Ring of Beara, Ireland Nov 10,2011

Woke up this morning with a sense of great anticipation and a feeling of electricity traveling through my body.  Today we will go in search of “my” stone circle :)))

While it is a sun-peeking out-once in a while kind of day, it is a pleasant temperature and not too damp.  We set off at about 10:30; about 24 hours before the 11-11-11 Fire The Grid world-wide meditation is to take place.  The sign for the stone circle is father up the road than I remember and then when we find it, there is a sign for a park that I also don't remember.

The road we turn onto is paved, my road was dirt, but it has been over 6 years so we motor on.  The road is very narrow, the width of a car and a half-maybe.  It winds up and down, past some houses, by some water that I do not remember either.  Am I in the right place?  There is a strangeness but yet familiarity about this drive. Finally we turn a curve and there is another sign to the circle.

We reach a gate.  Beside the gate is a crudely handwritten sign that instructs us that the stone circle, famine hut and a couple of other things are beyond the gate.  It is a 2 Euro PP cost but children are free.   It further instructs us to please close the gate.  I’m feeling like this is it when Cat gets out to open the gate.  

Further up the road we cross over a stream - YES!  I remember this part.  Then a small car park on the right at the foot of a hill.  YES!  then the hand written sign Stone Circle.  YES!!!!! This is IT.  Hooray! I have found it!

The circle is not visible from the bottom of the hill so we begin the climb up the winding path that leads to the top of the hill.  We crest the hill and there it is!  BUT it is bigger than I remember and it over looks a lake that I don’t remember.  BUT the same tall stone is there, the huge flat boulder I sat on situated a little up the hill is there, the hills in the distance are there. How wonderful the mind and how strange the memory.

It is “my” stone circle even though it is not quite as I remember it, the magic, the energy is still the same.  After touching all the stones especially the tall one, I perch on the boulder to absorb the energy.  It is very windy.  I turn on the music I will use tomorrow and the clouds part, the sun peeks through and the winds calm.  Wow!  Magical. Breathtaking.

Not only is this “my” circle but it is located behind the hills that are “Cat’s” hills from her dream and the ones we saw yesterday!  So it makes it “her” circle too.

We spend time taking goofy pictures and just generally having fun, laughing a lot and filling up with joy and love.  A great preparation for the event tomorrow.

We return to Kenmare to have lunch.  Wandering down the street we pick a pub/restaurant called The Atlantic.  We walk into a place full of locals.  Any place full of locals is usually the place to be for good food.  This was no exception.  Cat’s tuna melt and my chicken melt were so yummy.  Food here is just so fresh.  No processed chicken or canned tuna; it’s the real thing.

Many of the people around the bar and in the pub were speaking “Irish”.  It was so fun to hear and delightful to watch the comings and goings.  At the strike of 2 the place emptied out as if there had been some silent fire drill.  Lunch in Kenmare is from 1 to 2 and they take that seriously, I guess.

After lunch we pop into a little shop that displayed hats in the window.  They are the type that Cat wears and look so stunning on her.  She buys three as I have a great chat with the proprietress.  She says Cat has made her day!  It is off season here and is very quiet.  Many places are shut for the season, will open briefly for Christmas, and then shut again until spring.  I rather like the quiet.  Hardly any tourists, only locals so I can feel the real flavor of the place.

There is a stone circle here on a hill in the town.  We decide to explore that one too. It is a bigger circle than “mine” and has a burial boulder in the middle.  This is unusual to find in a circle such as this.  The burial boulder is perched on four other stones and covers the actual burial place without smashing down on top of it.  There is not a tall stone here as is common with other circles.

We walk around feeling and touching all of the stones.  Cat finds one stone she really likes.  It has an animal shape and begs to be petted.  On one side it could be a dog, or gorilla and the other it looks like an elephant.  One stone vibrates and “moves” when I touch it and the burial boulder, when touched, makes me rock back and forth. 

There is a tree off to the side of the circle that is covered with all sorts of odd bits.  Mostly hair scrunchies and hair bands, but also odds and end such as business cards, a tiny mirror; stuff people had handy at the time.  It looks like a decorated Christmas tree except it is a thorn tree with berries not a fir or pine.  It probably has leaves in the summer, but has none now.  I tie some of the loose strands from my scarf on it and Cat attaches three of her Geo Cache tokens.  We can only guess as to why all the bits were put on the tree.  Perhaps as an offering or a request like the prayer bundles found at a sacred Native American site.

We then walk out of town to explore some of the close by neighborhoods.  First we stand peering in a Real Estate office window.  As we are doing this a man passes by and says “they’re cheap enough you could buy two or wait a week and you can buy three”.  He sounded quite bitter when he said that. The world economy has hit here too and properties are very low in cost for the most part.

About 5 to 7 minutes walking distance from town there is a development of duplexes and single family homes.  The sign announces that units are selling, furnished, for 93,000 Euros or about $130,000!  We wander around and peer into windows of the empty units still under construction.  They are really lovely and well made.  It would be a good investment to use as a holiday rental.  In the season the places sell out.

You may ask why this is.  There is the famous Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, Druid ruins and circles, hiking, fishing, and the Ring of Beara.  Lots to do and see here.  It is located in the south of Ireland and surrounded by water.  Dolphin and whale can be seen and boat rides taken.

Dinner time finds us at the Horseshoe Pub and Restaurant.  A cozy fire and gentile atmosphere greets us as we walk in the door.  We are seated by the fire and are the only ones in there.  Once again the food is delicious.  We share a wild boar and venison terrine that is tender and moist and at the same time rustic.  The taste is fabulous.  Cat has ocean perch fillet with a delicate cream sauce, a melt in your mouth concoction.  I have atlantic salmon souciaun (not spelled correctly), both are outstanding.  No dessert tonight.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY and I am filled with excitement.