Ramp down, another ferry route for Streak and Storm. In addition to their jet setting adventures, they have travelled on overnight ferries to or from countries as diverse as Iran, South Korea, Azerbaijan, Iceland and now Ireland, their 52nd country visited I believe. For us we are back here in Ireland for the first time since 1977, which was our first holiday together when we cycled around the Killarney region.

After a three week mantra of “Ride on the Right”, this needs to be replaced with a left leaning or riding phrase as we are back to riding on the left, any ideas? Was it not simpler when we just drove in the centre of the track and size mattered all those centuries ago. Well that is progress for you.

We have still not been able test our re-waterproofing of our KLIM clothing. That will have to wait until tomorrow as today in Ireland the weather is fine. However the Irish weather service are predicting about 5 days of rain to follow after what for Ireland has been a dry start to the summer. Oh well the green has to come from somewhere I guess.

I only learned of the term “Wild Atlantic Way”, a 2,600 km. / 1,600 ml. long west coast route in Ireland, a few days ago. I gather it is very popular with motorcyclists, but for us slowspeeds it would probably take us weeks and weeks to complete. We only have about eight days. Again Anne has had to make choices from a smorgasbord of routes and points of interest to give us a taste of what the west of Ireland has to offer.

We plan as far as possible to stay off the main highways and use secondary roads As we ride west from Cork taking the backroads, I am intrigued by a sign, “Ireland’s only Toy Soldier Factory” pointing to a smaller side lane, oh well why not. Off we go down narrow winding lanes for about 10km before arriving in Kilnamartyra. Here we find the Prince August Toy Soldier factory. I gather they are known and well regarded by traditional war gamers. Eileen shows us around and gives a demonstration of how easy it is to make models using rubber moulds and your parents’ best pots to heat the metal mixtures. Fascinating.

Talking with a fellow visitor to the factory, we hear about Saint Finbarr’s Oratory at Gouganebarra Lake. This is a short distance away and we are told we must see it. Saint Finbarr lived in Ireland in the sixth century and spent some of his time there. Off we go following the maps on the iphone, the roads get smaller and smaller – should there be as much grass in the middle of the road? Anne acquires some shrubbery along the way. Hedge trimming for free. It is a beautiful and peaceful place.

Since we do not have time to ride all of the Wild Atlantic Way in southwest Ireland, Anne suggests going on a friend’s recommendation to visit the Beara peninsula, which is less well known and perhaps a little quieter for us. This will include crossing the Caha mountains via the Healy Pass.

The road over Healy Pass or Kerry Pass as it was known when constructed during the Great Famine in the mid 1840’s was part of a country wide road building program to provide employment for starving locals. Poorly run, some workers starved to death while constructing the roads. Men women and children all participated. When you read the statistics that around 1 million people are believed to have died due to starvation or famine related disease and a greater number emigrated around the world at the time, it is not surprising that some people today have strong views on the actions by British authorities at the time.

At the top of the Healy Pass we meet some intrepid cyclists and see one towing a child carrier the pass. That must take some muscles. It is worth the view though even if we used motor power to get here.

The next day the weather forecast was for heavy rain, the first real test of our hopefully re-waterproofed KLIM clothing. We had decided to just go as far as Kenmare about 45 minutes away to see how we would fare. Sadly, for me anyway, the re waterproofing was just a dream and in addition the soles of my boots were detaching, also letting in water. Seems that the COVID epidemic even got to our clothing is all I can assume or does equipment eventually reach the end of its life?

Challenging riding conditions along twisty roads as we slowly cover the 40km to our next stop. We arrive in Kenmare soaking wet where the kindly B&B owner immediately offered to put our KLIM gear in the dryer, after we removed all the armour. The day was spent exploring the town, buying me waterproof over-pants and both of us savouring a tasty Shepard’s pie for lunch. Anne started her Irish whisky education with a Connemara 12 year old single malt whisky at the recommendation of the manager. A good choice – more to try.

While a relaxing day in Kenmare was enjoyable, we are still less than an hour’s ride from Cork where we started two days ago. We need to start moving northwards aiming for the Burren region northwest of Ennis. Given the strong winds forecast, we decide we will not ride the ring of Kerry along the coast but the section past the lakes, part of the same route we rode on bicycles back in 1977. Up over Moll’s Gap or Céim an Daimh giving us the vista of the MacGillycudd’s Reeks mountains and then down past Upper Lake then Muckross Lake onto Killarney.

Looking for gluten free meals can be challenging at times. In Killarney with an hour only on the parking meter we seem to only find cafes with wheat products at the fore. We enter the dining room of the International Hotel with five minutes before the breakfast menu ends. Tea and coffee magically appear. Gluten free options including toast are detailed and ordered, separate butter is provided. Nothing is too much trouble for the JD and the team. Anne added a TripAdvisor entry as we ate. Another great memory.

Fed and watered we and our steeds ride on to Lisdoonvarna and the Burren.

– Anthony