Beara. Magical Beara.

Remember the night I was to escape with my friends and the ‘Beast from the East’ scuppered our plans with many feet of snow? Well we rescheduled and yesterday ran away.

Once again, being Ireland, you can’t predict the weather and for the second time in a row I managed to defy the odds and get an amazing day, with rare blue skies and warm temperatures.

While I do sometimes despair why I live in Ireland, days such as yesterday wipe it’s bad weather sins away.

This was the view from the house, across to Bere Island.

As it was very warm we stocked the fridge well with Prosecco, Gin and wine, and of course milk for a little tea.

Shortly after arriving we made our way for to Dunboy Castle. It was a ruin which was re-built a few years ago, before the economy went belly up, but was never finished.

And this is the stunning vista it looks out onto.

As we walked along we passed the ruins of a castle last inhabited in the late 1600’s. What tales this place could tell?

Finally we settled near the headland where we sat on the only bench there is, enjoying stunning views, without once meeting another soul.

I can’t tell you if there was a couple of bottles of Prosecco shared but if there was, can you imagine a more magical place to hang out for a few hours with great friends?

And what better way to finish the day but eating the freshest of fish in the beautiful Ocean Way restaurant, followed by a night of music in Mc Carthy’s bar.

I’ll leave it up to your imaginations as to how late we stayed or whether we helped the singer out with few tunes of our own!

If you ever get to visit magical Beara in West Cork, Mc Carthy’s bar is a must see. It’s so much more than just a bar. I doubt you will ever experience another bar anywhere quite like it. First established in 1860 it continues to be run by the same family. I’ll put a link here to their website which is worth a look for the photos and the history, and yes this is exactly what it looks like, with it’s little snug and shop as it always has been.

McCarthy’s Bar, Castletownbere. West Cork.

Photo credit via McCarthy’s Bar.