Irish Islands Second Article

7/27/2019 Irish Islands Second Article

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Emerald island-

pyramid-shaped Skellig Michael island is a UNESCO World

tage site, thanks to its ruins and seventh-century monastery.


2/641AUGUST 2013Doctors review

hoppingSeeing the best of Irelandsometimes requires goingbeyond the mainlandby Margo Pfeiff

aby puffins scurried at my feet as I huffed and puffed

my way up 600 near-vertical stone steps etched into

the rocky flank of a tiny pyramid-shaped island.

Gannets were gliding on thermals in the sky above.B


3/642 Doctors reviewAUGUST 2013

Rewarding my effort at the summit of Skellig Michael

was a striking cluster of beehive-shaped structures built

from slabs of flat stones by seventh-century Christian

hermit monks eager to get away from it all.

I could relate.

I too was looking to unwind and contemplate

life in a quiet place where folks spend their days at a

walking pace, and Irish islands seemed to fit the bill.

Theyre mellow offshore outposts, oases of nature,

history and a slower, more traditional lifestyle in a

country that welcomes 6.5 million tourists a year,

more than 1.5 times the countrys population. Remote,

with a rugged beauty, they are home to fishermen,

farmers, artists and urban refugees who live simply

alongside the ruins and tales of prehistoric settlers,

Vikings, past battles and plenty of sheep and cows. The

spoken Irish language, which has all but disappeared

from the mainland, is still commonly heard there.

According to the Ireland Islands Federation

(oileain.ie), there are 33 populated islands with the

number of inhabitants ranging from one to just under

800. They are accessible by bridge, ferry, small boat,

plane and one Dursey is reached by cable car.

I chose a handful of wild Atlantic islands in the

counties of Cork and Kerry, off Irelands southwest

coast. While most are perfect for day tripping, some

offer minimal-frills accommodation so you can linger

without having to build your own beehive digs.

I

made my way south from Cork, following the

rural, winding coastal route through the gour-

met hub of Kinsale packed with visitors taking

in the popular summer arts festival past the

serene remains of the 13th

century TimoleagueAbbey, towards the hub of Skibbereen. En route I

re-acquainted my brain with left-hand shifting and

navigating roads so narrow that swaying foxgloves

and fuchsia hedges brushed my side-view mirror

when I squeezed past oncoming cars.

By the time I reached the old port town of Balti-

more, with its rows of jellybean-coloured row shops,

houses and pubs trimmed in overflowing flower

boxes, I was glad to park the car and step on board a

40-minute ferry bound for Cape Clear Island. We

passed Sherkin Island, known for its artist commu-

nity where ferries dock at the foot of the ruins of afriary, sacked by a local army in 1537. Lighthouses

and leaping dolphins were visible along the way.

The picturesque port of Baltimore is the

jumping-off point for several Irish islands.

Bread wizard Patrick Ryan demonstrates

proper technique at his Firehouse

Bakery and Bread School.

MARGOPFEIFF

MARGOPFEIFF



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These waters are awash with tales of piracy and

plunder, the islands studded with Martello towers

on the lookout for Napoleons ships or square

watchtowers some with cannon balls still embed-

ded in their crumbling rock walls keeping an eye

out for invading navies.

On Cape Clear the ferry docks in a small harbour

where an ancient church overlooks a caf, chip wag-

on and gift shop/tourist information office the

islands downtown. From there, two impossibly

steep one-lane roads lead upwards, daunting enough

that only five of us out of 30 passengers were adven-

turous enough to tackle them. At the top of the first

rise, one couple opted for the hilltop pub, leaving

only three of us to continue to the trailhead of a stun-

ning hike. Following low rock walls across hillsides

purple with heather in bloom, I reached the head-

lands and a dramatic viewpoint across to Fastnet

Rock lighthouse on a shard of rock, Irelands south-

ernmost point sometimes called Teardrop since it

was often the last glimpse of home seen by Irish im-

migrating to North America.

