Over the course of three bus rides, our merry band made its way from Galway to Dingle. We are now staying at a bed and breakfast in the biggest (and only) town on the Dingle Peninsula, in the south-east of Ireland. This small tourist town has a population of approximately 1,920, and the main industries here are fishing, agriculture, and tourism.
The town is located on the Dingle Bay in County Kerry, and was used as a shipping port for goods as far back as the 1200s. By the 1500s, Dingle was one of Ireland's main trading posts and traveling ports. It was often used by pilgrims heading off to Spain to visit the Shrine of St. James at Santiago de Compostela in the north of Spain. Dingle continued to be used as a port of entry into Ireland. In the 1560s, the town's economy flourished thanks to its monopoly on wine import. Later in the 1500s, the Dingle Port was used as the invasion port for the Second Desmond Rebellion. In the 1600s, the town was granted a charter to build walls around it, though this did not stop the town from being sacked and attacked several different times, especially during the Nine Years War. It has since been completely rebuilt, thanks to the influx of money from fishing and tourism.
This is really a beautiful town, and I look forward to seeing more of it in the last week of our maymester!
This is really a beautiful town, and I look forward to seeing more of it in the last week of our maymester!