The Town
Essentially just a few streets by the side of Dingle Bay, the town has a hugely impressive natural harbour where the boats come in and Fungi the dolphin likes to play; half-tame Fungi is one of Dingle's main tourist attractions. It may sound silly, but there are people who talk of their meetings with this solitary, 663lb maritime mammal in the terms of a religious conversion, and others travel hundreds of miles just to see him. If you want to go for an early-morning dip with him, check out Flannery's beside the tourist office (tel 066/915 1967; two-hour boat trip GBP10/?12.70, wet suit hire GBP14/?17.78) - boats depart at 8am and you will need to be measured for a wet suit the day before. Flannery's also offer boat trips out to see him (tel 066/915 2626). Alternatively, you can walk down to the coast via the lane alongside the Skellig Hotel and watch him from the shore - Fungi often comes in this far. There are plenty of other ways to get out onto - if not into - the water from Dingle, including Eco archeological boat trips, which head along the coast, the guide explaining the flora, fauna and history of the peninsula as you go (2-2hr 30min; tel 087/285 8802; GBP15/?19.05). All trips depart from the quays throughout the summer; the length of the season depends on the weather. The solidity of the town's colour-washed houses suggests this was a place of some consequence, and Dingle was indeed Kerry's leading port in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It later became a centre for smuggling, and at one stage during the eighteenth century (when the revenue from smuggling was at its height) even minted its own coinage. Contemporary reports describe the stone houses with balconies and oval windows, imparting a Spanish feel to the town. In the nineteenth century, Dingle was the focus of a uniquely successful attempt to woo the Kerry Catholics from their faith, when in 1831 the Protestant curate T. Goodman began preaching in Irish, establishing schools on the peninsula and building houses as inducements for converts; these still stand at the edge of town
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