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Home , Ballinskelligs, Cromane, Dingle, Dingle Bay, Dunquin, The Black Valley

MARCH MADNESS we bracket the college towns

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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 THE SIZZLE OF SEVILLE PAGE 30 8 HOTEL TRENDS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT PAGE 58 IS TRAVEL INSURANCE WORTH IT? PAGE 18 TORONTO SMART TRAVELER HEATS UP SILICON PAGE 43 VALLEY TOUR FOR DUMMIES

PAGE 23 RETURN TO A ¬ourney Home Traveler Geographic National 48 mountain. Ireland’s tallest , take abreak on Guerin (inred) Hikers ledby John IRELAND A SON FOR

PHOTO CREDIT PHOTO CREDIT IRELAND IN THE LYRICAL KERRY, HILLS OF COUNTY A SONG FOR ANDREW M C CARTHY FINDS HIS CLAN BY ANDREW MC CARTHY

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVE YODER

everal miles from the sea in the west of Ireland, outside the market town of , along county road 555, a path cuts into the overgrowth and up the hill- Sside. I almost miss it. There is no street sign, no marking of any kind. High hedges bound the single lane—brambles brush both sides of the car as I drive past. Occasionally there’s a break in the wild growth, and green fields speckled with brown and white cows come into view. This is the of Lacca West. The vista in this part of north Kerry is surpris- ingly vast and looks out toward Ballybunnion and the —America beyond. The road tracks the hills for so long without a house in sight that I become convinced I’ve come the wrong way. But with no way to turn the car, I drive on. Then ahead, on my left, a small yellow cottage, with two square win- dows set deep in thick walls. Standing on the three-step concrete stoop, and spilling down into the drive, are two dozen people—old women, strapping men, young kids. I’ve never seen any of them before. This is my family.

TRACING GENEALOGY, the search for roots, has a long tradition—and has become big business. Information gathering that was once a painstaking, sometimes needle-in-a-haystack ordeal, with false leads culmi- nating in frustrating dead ends, or hours spent sifting through crumbling church records in musty basements, has been reduced to a few mouse clicks. My own relationship to my Irish heritage had always been one of casual pride and affectionate, if uninformed, identification. When people asked what part of Ireland

50 National Geographic Traveler Climbing Carrauntoohil, Ireland’s Climbingtallest Carrauntoohil, mountain. An Inside impromptu Ireland’s the J. Currantallest mountain. pub in ,song Inside delightsIreland, the J. JamesCurran Curran pub in pubgoersleafs Dingle, through Ireland,at Dick old Jamesletters Curran and Mack’s, mementosleafs through in Dingle. dating old backletters to times and of mementos Irish emigration. dating back to times of Irish emigration. Andrew McCarthy, wearing a Kerry football jersey they gifted him, gets to know members of his extended family in the town of Lacca West (above). Tradition holds that 16th-century Ballycarbery Castle (below), near the , belonged to the McCarthy clan.

