RING OF KERRY, TAKE 2 AND BEYOND

Jeanette has already posted photos from our successful second attempt at the Ring of Kerry, so I won't go into much detail other than to say that it was well worth the stayover to wait for the weather to clear. But that's old news now -time to move forward...
First, a brief geography lesson for the sake of orientation. If you look at a map of Ireland, you'll see that the southwest coast consists of four jagged peninsulas jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, looking somewhat like the claws on the foot of a giant bear. The southernmost is the Mizen Peninsula, which actually terminates in two narrow rocky fingers. The other three are the Beara Peninsula, the Iveragh Peninsula - which is best known for the highway known as the Ring of Kerry which circles its perimeter, and finally the Dingle Peninsula. In fact, all three of these have roads around them - it's just that Iveragh, a.k.a. the Ring of Kerry - has the best publicist. They all terminate in spectacular rocky headlands and cliffs up to a thousand feet high, with the endless surf pounding the age-old rocks below. It was against these rocks and cliffs that the Spanish Armada, on its way to attack England in 1588, was wrecked after being blown off course in a storm.
We missed the Mizen Peninsula, but we did drive around the other three. We did the Beara Peninsula a few days ago from our base in Glengarriff, the Iveragh Peninsula/Ring of Kerry yesterday and the day before, and the Dingle Peninsula this morning. The Dingle Peninsula is noteworthy for three things: first, its tip is the westermost point of land in Europe; second, it was the first point of land passed over by Charles Lindberg on his epic, trans-Atlantic flight in 1927; and finally, for you movie buffs, it was the filming location for the Robert Mitchum movie "Ryan's Daughter."
We spent the rest of the day driving northeastward, taking the ferry across the River Shannon into County Clare. We're spending the night in the town of Ennis, then heading for the Cliffs of Moher tomorrow - more scenic cliffs with the ocean crashing below. I'm sure Jeanette will have more photos to post from there.