Walking the Dingle Way Trail – Route Description
Tralee– Camp 22Km – ascent 200m – Time: 7hrs
The Dingle Way starts in Tralee at the Kerry Museum, winner of the prestigious Museum of the Year award in 2009. In front of you, on the park railings, you will see the sign for the official start of The Dingle Way.
A quick walk through the park to Princes Street then a left turn continues along Princes Quay and on to a busy roundabout. Turning right here will send you on the Dingle Way as the trail quickly joins the gentle curve of the canal path for 2km to Blennerville.
This section ends at the bridge opposite the Windmill and continues through Blennerville on the N86 (Dingle Road) and crosses the canal. Take the second left turn, following some quiet country roads, gradually rising up the Slieve Mish mountain range. Watch out, after 3kms, you will come to Tonavane Cross, turn west and onto open moorland.
This following section is marshy so wear gaiters, watch your footing and have extra socks!
We are now entering an ancient glacial landscape of deep valleys and streams easily crossed by bridges or stepping stones.
Interesting features to watch out for:
- Mt Brandon in the distance
- A Victorian (19th C) reservoir which once provided a water supply to the town of Tralee.
- A hedge lined stone path that was the original Tralee to Dingle road.
- The preserved ruins of Killelton Oratory, roofless yet peaceful.
- Camp is the English name translated from the Gaelic “An Com”, the hollow, and refers to its topographical position.
This section of the path is part of a working farm so can be mucky at times. Cross several styles until you come to a road. This final section descends into a green valley, crossing the Finglas River and up a short stretch till you meet a small road.
IMPORTANT: This is the point where the circuit of the Dingle Way crosses on its way back to Tralee. The turn to the right leads downhill to Camp Village (1km). The road straight ahead continues in the direction of Dingle.
Take the right turn into the village of Camp – a village in two halves, Upper and Lower, both along the busy main road.
Camp – Annascaul 17Km – ascent 270m – 7 hrs
This next section is along local roads and we re-join the trail to the west of the Finglas river crossing, gradually emerging out of the valley.
- Views of Caherconree Mountain (835m) and an impressive megalithic fort perched close to its top are behind you to the east. Caherconree is a stone fortress with a defending wall 350 feet long and 14 feet thick. Tradition tells how the fort was built and magically defended by Cu Raoí, a magical figure who carried off Cu Chulainn’s girlfriend, Blathnaid.
- Watch out for turf cuttings by local farmers in this area.
- Small coniferous forest
This forest continues for 2kms where it joins a small road heading south. The Emlagh River may be so noisy you will have to shout!
The Way follows this road for a short time before it crosses the Emlagh River and turns up a short, steep, rough track and gradually turns west, revealing the beautiful Inch Beach featured in the 1970 movie, Ryan’s Daughter. This beach is 6km of clean, golden sand and can busy at times but undoubtedly put Ireland on the tourist map of the world when Sarah Miles, Robert Mitchum and Christopher Jones walked upon its empty shores in 1970.
This is a perfect place to stop for a picnic!
Continuing along the trail, you will ascend behind a row of sea-facing houses and continue along small roads (plus crossing a small field).
The old boreen passes across newer roads and through woodland copses before joining the long, straight road, quite unusual for the area, which heads down into the village of Annascaul.
- Great view of Lough Anscaul in a striking U-shaped glacial valley.
- Ancient Standing Stones
- Check out The South Pole Inn. Once owned by Tom Crean of Antarctic fame. Not as famous as his peers, Shackleton and Scott but hugely respected by both. He was noted for his strength and bravery (awarded the Albert Cross) and his feats have only recently gained fame and recognition. You will find lots of memorabilia in his pub!
Annascaul – Dingle 19Km – Ascent 220m – Time: 8hrs
Leaving Annascaul along the busy Tralee Dingle road before taking a much quieter road for 4 kms before descending to the sea and the ruin of 16thC Minard Castle. This quiet beach has fabulous views across the sound to the Ring of Kerry.
Departing the strand, up a steep narrow path and onto some classic Kerry boreens through farmland for about 6kms.
- Bothair (Bow-her) is the Irish for road and boreen is a small road – een being the diminutive in the Irish language.
- Minard Castle, mostly destroyed by Cromwell’s army in 1650. They detonated three corners of the building and it remained standing. However, all the inhabitants were killed and the structural damage was such that it was uninhabitable.
Please be careful here, follow your map and do not follow The Tom Crean Trail.
