Iveragh Peninsula!!

I spent most of Monday sitting my computer proofing my thesis, so I probably did see as much of the beautiful Iveragh Peninsula as I should have. But I can still report on this lovely left arm of the Ring of Kerry (the Dingle Peninsula being the right arm). Together they form a hug!

You can kind of see said arms in this video:

If I were to list the other places we went on Monday, it would look something like this:

Daniel O’Connell Memorial Park



Cahergall Stone Fort

Daniel O’Connell Cathedral (supposedly the only cathedral not named for a saint*)



Derrynane, Daniel O’Connell’s country home

We exchanged hoods! Yeah, I didn't get a great picture of the house.

Ruined Abbey, where Daniel O’Connell buried his beloved Mary (after she died, of course)


As you can see, it was Daniel O’Connell Day here on the Ireland Study Abroad. He was pretty great. He got Catholic Emancipation for Ireland while he was in Parliament. He was also famously pacifist after he killed a man in a duel that he was forced into. O’Connell was once arrested for “sedition,” and while he was in prison, he wrote to his supporters asking them to “be perfectly peaceable,” lest the English have further reason to be angry with them.

At the Abbey, I had the distinction of being the one to find Mary’s tomb. It was the big one in the corner.


Marc bought lunch on this day. Thanks, Marc! My burger was delicious. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of that.

* A pious old lady in Lexington, VA once said “There are only two Episcopal churches not named after saints. Robert E. Lee Episcopal is not one of them.” I wonder if the Irish feel the same way about Daniel O’Connell Cathedral.