After leaving the Dingle Peninsula, we headed south down the coast to County Cork. There is a cute little village called Baltimore that has a pier and cove and a quaint little cottage we stayed in.

As we tend to do, we went on a scenic drive! We went to Mizen Head, which is Ireland’s most southwesterly point along the Wild Atlantic Way. One of Mark’s friends, Megan, suggested this place to us and it didn’t disappoint. Along the way we saw Barley Cove Beach which had many surfers enjoying this beautiful day.

The next day we went on an archeology drive. We found Drombeg Stone Circle, thought to be an old ritual and burial site that was a beautiful, peaceful place to be the day after the summer solstice. I could sit here all day listening to the birds!

As the day ended, we found more places to view the sunset along the ocean.

Our next day took us down to Castletownshend to see the Knockdrum Stone Fort, built back about 1200 years ago as a fortress overlooking the sea and the valley below. I loved watching the dairy cows come up the hill was they traveled from one pasture to another! Such lush, green pastures for them.

Sometimes the people I meet make me so thankful to have the opportunity to connect with them. It even brings tears to my eyes, which happened during three chance meetings in Ireland. Rachel and her dog Aruba were one of these special people. She took the time to visit with me about what it was like living in this little village of Castletownshend, which she had lived in all her life. She owned a beauty salon there and had two daughters that had grown up and moved on, first going to the university in Cork, and later to live in London and Australia. What a culture shock it must have been for them going from this little village of about 100 people to living in big cities! We ended our day with a hike in the Rineen Wood. Ireland actually has a forest! Beautiful, quiet hike. I forgot to mention we started our day with coffee in Baltimore and tour of the castle, which had been restored and is now a museum. What history it has seen!

Ended our last day in Baltimore, back along the pier for a little traditional Irish music!