Spotting the lighthouse is a treat, since this re-

gion is famed for brutal storms and dense fogs. But

it was in the middle of a rare blue-sky heat wave so

it was with relief that I sat down at the end of my

trek to a cold pint of Guinness in cheery Ciaran

Danny Mikes Pub (capeclearisland.com/Pub_and_

Restaurant/pub_and_restaurant.html). I tucked into a

traditional ploughmans lunch, and the only other

patrons were four locals out of the islands 120, hap-

pily sunburned and chattering in the Irish language.

The island was long the domain of the ODriscoll

clan, and a short walk through paddocks gave me aglimpse of the ruins of their medieval castle. Then it

was up another hill to an excellent little Cape Clear

Museum (capeclearmuseum.ie; open daily June to September

or by appointment) and a dish of Baileys-flavoured

goats milk ice cream bought at a farmhouse along

the way for the trip back to the mainland.

Abandoned since the 13th century, Skellig Michael still

contains the graves of the hermit monks who lived here.

Many islands are teeming with bird life,

including gannets and puffins.

MARGOPFEIFF


5/6

Gourmet cuisine is hardly what youd

expect on an island with a population of

25. But a few blow-ins outsiders

have done just that and a five-minute

ferry shuttle brought me to Heir Island

where fine dining has been taking place at Island

Cottage Restaurant (islandcottage.com; advance bookings

required at 011-353-28-38102; open June 15 to September 15;

40) for the past 24 years. With his partner EllmaryFenton, Chef John Desmond, who worked at three-star

restaurants and taught cooking in Paris before coming

to Heir Island, serves locally-sourced meals in their

traditional Irish cottage with a kitchen barely bigger

than a boats galley. In the off-season, he offers cook-

ing classes for a maximum of two students.

Just down the country lane, I checked in for my

full-day baking course at the Firestone Bakery and

Bread School (thefirehouse.ie; 150 including lunch,

wine and ferry) to learn the secrets of creating sour-

dough, baguettes, pizza dough and creative twists on

soda bread. The bakery is the brainchild of PatrickRyan, a 29-year-old with a corporate law degree,

who instead followed his baking passion studying

under a Dublin Michelin-starred chef. When we

started this in the spring of 2012 we hoped to break

even with 60 students over the summer, he said

while demonstrating how to properly knead. We

were completely overwhelmed when we got 350!

After a lunch of gourmet thin-crust pizza that we

baked ourselves in an outdoor brick oven and watch-

ing our loaves and scones rise to perfection, I packed

my goodies in a bag and walked to the ferry, stop-

ping en route in an old stable/studio to see local artist

Percy Halls paintings. We chatted about his 1957

round-the-world-hitchhiking trip and he looked at

his watch. Youve got time for wine, he announced

and we sipped a glass inside his centuries-old stone

waterfront cottage until it was time for the boat.

From Baltimore the road winds northwest and I

left early to catch the Saturday morning market at

Schull where I sampled local products like smoke-

house meats, charcuterie and Gubbeen cheeses; over

the past three decades the southwest has become re-

nowned for its local products movement that now

supplies 70 percent of Irelands artisanal goodies.

Then I wandered the lush, Gulf Stream-stoked gar-

dens of Inish Beg, a tiny island you can drive to, and

carried on to explore the formal gardens surround-

ing the 18th century Bantry Estate where you can sip

high tea or overnight in a baroque palace setting.

N

ear Castletownbere on the scenic

Ring of Beara toute around the pen-

insula, a four-car pontoon boat takes

passengers to Bere Island, and what

feels like back in time as well. Bren-dan Murphy greeted me at the inn he owns in the

one pub/one caf waterfront village with my room

ISLAND ESSENTIALS

GETTING THERE

Air Transat (airtransat.ca) has regular flights from Toronto

and Montral to Dublin and in April 2014,Aer Lingus

(aerlingus.com) will commence direct daily flights between

Toronto and Dublin.