52 National Geographic Traveler my people hailed from, “Cork” was always my answer. Yet I suddenly revealed to be false. I was not from Cork at all, as I’d had no idea exactly where my clan called home. Yes, a great long boasted, but was, in fact, a Kerry man—the brunt of end- many McCarthys came from the southern part of the country, less Irish jokes. Only this time, the joke was on me. but that was as much proof as I had. The only information I I was from the townland of Lacca West in North Kerry, a few ever got from my father was “Pop’s father came from Ireland, a miles south of Listowel, in the Catholic parish of . Not long time ago.” No one, it appeared, was interested in knowing only that, but Nigel had identified 14 of my great-grandfather’s more and, in truth, neither was I. brothers and sisters, and tracked a fair number of their mar- “I’ve got enough family,” I would always quip. “I don’t need riages. Add to this, he had ascertained the exact location of to go looking for more trouble.” the old homestead—most probably, he suggested, in ruins now. No matter how much my Dublin-born wife tried to con- If it was true that Nigel had been able to locate the homesite, vince me that roots and continuity were not only important I’d be able to go and walk the land that my great-grandfather but among the most valuable things in life, I resisted. had walked before he left Ireland for good and came to America. Then one day recently I was looking through old e-mails and The idea suddenly thrilled me. accidentally came upon correspondence from a woman named But there was work to do first. Michelle in Dunmanway, Ireland, about a planned gathering I had been a Cork man for all these years, or so I’d thought. of the McCarthy clan in Cork. She had also offered to put me If I was to embrace my new heritage, some changes in attitude in touch with people who could help trace my own par- ticular roots. I had missed the gathering, but now, I decided to reach THE DINGLE IS PREDOMINANTLY out. I thought, simply, why not? I was told to gather as much information on my father’s IRISH-SPEAKING. IT IS REMOTE, lineage as possible. That didn’t take long. There wasn’t INSULAR. YOU DON’T GET TO much: just a photocopy of an old marriage registry stating that in Jersey City, New Jersey, on August 19, 1885, laborer DINGLE BY ACCIDENT; IT IS ON John McCarthy, “born 1857 (?)” in Ireland, son of Cornelius THE WAY TO NOTHING BUT ITSELF. McCarthy and Mary Nolan, married Catherine O’Brian, born in Ireland “in 1857 (?)” at St. Joseph’s Church. There was no indication where they met, or if John’s parents, my needed to happen. I must get to know my home county, I con- great-great-grandparents, ever left Ireland. I knew that John cluded, before I walked my homeland. The best course of action and Catherine had three children, Cornelius, Johanna, and my would be to get an overview of the situation—from atop the grandfather, John, born July 10, 1890. highest mountain in Ireland. Without much optimism, I forwarded the little I had to Nigel McCarthy, who lived in England and was an amateur CARRAUNTOOHIL is tucked into the heart of the Macgillycuddy’s genealogist. He took the scant information and suggested I Reeks Range, just beyond the borders of National do a DNA test to see if it would provide any tangible results. Park, Ireland’s first such protected land. The area has long The report that came back—labeled in codes like SNP R-DF5 been one of the country’s premier tourist destinations—for that and R-CTS365—was complete double Dutch to me, even after reason alone, I always gave it a wide berth. But tourist destina- McCarthy’s explanation. The only thing I took away from my tions become popular for a reason, and in a land of wild and DNA trace was that there was a good chance I was related to rugged green spaces, Killarney is among the most audacious. Billy the Kid, as well as to a member of the Wild Bunch and Grand blue lakes reflect jagged mountains bulging up under Jesse James. At least my fascination with the Wild West had restless skies. been explained. In the town of Killarney I purchase a thick Aran sweater Then came news. I was told I would need for my hike up 3,415-foot-tall And the news was a shock. Carrauntoohil. I had assumed the trek to the top would be lit- Nigel McCarthy had located my people, he was almost posi- tle more than a stroll, but local knowledge warned otherwise. tive. It looked very much as if—using the Catholic Church’s Everyone from the store clerk to my father-in-law (“People die baptism, and marriage and death records—my family could up there, Andrew. Are you sure you’re fit enough?”) warned of be traced back to the house of my great-great-grandfather, the the perils of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks. I dismissed this notion place John was born and raised until he left for America. And as mere Kerry braggadocio. After all, if I knew just one thing that house, a farm, was located in … . about Kerry folk, it was that in a land of prodigious talkers, Kerry? There must be some mistake, I told McCarthy. “I’m they were among the absolute mightiest. a Cork man!” I insisted. This seems to hold true for John Guerin, the guide I enlist “Apparently not,” he said simply. after being assured the walk is far too treacherous to undertake It was as if I awoke, after a lifetime of supporting the New alone. “People who dismiss these mountains on the basis of York Yankees, to find that my people actually hailed from altitude can find a lot of trouble,” Guerin promises me. Boston, and I was meant to be a Red Sox fan. We hike past mountain lakes and beneath recently sheared What could be worse? Everything I’d been led to believe, sheep clinging to ledges above us. We pass outcrops with names everything I’d led myself to believe, for the past 25 years was like Hag’s Tooth Ridge and avoid the Devil’s Ladder in favor

53 February/March 2015 PHOTO CREDIT A young boy searches rock pools along the 111-mile Ring of Kerry, Ireland’s ultimate scenic drive. At the J. Curran pub, in Dingle, owner James Curran leafs through an old ledger containing mementos from Irish emigrants. His father used to lend money to people heading to America, and kept their repayment letters, photos, and postcards in thick notebooks.

of the scramble up Brother O’Shea’s Gully (named after the I can feel my resistance softening to the idea of Kerry as my monk who lost his life sliding down its steep pitch). Guerin is homeland. How can it not feel right to be connected to all this? discussing the attributes of Kerry men—“There’s a cynicism in And so I set out deeper into Kerry, looking for further the humor, to be sure”—when the bright sky grows suddenly points of identification. Down in , on Main Street, I dark. Rain begins to pelt down, then stops just as quickly, and come upon McCarthy’s Bookstore. In , I fill up my car at the sky is clear again. High up, a silent plane flies over, headed McCarthy’s Garage. And far out on the , past west. Guerin follows my gaze. “Next stop, America.” the westernmost reach of the Ring of Kerry, in , As we scramble higher over coarse scree, Guerin calls over I stumble upon the ruins of a small castle. When I ask a local his shoulder, “When you’re exposed, that wind can knock you barman if he knows the heritage, he shoots back, “You mean right off.” When I step up onto the ridge, a blast of air nearly the old McCarthy castle?” carries me away. Then I head to the . Stretching 30 miles Near the peak, jagged slabs of sandstone shoot up out of out into the Atlantic, Dingle is one of several (pre- the ground like primitive grave markers. A single raven circles dominantly Irish-speaking) regions in Ireland. It is remote, above, then rides a thermal west, over the Black Valley, the last insular. You don’t get to Dingle by accident; it is on the way to place in Ireland to get electricity and phone service, due to its nothing but itself. remoteness, in 1978. The Dingle Peninsula comes into view, The narrow roads grow narrower. The wind is ripping off jutting out into the Atlantic, before being lost in distant haze. Inch Beach, a mile-long stretch of flat sand. In the village of Then it is a gentle march to the top. The summit is demar- , I see nothing written in English. From every shop cated by a large cross. I sit beneath it as the wind blows. The low window, only Gaelic calls out to the passerby. Halfway out, the clouds race overhead, while the land below changes constantly town of Dingle, with a population under 2,000, is the center of in a shadow dance. life. And Dingle buzzes. The sign outside Dick Mack’s pub reads “Pub and Haberdashery.” Inside, the wall to the left holds shelves of ON THE Can’t get enough of Ireland? View an extended photo gallery by IPAD photographer Dave Yoder on assignment in County Kerry. scattered rubber boots and shoes; a few tweed caps hang from Continued on page 68

