A Walker’s Journal by Anthony Linick

The descent to Brandon Bay

Introduction

Ireland’s Dingle Way, which we walked in 2009, is an outstanding route – though not without its challenges. It is hard to give a precise mileage total ­– since some people walk the initial stage from Tralee to Camp twice (once coming, once going) and many trip organizers leave a small gap in the middle. There are also a number of tempting shortcuts. In the event, we walked 85 miles in eight days.

I do strongly recommend that you utilize the services of a professional walking tour company – in securing your reservations and ferrying your baggage forward for you. They may supply you with a copy of Sandra Bardwell and Jacquetta Megarry’s Rucksack Reader guide to The Dingle Way. This should be supplemented with maps from the Irish ordnance survey – sheets 70 and 71. If this is your first venture on a long distance footpath you may enjoy my suggestions on what needs to be done to prepare for such an outing – A Walker’s Alphabet: Adventures on the long-distance footpaths of Great Britain – published in 2010 and available from the publisher at www.authorhouse.co.uk or from www.authorhouse.com or from www.amazon.co.uk or from amazon.com You can always let me how you got on by leaving a note via the Contact Page.

The journal entries which follow replicate the order most people undertake when they do the route.

Day 1: Tralee to Camp – 11 miles

Day 2: Camp to Anascaul – 11 miles

Day 3: Anascaul to Dingle – 12.5 miles

Day 4: Dingle to Slea Head Farm – 11.5 miles

Day 5: Slea Head Farm to An Ghlaise Bheag – 14 miles

Day 6: Ballinknockane to Cloghane – 10 miles

Day 7: Cloghane to Castlegregory ­– 8 mile

Day 8: Castlegregory to Camp – 7 miles