Island Life 2: Bere Island

Just staggered in from a wonderful day. We are not going off anywhere on holiday as such for we have so much on our doorstep to explore still. My plan this summer is to do a bit of island hopping. There are 7 inhabited islands off the coast of West Cork and many more tiny uninhabited ones. Today we headed off to the largest - Bere Island, a couple of kilometres off Castletownbere on the Beara Peninsula, an hour and a half highly scenic drive. A ferry, more like a large metal punt took us across, plus one car. We stopped off at the tiny heritage centre, had coffee and apple tart, grabbed a map then headed off. It was sweltering but the higher we went the more cooling the breeze and we went high! We tramped across moorland to examine the ancient holy well dedicated to St Michael and ate a picnic on what might have been an old mass rock; we  scattered purple bottomed sheep as we traversed the cliff tops; we stared in amazement at an enormous cross erected in the Holy Year of 1950 and admired the large standing stone supposedly the omphalos (navel) of the island. The hedgerows were bursting with flowers, the views were incredible and the natives friendly.  We treated ourselves to huge ice creams when we returned to the mainland and then Himself paddled and I had a swim at my secret beach on the way home. We are now speechless with exhaustion.

I just loved this little old house, please biggify to admire the details, all hand -painted. It's next to the school so I think children might have been at work.