56 National Geographic Traveler THE INSIDER paddywhackery, it’s Northern strangely tasteful. In Ireland To the center of town IRELAND Ballybunnion Ireland’s is the entrance to Dublin Listowel Killarney National AREA ENLARGED County Kerry Park, 26,000 acres Duagh protecting the famous N69 NORTH ATLANTIC KERRY IS THE MOST westerly county in Ireland, lakes and some OCEAN COUNTY with Brooklyn, New York, jokingly referred to of Ireland’s rarest KERRY as “the neighboring parish.” But its people don’t species, including the ula think of it as remote. For them, the rest of the endangered red deer. Penins IRELAND Dingle world is to be pitied for being remote from Kerry. , on the N86 N22 road between Tralee Dingle N72 WHAT TO DO effort. A maximum of and Dingle, ranks Inch Beach Killarney Killarney The Skelligs, by far 180 people are allowed as Ireland’s highest s Carrauntoohil dy’ National cud gilly s the most spectacular on the larger island, mountain pass and Mac eek Park To R ula Black Valley Cork site in Kerry, are two , per boasts a sweeping nins N71 N70 Pe ragh jagged rock islands day. Boats depart view of peaks, islands, Ive Y Kenmare ERR F K jutting sharply out (weather permitting) and the Atlantic. Be Sneem G O RIN of the Atlantic about from Ballinskelligs, warned: The road is Ballinskelligs eight miles offshore. , and very steep, and if it’s Irish priests estab- between raining, the road is all 0 mi 10 lished a monastery April and September. you’ll see. 0 km 10 here between the sixth The Skelligs also make and eighth centuries, an appearance in the WHERE TO STAY where they practiced next Star Wars movie. On the Dingle famous for its fish and Twenty Years a most ascetic form of Killarney is a Peninsula, upscale stew and fresh lobster. A-Growing, by monasticism. Visiting 250-year-old tourist Gorman’s Clifftop Jack’s Coastguard Maurice O’Sullivan. their beehive cells is trap, yet for all the House, in , Restaurant, in John B. Keane’s play difficult but worth the leprechauns and has bright airy rooms , has a The Field was made looking out on the spectacular edge-of- into an Academy Atlantic; from $127. the-world setting in a Award-winning film, Spotless Súgán restored coast guard but he also published ANCESTRY 101 Hostel, in the center station. Less exalted novels. A High WE ARE FAMILY of Killarney, draws but no less wonder- Meadow is his best. To start researching your Irish family backpackers with its ful are Murphy’s history, the first thing you need to know bunk beds and cozy ice cream parlors in ATLAS is what part of the island your ancestors fireplace; from $15. Dingle and Killarney. came from. If you already know, start rum- At the end of the Homemade flavors

maging through the 1901 and 1911 census Iveragh Peninsula, include caramelized Northern records, free at census.nationalarchives.ie. Scarriff Inn captures brown bread, Irish Ireland Otherwise, try www.irishtimes.com/ancestor. a magnificent view coffee (with whiskey), IRELAND Interactive maps show the precise locations Dublin UNITED over the Ring of Kerry and Irish Rain (with KINGDOM Kerry of households of every surname recorded drive to Kenmare Guinness and peat- between 1847 and 1864. For Kerry church River and Bantry Bay; smoked sugar among records, look up www.irishgenealogy.ie. ATLANTIC from $89. the ingredients). OCEAN The castle hotel Parknasilla Resort WHAT TO READ Kerry has won more Gaelic and Spa features 500 The now deserted football trophies (“All- Ireland”) than any other acres of manicured , county in Ireland. MAPPING parkland running off the coast of the along the ocean shore; Dingle Peninsula, The first commercial from $146. produced a crop of monorail in the world, the

Lartigue, ran from Listowel INTERNATIONAL

extraordinarily lucid ; WHERE TO EAT memoirs of the island- to Ballybunnion between 1888 and 1924. Doyle’s, Historic in ers’ lives, including (PEOPLE) Dingle, is (probably) The Islandman, by is home to Andrew McCarthy meets his clan. the best seafood res- Tomás O’Crohan; Fungie, a lone dolphin that YODER

taurant in the county, Peig, by ; interacts with humans. DAVE

57 reported by February/March John Grenham 2015