A Caterham Seven Blog

The River Suir flowing over the weir below Cahir Castle

Ireland Campervan Trip — Day 20: Castlegregory to Cahir

Posted

in

,

by

John Martin

Tags:

Post Views: 1
Route map showing the Day 20 drive from Castlegregory and the Maharees to Cahir
Day 20 — Castlegregory to Cahir

Nice and sunny this morning.

Ollie parked in the sunny garden at Cloghaneanode
A bright start to the journey home

First stop was in Castlegregory for a coffee where we got chatting to a Dad from Whitby and his two kids.

The green-painted Blow-In Coffee building in Castlegregory
Coffee in Castlegregory

We were looking to take a look at the beaches on the Maharees Peninsula and the girl in the coffee shop suggested we could drive all the way out towards the end, which we did.

The mountains of the Dingle Peninsula seen across the water from the Maharees
Looking back across Brandon Bay
A wide panorama of the beach and mountains from the Maharees Peninsula
The Dingle mountains from the Maharees
People sitting among rocks beside the calm blue water at the Maharees
A final stop on Ireland’s west coast
Sue and John on the beach with the Dingle mountains behind
A sunny Maharees selfie
Ollie parked beside the rocky shoreline at the end of the Maharees road
As far along the Maharees as Ollie was going

And that was it for the Dingle Peninsula and the west coast of Ireland. We’re heading home now.

Cahir

We decided to now break our trip home into two. Drive to Cahir (pronounced “care”) today (Sunday), then to the ferry port via Waterford tomorrow.

We’d seen that Cahir has a 13th-century castle that’s worth a look so that was our destination to start with and then we’d go and find our campsite in the area. Then tomorow we drive the second leg to the ferry.

The castle car park was rammed, and in any case there weren’t any bays that we would have fitted in anyway. So we went across the road from the castle to the SuperValu where they said customers could park and where we found a corner bay with loads of overhang space at the back. We also bought lunch for today, something for the evening and something for the ferry tomorrow.

The River Suir flowing over the weir below Cahir Castle
The weir in Cahir
A grey heron standing in the shallow River Suir below the weir
There were plenty of pickings in the river for this guy
A church spire seen across the River Suir from the weir in Cahir
The view towards the church from the weir
A round stone tower rising above the entrance to Cahir Castle
Entering Cahir Castle

We hitched on the back of a tour that had just started and got half an hour or so of commentary from Rob of London.

Tour guide Rob talking to visitors inside the entrance to Cahir Castle
Joining Rob’s castle tour
A stone tower and arched doorway inside Cahir Castle
Inside the castle walls
Rob addressing the tour beside an arched doorway in Cahir Castle
Beware the pigeons from above
Visitors listening to Rob in the courtyard of Cahir Castle
Rob entertaining the castle tour

Sue thought Rob was “a bit much” but I liked the jokes and his delivery was comedy without being Disney-cringe.

I think they took a leaf out of Michael Bentine’s Potty Time to make this model.

A detailed scale model showing Cahir Castle and the surrounding river
The slightly Potty Time model of Cahir Castle

Apparently they’d tried all sorts to stop the pigeons.

Pigeons perched along spikes high on the walls of Cahir Castle
The pigeons remained unconvinced by the deterrents

The Apple Camping and Caravan Park

N24 near Cahir.

This site is attached to an apple orchard and processing site. They make their own apple juice and cider. There’s lots of hardstanding for campervans and motorhomes, electric pitches, grey- and black-water disposal, and drinking water. The showers weren’t super high pressure but the water was warm. The loos were clean but tired. Loo paper, seats and soap: 6/10.

Ollie parked on a hardstanding pitch among the trees at the Apple Farm
Our pitch at the Apple Camping and Caravan Park
Tables, chairs and kitchen facilities inside the campsite's open-sided shed
Inside the camping shed

They also sold the best strawberries we’ve had in a long time.

Sue and John eating bowls of strawberries beside Ollie
Those strawberries disappeared quickly
A wide evening view across the pitches at the Apple Farm campsite
Evening at the Apple Camping and Caravan Park
Campervans and the camping shed seen across the darkening campsite
The camping shed in the distance

Nice site.

Tomorrow we head to the ferry via Waterford.

Comments

Leave a Comment