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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.
7/27/2019 Irish Islands Second Article
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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
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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
7/27/2019 Irish Islands Second Article
4/643AUGUST 2013Doctors review
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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
7/27/2019 Irish Islands Second Article
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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.
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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.