Day Three 14th September 2021:

“Excitedly leaving beautiful Angelsey to catch the ferry to Dublin and onwards to County Kerry to stay for a few nights and then a warm welcome to Ireland!” <click to enlarge>

 

Day Four 15th September: The Gallaunmore Standing Stone: This was a bit of an unusual exprience to say the least, for the standing standing stone was on the side boundary of someones front garden! We had a job to find it from the road, and could not see any signs for it, but in the end decided to follow the ‘sanav’ and drive up what seemed like a private track to private dwellings. We were greeted by excitedly barking dogs but still could see no standing stone. Upon reversing the car and heading back, we saw it across an imaculately mowed lawn, past a big private window. It was tucked between a made-gap in a private boundry hedge. Gallaunmore is a standing stone and National Monument located in County Kerry. Gallaunmore is located 1.9 miles east of Dingle. The stone stands 4.2 m (14 ft) tall and is 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) wide. The northwest and southeast sides taper towards the tip. With the dogs barking and lack of general privacy for visiting, we decided to give it a miss.. It all happened so quickly and strangely that i never even had time to get my camera out….

Grail Bloodline Connection:

  • King Fedlimid Rechtmar (61st GGF)  The Neville Line 95 – 119

 

St James Church, Dingle, County Kerry: It was lovely to arrive in Dingle; a bright and energetic town full of charm and a sense and pride of it’s own locality. Situated on the north east side of Dingle’s main street within the medieval walled town is the site of the 13th century parish church which was appropriated to the Augustinian priory of St Mary’s Killagh, near Milltown. This larger medieval parish church was believed to have been built by Spaniards. Some of the original masonry, including a number of chamfered quoins, was used to build the current structure. Sadly though St James Church was closed, but we had a good walk around its old weathered graveyard and tried to take a couple of photos through the churches windows.There are some very interesting gravestones in the graveyard there.

 

St James Church Dingle – sadly closed <click to enlarge>

Although it was closed it is used by the community for singing and art events and is even renowned world wide for being the venue for ‘Other Voices’. It is said to be a very spiritual place, attracting pilgrims who walk the ‘Dingle Way’, as well as its pilgrimage links to Santiago de Compostella. Pilgrims from Spain in Medieval times were thought to have been instrumental in building the church and, in the following years, many pilgrims set out from Dingle on spiritual journeys to Santiago de Compostella. St. James was rebuilt in 1808 and, like many old buildings, is in need of repair and restoration; an ongoing project for the church.

An interesting graveyard & trying to sneak some interior photos too! <click to enlarge>

St James’ Church was where The Treaty of Dingle was signed on 28 April 1529, by the Earl of Desmond, James Fitzgerald and the envoy of the holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, King of Spain. This treaty incorporated most of southwest Ireland into the Habsburg Monarchy, and gave Irish people citizenship rights in Habsburg Spain, Austria and the Netherlands.

“There is a good historical overview of the church here”

https://www.stjamesdingle.com/history-st-james-church-dingle

https://www.stjamesdingle.com/full-history-st-james-church-dingle

 

Dingle itself is lively and vibrant, and we did stay awhile for one can have a a brilliant ‘shopping experience’ there! The name in Irish is An Daingean or Daingean Uí Chúis, meaning ‘fort of Ó Cúis’, it is a town in County Kerry and the only town on the Dingle Peninsula. It sits on the beautiful Atlantic coast about 30 miles southwest of Tralee and 40 miles northwest of Killarney. A large number of  Ogham stones were set up in an enclosure in the 4th and 5th centuries AD at Ballintaggart. Dingle became a busy and important trading port with strong links to Eurpope and especially to Spain and was also a major embarkation port for pilgrims to travel to the shrine of Saint James at Santiago de Compostela.

 

Lively and vibrant Dingle where one can have that well-needed ‘shopping experience’! <click to view>

Grail Bloodline Connection:

  • Earl William Neville. 4th Earl of Abergavenny (Karl’s 5th Great Uncle) 1792 – 1868

“What a stunning drive to Dunmore Head along the spectacular Atlantic Coast!”

<click to enlarge>

 

Dunmore Head: Lure County Kerry:  Irish: An Dún Mór is a promontory in the westernmost part of the Dingle Penisula,  located in the barony of Corca Dhuibhne in southwest County Kerry. The headland, together with parts of Mount Eagle’s northern slopes is formed from steeply dipping beds of the cross-bedded sandstones of the Eask Sandstone Formation, dating from the Devoian period and traditionally referred to as the Old Red Sandstone. Dunmore Head is the westermost point of mainland Ireland and one of the westermost points of Europe. It also bears a very important physical and metaphysical connection to a location we visited on the previous Irish Quest, an important Craft connection and the most relevant connection on this quest.

 

“The tides and the winds are so strong here at Dunmore Head, as are the energies of the place, not only in the sense of feeling the beauty and power of Dunmore Head but because of the very strong magnetics here, which cause a distortion of time and space connecting one to that which was (almost) lost under the seas….”

<click to enlarge>

Grail Bloodline Connection:

  • Richard Chas Neville (Karl’s Great Grandfather) 1899 – 1985

 

“Then back to our digs in Knocknagashel for one last time and day five (16th September) we were on the road again towards three beautiful sights in County Kerry ”

 

‘The Keeper of Scrolls’  January 2022

<moon.willow@ntlworld.com>