We can hardly believe we have been here for a week and haven’t seen a leprechaun yet. Oh well. We have about 10 more days to find one. After breakfast, we started out on a drive towards West Mizen.

Our first stop was a neolithic tomb called The Wedge Altar. The locals called it that because there were actual Catholic masses performed on it during the Penal Times (starting 1697). During that time masses were done in secret at remote places like the Altar. The Altar is actually a tomb dating to approximately 2000 BC.

We then headed on towards West Mizen, the farthest southwest point in Ireland. A short up and down hike got us to the old light house which has been converted into a museum. Along the hike we were treated to various views of lovely cliffs and the ocean below.

Our next stop, after a short drive was Castle Dunlough. The castle is only accessible via a 1.5 mile hike through a working farm. It felt a bit like our Hadrian’s Wall walk from 2022. The castle is a picturesque ruin set on a small lake (lough) with the ocean in the background. The castle was inhabited from about 1100-1500 by the Maghonys, an Irish family who fled west after the Normans arrived in Ireland.

Next was lunch at a locally famous pub called O’Sullivan’s in Crookhaven, which is near Browhead. Browhead is an area was made famous as one of the locations where Marconi tested his wireless transmissions system in late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

We then strolled around Schull which we had visited yesterday but didn’t have a chance to explore. We walked in and out of the many shops on its main street.

Our time is up in Skibbereen. Tomorrow we head up the west coast (Wild Atlantic Way) where we will visit the Beara, Kerry, and Dingal rings over the next few days.