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A couple of miles north round the headland from Dunquin, largely Irish-speaking BALLYFERRITER ( Baile an Fheirtearaigh ) is a lively little village during the summer, though it can be bleak out of season. Its beach, the beautiful Wine Strand, is a great spot for swimming in fine weather. The little lanes running northwards from the village lead to impressive 500ft hilltop walling at Sybil Head and the Three Sisters rock (with the Norman ruins of Castle Sybil built within an older promontory fort); and to Smerwick Harbour and Dun an Oir (the Golden Fort). In September 1580 at Dun an Oir, a band of Italian, Spanish, English and Irish supporters of the rebellion in Munster, backed by papal funds in support of Catholic Ireland against Protestant England, were defeated by the English. The rebels were massacred - men, women and children - as a warning to others. In Ballyferriter itself Corca Dhuibhne Regional Museum (April-Sept daily 10am-5.30pm; other times by appointment; tel 066/915 6100, www.corca-dhuibhne.com ; GBP1.50/?1.95), for all its modest means of presentation, has excellent material on the geology and archaeology of the Dingle Peninsula and is an ideal place to make sense of the surrounding landscape. In addition to providing plenty of information on local prehistoric sites it also has fine examples of cross slabs bearing ogham inscriptions. There's a good cafe at the museum too. Also in the village centre are various accommodation and food options, all within a stone's throw of each other. Tigh Pheig is a genial place which serves good bar food, and the only upmarket restaurant here, Tig an Tobair (open May-Sept, closed Mon; tel 066/915 6404) offers contemporary Irish cooking. Very pleasant en-suite B&B accommodation is available at Murphy's Bar (tel 066/915 6224; GBP40-55/?50.79-69.84), and the Dun an Oir Golf Hotel (tel 066/915 6133; GBP90-110/?114.28-139.67) offers comfortable rooms and a swimming pool. Hostel accommodation is available at An Cat Dubh (The Black Cat), just outside Ballyferriter on the road to Dunquin (closed Oct-April; tel 066/915 6286), which also has a grocery shop attached.
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