Going south

No sooner had we returned from a day trip north to Dingle than we received a friendly message from fellow blippers Freespiral and Himself, inviting us to visit them on the Sheep’s Head peninsula.
The morning found us waking at a fairly early hour to wash, pack an overnight bag, fill the flask and make sandwiches for a little excursion. We were fortunate with the weather and set off southward round the Ring of Kerry, the sun shining over Ballinskelligs Bay as we drove on towards Kenmare, where we stopped for a break.
The town looks finer than I remembered it from over thirty years ago with handsome shopfronts and painted signs. We couldn’t resist a visit to the French deli, Maison Gourmet, which Amanda had recommended to us, for coffee and pastries; it was bustling with custom on a Saturday morning with very friendly and helpful staff. We shopped for a few provisions and then on in search of our first stone circle, a short stroll from the town centre. This is well worth a visit for its fine stones and unusual oval layout, though the garden around it is pretty manicured.
I had read about another circle ten or fifteen miles away on the Beara peninsula - a region I had very fond memories of, having visited over fifty years ago on a family holiday with my brother, Mum and Dad - and I was excited by the sound of its wild surroundings on a hillock between two loughs.
We were fortunate to have a fine May afternoon with sunshine and dramatic clouds as we climbed up. The circle looked peaceful and I was just revelling in our good luck in having the spot to ourselves when a head poked out from behind one of the stones! However it turned out that the young American women had already spent some time there in the sun and kindly offered to wander on into the woods so that we could have a little time there on our own.
The Uragh stone circle is relatively small with five standing stones, and an additional tall axial stone standing just outside the circle. After a while of looking around and taking a few pictures we spent a while in silence there taking in the special feeling of the place. Out of the woods came the sonorous notes of the cuckoo - the first either of us had heard this year.