RoRo to Bere

You know - when the sun is shining the wind is calm and the air is warm, there really is no more beautiful place than Ireland. Day 3 of the staycation and we headed north to the Bera Peninsula and took this colourful little roro ferry to Bere island. The crossing is half an hour and we shared it with another group of walkers and a car. We went to the east of the island this time, once famed for its British military presence. There are several martello towers on the island but the area we explored was covered in remains dating from the early 20c. Everywhere  was covered with fortifications of some kind: underground bunkers looking oddly like neolithic tombs, loads of pillboxes,and  large and impressive battery complete with a massive moat. Unfortunately it was wired off but the huge guns are still visible as are other bits of paraphanalia; now home to a herd of wild goats. Barracks and other lonely little fortified postings were scattered everywhere though some places like the Officers mess are now holiday homes. The British formally handed the island back to the Irish in 1938 and now the Irish Army keeps a bit of it behind barbed wire to occasionally shoot things.
It's an incredibly beautiful spot - loads of wild flowers, fat auburn cattle,  a Viking harbour, an astonishingly huge and comples wedge tomb, little harbours, derelict houses, skinny cats but nowhere to eat. We made our way down to a small strand, the sign promised a Viking harbour, and found a teeny beach with blond sand and crystal clear waters. I took a mad leap in the water leisurely swim and then we ate apples and some sticky chocolate. Back in the (very small) village we discovered the post office sold ice creams - a magnum has never tasted so good! Lady M would approve.
Heading home we watched impressed as a young man (he really looked about 14) reversed a trailer plus mini digger onto the roro. The lads in charge then managed to load another three vehicles in as well. There was not an inch to spare.
Five and a half hours out in the fresh air and I am looking somewhat weather-beaten and have a blister on my toe. Life in fast lane!

Extra pix: a skinny sash window in a barracks; a mighty gun; the swimming strand, the wedge tomb, walls.