, a re-enactment is played out!

Suspicious!!

We wind our way down narrow lanes to the ruins of Minard Castle, where Rosy and the Major had their first clandestine meeting - no re-enactment as the castle is in dangerous disrepair and off limits to role players.

We arrive in Dingle (the town), the fishing town that is the epicentre of activity on the peninsula.

Take your pick!!

The Murphy's own everything in Ireland...

We're just in time to catch a boat for a cruise around the harbour in search of FUNGIE, the wild Bottlenose Dolphin that since 1983 has made Dingle Bay its home and interacts with the dinghies and boats that come out to see it.

Goodness know what happens to the Dingle entertainment and commerce when Fungie turns his fins up!

After lunch, we set out on the Slea Head Drive making our way along the cliff edge into the Gaelacht (where Irish is the official spoken language), past the 12th Century beehive huts to the most westerly point of Europe.

Standing at the top of Slea Head (after a sturdy trek) provides an unparalleled view of the magnificent Blasket Islands, and the Skelligs (featured in the latest Star Wars movie) in the far distance.

Skelligs

All the signs are in Gaelic (with no English translation), and so we drive past Coumenoole Beach (another RD setting)

and find ourselves in our next destination - Dunquin - without realising it. The world famous Kruger's Bar is a refreshing stopover, and time to look at the memorabilia from the movie (it was where the cast and crew socialised). It has a great history and has indelible links to the now uninhabited Blaskets (Recommended Reading: "The Islandman" and "The Loneliest Boy In The World").

Time to stretch our legs and we walk to the ruins of the RD schoolhouse, the only remaining building that was constructed for the film (the film town of Kirrary was entirely built from scratch and later pulled down after filming was complete!).

At Ballyferriter we find the ancient circle stone where Trevor Howard and John Mills stood as they waved goodbye to Robert and Sarah at the end of the movie. As real as it looks, it's actually made of hollow polystyrene!

In Ballydavid we visit the Gallarus Oratory, built from gritstone by Christians over 1300 years ago and, remarkably, still waterproof (we can testify to this!).

It's getting late and by the time we reach our final landmark, the weather has closed in dramatically. Conor Pass is the highest mountain pass in Ireland and only accessible in standard vehicles. The view from the top is....well, we don't know, 'cos it was sheeting down and visibility limited to a couple of hundred feet! No matter, it was a refreshing experience to stand out in the inclemency, the final word on our trip around the Dingle Peninsula.

Rugged and wild, it truly is a visually mesmerising place, and making a call between this peninsula and the one to the south across Dingle Bay is one we can't make - better leaving that to the National Geographic experts I guess. A final night in Killarney and then...who knows where the long and very winding road leads......