Sneem

By this time I was peckish and stopped in Sneem for lunch. I had read that seafood in the western counties was good so I took the seafood chowder at a suggested restaurant. It was one of the best chowders I've had.

And of course how could one turn down Sneem Cream?

Somehow the double e doesn't sound Irish. I was put in mind of the Friesian town of Sneek. But then all the English names are just approximations to the Gaelic names. Most place signs feature the Gaelic name first, then the English one.

Some very tortured rocks on the stream that flows to the bay.

A monument commemorates the visit of the by then retired Charles de Gaulle in May 1969.

As I was leaving town, a German walker flagged me down for a lift. She had been coming to this part of Ireland for the last 40 years. She had walked into town from the west on the Kerry Way, which is a walkers version of the Ring of Kerry. We chatted about various things. She didn't seem too enthused that Ireland was in the EU. Perhaps it was because prices had risen with the standard of living.

When being dropped off, she told me about a beach a short drive off the Ring that I should visit, Derrynane. It was indeed quite scenic.

And quite uncrowded.

Plenty of rocks to clamber over.

A couple of panorama shots before moving on.