clairedavieswriter

After the first two days’ exertions, this was tempting:

But we opted instead for a drive around the Ring of Kerry. Highlights included a side trip (a loop off a loop off the main loop) to Reenard Point, aka Valentia Harbour, an apparently insignificant pimple on the map which belies its historic significance.
In 1866, after many failures and one short-lived success, a telegraph cable was pulled ashore on Valentia Island from a fishing village in Newfoundland called Heart’s Content. Transatlantic communications continued to be sent that way for the next 100 years until the Cable Station was finally pushed into obsolescence by the advent of satellites.
Given recent transatlantic events, it is interesting to read the message sent from Queen Victoria (Valentia being still part of the United Kingdom at the time) to the US President upon hearing the news in 1866:
‘The Queen congratulates the President on the successful completion of an undertaking which she hopes may serve as an additional bond of Union between the United States and England.’

Valentia Harbour’s other claim to fame was that between 1893 and 1960 it was home to Europe’s most westerly railhead.
But it appears its glory days of transport and communication are over. Today, it’s more of a no frills kind of outfit:

With equipment to match:

Another highlight was a visit to the extraordinary Kerry Cliffs – you’ll have to take my word for it, no photo could do them justice

And it was windy enough today, so this was a scary thought:

Otherwise, we just enjoyed the dramatic Kerry coastline

With its forbidding mountain backdrop

And while lunch may have been basic, we had a five star view out of the door.

This was my sign of the day: so much kinder and more human than ‘Beware of Pedestrians’

And after a long day on the road, the driver felt it essential to abide by local customs:

Tomorrow Team Bernard are back on two wheels. We’re looking forward to it: