Day 19 Dingle, Ireland

A good day exploring the Dingle Peninsula, south west of Killarney on the Atlantic Coast. The day started off very mild but cool. Our drive took us quickly onto narrow country roads, and we were soon driving with the Atlantic Sea to our left. We first came to Castlemaine, an area we had previously visited as the Griffin family came from this area. We remembered the Old Keel Burial Ground and showed Alanna the gravestone of our ancestor, Michael Griffin which we had seen in 2018. We arrived in Inch where there was a surf beach, and surprisingly several people were having their mid winter swim. Well it was 7 degrees! There were actually lots of people at the beach and many cars had driven down onto the beach itself. We carried onto Dingle, a delightful old seaside village. To our surprise there were crowds gathered on the street and a lot of noise. It turned out we had arrived in time for a celebration called La an Dreoilin (the day of the wren) which was once practiced throughout Ireland. Groups of disguised musicians and dancers went from door to door, or from pub to pub, collecting money or offerings of food. On a bush decorated with ribbons (preferably a holly bush), they hung the wren or wrens that had been hunted and killed earlier that day reciting a rhyme that began:
The wran, the wran
the king of all birds
On Stephen's Day
Each of the main groups from the separate areas of the town has a Captain, hobbyhorse, banner, strawboys, band of musicians and followers, who usually dress in the colours of their groups. The entire day is devoted to its celebration, starting with the 6 a.m. musical parade through town. It was fascinating , and yet another old tradition that we have witnessed in the UK. We detoured to the Dingle Pub for a lovely drink and then wandered back slowly to the car, viewing yet more groups which were part of the parade. I drove back the hour and a half to Killarney, by which time it was raining and the wild Atlantic Way really did seem wild! We had a dinner of left overs before an early night.Leggi altro