We hadn’t visited the Green Isle for at least 9 years. One of our kids had wanted to meet there So we redid our route to make time for travel with them. But, as things happen, they decided not to go. But since we had already decided to go with them and bought ferry tickets, we decided to explore a new route, the Wild Atlantic Way.
The Wild Atlantic Way, or WAW, is 1600 miles ( 2600 kilometers ) in length, and is one of the longest defined coastal routes in the world. It winds its way all along the Irish west coast from the Inishowen Peninsula in the north down to the picturesque town of Kinsale, County Court, in the south.
We took an overnight ferry from Cherbourg-Octeville to Rosslare, Ireland. These ferries are amazing. More like a cruise ship than what you would think of as a ferry. We ended up with a nice two birth cabin. The meals were good enough and the entertainment on the main floor was really pretty good.
The next morning we woke up in sight of land. After a quick breakfast we packed up and waited for the okay to go get on our bike. After riding off the ferry we pulled over and waited for most of the other traffic to leave. I dislike being with a mass of people or being rushed. As we left France we were stamped out of the country, and out of the EU, stopping our Schengen day count of 90 out of 180 days. Getting of the ferry we didn’t even have a border control to go through to be checked in to Ireland. We though that to be different but didn’t much think about it being an issue. Stay tuned for leaving Ireland into the UK. The first place we headed to was just inland from Cobh. This was a sculpture titled Kindred Spirits. This 20 ft sculpture of nine stainless steel eagle feathers is arranged in a circle with no two feathers being identical and forms a bowl shape to represent a gift of food. The Kindred Spirits sculpture commemorates the 1847 donation by the native American Choctaw people to the Irish famine relief during the Great Hunger. While the Choctaw people had just endured the Trail of Tears, they somehow managed to gather together 170 US dollars.
Sticking to tiny roads we continued on the WAW finding a great camping site at the Meadow Camping Park. Within walking distance were the Drombeg Stone Circle, also known as The Druid’s Alter. Radio carbon dating suggest the site was active in 1,100 to 800 BC. An inverted pot, found in the center of the circle, contain the cremated remains of a young adolescent wrapped with a thick cloth.
The following day we continued on towards Schull, West Cork. The roads stayed small and seemingly unused. Past Schull we headed out towards Mizen Head and the southernmost point in Ireland. With a slight detour we rode out to Crookhaven to O’Sullivan’s Bar for the most southernly pint in Ireland and, of course a Murphy’s Irish Stout. A couple other travelers on motorcycles happened to be there, so we stayed and chatted a while. Continuing west we rode over a couple passes, Healy and Cousane, got lost and had to turn around on a tough gravel and grass road that got too steep to continue on. Later we were to find out in another mile it became impassable. Luckily, during this part of the ride through the Borbin Valley, we came across another stone circle that predated Stonehenge on the Beara Peninsula.
This is long enough for now. I’ll finish up Ireland on the next post next Friday as we move across to Wales. So for now…
Cheers,
2WANDRRs
2WANDRRs 
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