As you approach Lispole, you will see the peaks of Croaghskearda (608m) and An Cnapán Mór (649m) in front of you. You will now cross the N86 road, heading for Croaghskearda Mountain. The trail follows a minor road for about 2kms rising onto the lower slopes of the mountain. This stretch lasts for about 5kms through farmland and sometimes you will need your gaiters because it can get mucky. Since it is farmland expect to come across cows and sheep.
You will soon cross the Garfinny River and, heading in a south westerly direction, you will head straight for the town of Dingle.
The trail crosses the famous Conor Pass before descending into Dingle (4kms) and from here you will see the most perfect views of Dingle and its bay.
Dingle to Dunquin 20Km – Ascent 370m – 7hrs
Watch out for:
- As you leave Dingle, on the left you’ll see a row of humble “two up and two down” flats from a 1908 affordable housing government initiative. Today, even these little places would cost more than €250,000.
- The Milltown River B&B was where Robert Mitchum stayed while filming Ryan’s Daughter.
- Look out for Fungie, the Dolphin.
Departing Dingle, heading west over the Milltown River bridge, you will only be on this main road (R559) for one km when you turn off into a farming area. Please take notice at this point. After about 3kms, the Dingle Way signposts and the OSI map diverge. Please follow the signposts.
Now you take the quiet back road to Ventry heading in a north westerly direction, cross country for 1.5km. After passing over a saddle at Mám an Óraigh, the trail descends to meet a minor road which approaches Ventry from the north. This is the first of the Dingle Way beaches which you will walk on this trail. Ventry beach is 2.5km long before you reach firmer ground.
- Skellig Michael contains the rocky remains of a sixth-century monastic settlement.
- Next to it is a smaller island, Little Skellig—a breeding ground for gannets (seagull-like birds with six-foot wingspans).
- In 1866, the first transatlantic cable was laid from nearby Valentia Island to Canada’s Newfoundland. It was in use until 1965.
- Taisteal go Mall means “go slowly”; there’s a red-colored, two-room schoolhouse on the right (20 students, two teachers). During the summer, it’s used for Gaelic courses for kids from the big cities.
- The circular mound (that looks like an elevated hedge) on the right is a late–Stone Age ring fort. In 500 B.C., it was a petty Celtic chieftain’s headquarters, a stone-and-earth stockade filled with little stone houses. These survived untouched through the centuries because of superstitious beliefs that they were “fairy forts.” While this site is unexcavated, recent digging has shown that people have lived on this peninsula since well before 4000 B.C.
Following the road for 2kms, the Dingle Way connects with the Slea Head road. Please ignore the OSI map (access issues on Cill Mhic an Domhnaigh.) Walkers must take the detour along the road for a little over a kilometre.
As you continue along this busy tarmac road, please be careful to walk in single file. It is a popular scenic drive and there are no banks or ditches for you to step onto out of the way of oncoming traffic.
Always walk on the outer side of a bend in the road to allow drivers greater time to see you. After this long bend in the road, a lane to the right will lead back up to the Dingle Way as it is shown on the map.
This road continues for 7 kms with some of the most spectacular scenery you can hope to find. The trail skirts Mount Eagle and you will soon see the Blasket Islands as you round Slea Head.
- Clochains – Beehive huts – all over the mountainside.
- Blasket Islands – the most westerly point in Europe.
- Out to sea lie the Blasket Islands. The profile of Inis Tuaisceart (‘Northern Island’) is like a giant sleeping in the sea and is called The Irish name for the giant is An Fear Marbh ‘The Dead Man’
- Ahead, on the right, study the top fields, untouched since the planting of 1845, when the potatoes didn’t grow, but rotted in the ground. The faint vertical ridges of the potato beds can still be seen—a reminder of the famine (easier to see a bit later). Before the famine, 40,000 people lived on this peninsula. After the famine, the population was so small that there was never again a need to farm so high up. Today, only 10,000 live on the peninsula.
The last 3 km to the famous Dunquin pier is along the main narrow tourist road so caution is advised again.
Island-farmers—who on a calm day could row across in 30 minutes—would dock here and hike 12 miles into Dingle to sell their produce.
The next turn brings you to the Village of Dunquin, and the Heritage Centre where the story of the Blasket Islands can be found. The scattered village of Dunquin (Dun Chaoin) has many ruined rock homes abandoned during the famine.
