We are deciding between doing the Sciuird Archaecology Tour of Dingle Peninsula or just a private car tour of the peninsula. Which would you recommend? Any recommendations for a private driver? Thank you.
Posted by
bedford, indiana
459 posts
We did a private car tour on Dingle, with Denis Ryan, and it was really good, enjoyed Denis. We were with him for half a day. He uses his personal car, small but not tiny, so you would only be good for two persons, maybe three. He is flexible and will listen to your requests and make a tour based on your interests. The half day with Denis set us really well for our own touring of Dingle. We took a tour of the RofKerry with Paul Brown and he drove a van that was awesome, I would recommend either of them..Paul's RofK tour was all day and we needed that much time. Denis website is Dingletours.com and his email is [email protected]. If you are going over to the Ring of Kerry you definitely should use Paul Brown for a tour, it was awesome. His site is http://www.kenmaretaxitours.com/home.html. Don't let the "taxi" part throw you off, he provides a great, comfortable tour in his van designed for touring.
Posted by
Chicago
555 posts
Meredith,
I'd recommend the archaeology tour.
Though I have not taken that tour, I've hiked 100 miles on the Dingle Way trail (http://www.dingleway.com/). I passed probably thousands of antiquities: an old Norman keep with a crack in it (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g211861-d216394-Reviews-Minard_Castle-Dingle_Dingle_Peninsula_County_Kerry.html), early Christian beehive huts, a Celtic stone circle, an ogham stone with ancient Irish writing (http://www.megalithicireland.com/Kilmalkedar.htm) and more. Dingle is Celtic culture. The archaeology tour will allow you to learn about it.
Posted by
Waterville, Ireland
409 posts
Meredith,
You're not mentioning what month, so that would definitely factor in my answer!
Dingle is much windier and colder than the Ring of Kerry, so if you're thinking of doing this in winter or early Spring, I'd recommend not doing Dingle! The weather is often harsher, over there. I'd suggest Iveragh Historical Tours (Iverage is the peninsula where the Ring of Kerry circles around, just south of Dingle peninsula). They actually offer 4 (I think) different tours, covering stones/archaeology, monks, tetrapods.... etc. IveraghHistoricalTours.com - I've dealt with Oonagh (pronounced Una).
Another REALLY cool tour is a night time archeology tour here on Iveragh. I've not been able to go to the full night time tour (due to weather cancellations!) but I've talked to the person that runs this and it's quite interesting. There is some stone art that she's found that is only visible at night with a torch! I'm doing a cut and paste below to show what her session entails:
Lecture and practical followed by field trip to Caherdaniel for the popular and enjoyable 'Rock Art by Night'.
Aoibheann’s field walking over the past 4 years has yielded over 80 new archaeological finds. Her favourite place to explore is here in Iveragh , a most beautiful and unspoilt of settings. There is such a wealth of archaeological sites dating as far back as the Stone Age. She is currently doing a research masters on prehistoric rock art at UCC.
If you're committed to Dingle, that's fine, but thought you might like this suggestion, too! If you're still looking for lodging in Dingle I highly recommend Milltown House guest house! My favorite spot!
Susan
Expat living in Waterville.