FERRIES

Cape Clear Island:16 return, from Baltimore pier.

cailinoir.com

Bere Island:8 return, from Castletownbere Pontoon

pier. murphysferry.com.

Heir Island:5 return, from Cunnamore Pier.

During off-peak season call ahead: 011-353-28-22-001.

heirislandferries.com.

Skellig Michael:45 return from Portmagee pier.

Advance booking recommended. skelligislands.com.

WHERE TO SLEEP

In Skibbereen, the West Cork Hotel (Ilen Street, west-

corkhotel.com; doubles with breakfast from 99) is an

elegant riverside country hotel. The hotels Kennedy

Restaurant serves the best of locally-sourced cuisine.

Further on in Baltimore, Rolfs Country House B&B

(Baltimore Hill, Baltimore; rolfscountryhouse.com; from 40

per person per night) is a quiet hilltop retreat with a bistro.

For an island overnight option, the Lawrence Cove

Lodge (Rerrin, Bere Island; bereislandlodge.com; from 35

per person per night including breakfast) is a friendly family-

run country inn. Bicycles and kayaks are available as well.

Continuing westwards, Caseys Hotel (The Village,

Glengarriff; caseyshotelglengarriff.ie; from 39 per per-

son per night) is modernized classic hotel on the towns

charming main street. The hotels pub/dining room

serves good local food.

To end your trip in traditional luxury, the Bantry

House & Garden (Bantry; bantryhouse.com; doubles

169 including full breakfast) is a grand estate includes

library and formal gardens open to overnight guests.

Open from late March through October.

For more information on the travel to the region, visit ire-

land.com or westcorkislands.com.

try House in Cork is an 18th-century estate,

h impressive formal gardens open to guests.



key. Then he offered me a bike from the rental fleetat his classic 1908 general store. Ill be back as soon

as I deliver the mail, said the bundle of energy, who

is also the postman.

I cycled off on a narrow 10-kilometre country

road, part of the 193-kilometre walking and cycling

route, the Beara Way. At exactly the centre of the

island is a three-metre-tall standing stone thats 4000

years old and further on, a Bronze Age wedge tomb.

I stretched my legs on a hike up to one of the islands

two Martello towers before heading for Sullivans, a

classic Irish pub complete with a rickety wood stove,

locals glued to the bar stools talking soccer, and

luckily for me, just-caught cod with chips and bliss-

fully mushy peas. Heading back to my room at dusk,

I ran into Brendan who had just finished bringing in

a load of hay. Unsurprisingly, he is also a farmer.

To survive on an island, he said, you have to do

a little of everything.

Ileft County Cork, taking the scenic Ring of

Kerry route to Portmagee. For a week Id heard

stories about people repeatedly trying to reach

Skellig Michael, a jagged pinnacle jutting

from the ocean 13 kilometres offshore. But the

sea was like glass and on the 45-minute voyage we

passed Little Skellig, white with 30,000 pairs of

nesting gannets. When we nudged alongside Skellig

Michaels breathtakingly sheer cliffs it seemed im-

possible that monks rowing leather-hulled boats

1500 years ago could have reached this place.

These days just two archeologists and countless

puffins and other seabirds are the only residents of

this monastic outpost. Early Christian monks carved

three steep routes 200 metres to the summit and

eked out a monastic life for six centuries in stone huts,oratories and a chapel, surviving on fish, seabird eggs

and the contents of a walled garden. A UNESCO

World Heritage Site, Skellig Michael is IrelandsMachu Picchu, and with the rhythmic step-climbing,

the high-cliff vertigo and an ethereal aura of spiritu-

ality, it exudes the same calming awe less a visit

than a pilgrimage. If there is ever a competition for

ultimate getaway, bragging rights go to the monks.

MARGOPFEIFF

Heir Island is home to artist Percy Hall, whose paintings

evoke the natural landscapes and scenery of the region.

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