Dunquin – Ballydavid – 16Km – Ascent 100m – 7 hrs
- The bamboo-like rushes on either side of the road are the kind used to make the local thatched roofs. Thatching, which nearly died out because of the fire danger, is more popular now that anti-flame treatments are available. It’s not a cheap roofing alternative, however, as it’s expensive to pay the few qualified craftsman thatchers that remain in Ireland.
- The field systems – The seaweed was used to make formerly worthless land arable. (Seaweed is a natural source of potash—it’s organic farming, before it was trendy.)
- Look above at the patches of land slowly made into farmland by the inhabitants of this westernmost piece of Europe. Rocks were cleared and piled into fences. Sand and seaweed were laid on the clay, and in time it was good for grass. The created land, if at all tillable, was generally used for growing potatoes; otherwise, it was only good for grazing. Much has fallen out of use now.
- You can see more good examples of land reclamation, patch by patch, climbing up the hillside.
The road leading out of Dunquin starts with a brisk uphill walk. Heading due north the trail turns into a gravel path and then rounds the shoulder of An Ghráig at 120m above sea-level. The route then descends and joins back up with the main road.
Watch out for: The pottery studio of Louis Mulcahy is on this road and is certainly worth a visit.
Following the signs, you are soon crossing grasslands with the pretty Clogher Beach on your left. The Dingle Way follows some cliffs with the powerful Atlantic waves below your path. Arriving back on tarmac and proceeding in a north-easterly direction, the trail soon comes to a T-junction where there has been a change recently.
Ordnance Survey publications show the Dingle Way taking a left turn pointing in the direction of Ferriters Cove where the revised trail should now take a right followed by an immediate left and travelling up the east side of the golf course instead of the west.
- Watch out for: Dun an Oir, this unlikely looking, eroding spit of land saw a horrific massacre of Italian and Spanish troops and Irish men at the hands of the English in 1580. The field of the massacre is now known locally as Gort a Ghearradh (the Field of the Cutting) while the field where the heads were buried bears the name Gort na gCeann (the Field of the Heads).
Walking around Smerwick Harbour, the Dingle Way treads nearly six kilometers of beach and bypasses Ballyferriter before finally reaching Murreagh and Ballydavid.
Ballydavid – Cloghane – 19Km – Ascent 670m – 8 hrs
Leaving Ballydvid, the trail takes in a larger section of cliff-walk for about 3 kilometers in total before it starts to head back inland, rejoining the road at Glashabeg. Once having passed through the area of Feohanagh, the Brandon Mountain now dominates the next section of the Dingle Way as the cliffs of Ballydavid Head rise up above the road to the north-west and block the view of the sea. The quiet country road gradually weaves its way to the base of this majestic mountain.
Following the trail, you now have a long stiff climb up to the saddle between Masatiompan (763m) and Piaras Mor (748m).
Watch out for: A stile crossing a fence with an Ogham Stone which is a boundary marker dating from 500AD.
The descent from this section can by mucky after wet weather. Sticks and gaiters are recommended. There is a 2km section of gravel path following by a gradual gradient as it works its way down the valley for about 4kms before meeting the road.
Following the signs, you now take the 4km loop into Brandon village which is literally the end of the road and wonderfully quiet and isolated. There are two pubs right on the seafront and a great place for a break.
The final stage of this section sees the Dingle Way leaving the pier at Brandon and heading south-west across lanes for just over 6km before finally making it to Cloghane Village.
Cloughane to Castlegregory: 29K – Ascent – 50m – 7 hrs
The Dingle Way leaves Cloghane via a quiet road that briefly makes its way inland and skirts Drom hill to the north, with impressive views of glacial valleys to the south. After about 3.5km, this road goes through Drom and Farrendalouge and emerges back on the sea-front at Fermoyle Beach. Contrasting to yesterday’s mountain terrain, this stunning beach is your route for most of the way to Castlegregory.
- Watch out for The Maharee Islands in Brandon Bay on your left
- Fermoyle House, an 18th C estate house where Sarah Miles and Robert Bolt (screenwriter) stayed while filming Ryans Daughter in Dingle.
Be careful on this beach because several streams flow across the beach and can be deep and fast after rain.
Reaching the top of the strand the trail passes through the small village of Fahamore where there are two welcoming pubs for a drink and a bite to eat. The trail curves around the elegantly named, Scraggane Bay to the north before starting to come back down the eastern side of the loop along another stretch of beach for about 2.5km. The trail then takes back to the final stretch of tarmac road to lead into Castlegregory to the south.
Transfer to Camp / Tralee
Public transport can be organised locally from Castlegregory back to Camp or Tralee at an extra cost.
