The Teardrop of Ireland

Lighthouses have always called to me. There is something stoic and wistful and nostalgic and tragic about these lone beacons. While researching our trip, I stumbled across a picture of a lighthouse, far out at sea, some 30 km beyond the tiny Clear Island which is itself far beyond the mainland. The Fastnet Lighthouse was constructed as a result of a tragic event on a foggy evening on November 10th, 1847. A ship known as ‘The Stephen Whitney’ was making its way from New York City to Liverpool when it mistook the Crookhaven lighthouse for the lighthouse at the Old Head of Kinsale. The ship struck the head of West Calf Island, resulting in the loss of 92 souls. The first lighthouse at Fastnet was constructed with cast iron and an inner lining of brick and was first lit on January 1, 1854. Here is a picture:

The rock on which the lighthouse sits is called Carraig Aonair in Irish, which translates to “lonely rock”. The relentless onslaught of the sea required that a new lighthouse be built on the rock, which was completed in 1904. My great, great, great grandmother Bridget Kerrigan would have sailed past the original lighthouse, only the base of which is still visible today. And even that is only visible from either an 8-hour boat trip from the mainland or, if the sky is clear, from the tip of Mizen Head. So of course, I had to see this!!!!

The plan was to leave Kinsale early and follow the coastal highway west along the Wild Atlantic Way, all the way to Mizen Head; hope the clouds parted to reveal the lighthouse; then turn and head north all the way up to Kenmare, on the edge of the Ring of Kerry. On a theoretical "Ireland as a rectangular clock face", we would leave from Kinsale at about location 6:00, travel to 7:00 to Mizen Head; and end up at about location 8:00 in Kenmare. No problem! Until one is traveling in an actual car, on actual roads, and not on a fantasy clock face!

The coast is rugged, and the shoreline juts out like fingers into the sea, one after the other. It is almost painfully beautiful. The roads are very narrow, and thick hedges hug the roads with no shoulder at all. Hidden within the hedges are low stone walls. The driving conditions almost forced us to pull over and breathe. And breathe we did! Our unplanned stops are certain to be high points of this adventure.

Abbeys and monasteries; old churches dating back to the 6th Century. The graveyards are particularly inviting. One can tell a great deal about a people by how they treat their dead. Ron notes that there is endless uninhabited land, yet communities continue to cluster around cemeteries.

Stepping back to capture the photo above, I almost tripped on this grave marker. A few words, a family's grief, a country's history.

Sheep and cows dot the green countryside, and water is everywhere. Crashing along the shore, running in streams from the hillside, blowing sideways and upside down in the mist.

We finally made it to the "finger" of land where we would find Mizen Head at the very tip. It is so isolated here that the Garmin gave up a few kilometers back. We are on our own on these narrow, winding roads. We saw a small sign for "The Altar" and decided it was time for our picnic lunch. We parked the car and followed the path.

Find the castle in the distance, then scroll to the right, just off the next island.

We found a picnic spot sheltered from the wind, and while eating our lunch I showed Ron some of the photos from the morning. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to a tiny speck in the sea, beyond the rocks, beyond The Alter, in a photo I had just taken. The clouds had parted just enough for the sun to reveal the Fastnet Lighthouse! It is known as The Teardrop of Ireland because it was the last sight of Ireland for emigrants sailing to America. Fair thee well....

Car Talk

For those of you wondering what has happened to this beloved blog feature - Ron, has decided, and I quote: "I don't want to talk about it."