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The first village of interest west of Dingle is tiny VENTRY ( Ceann Tra ) five miles further on, once the main port of the peninsula and another fine natural harbour: a wide curve of sandy beach beneath the enormous, gnarled shoulder of Mount Eagle, dropping almost sheer to the sea with only a precarious ledge for the road. It's in the inhospitable surroundings on the stretch out from Ventry to Slea Head that the main concentration of ancient monuments can be found. What follows here can only be an introduction to the major sites; the minor ones alone could take weeks to explore. A good local map , such as the one available at the tourist office, is essential for exploring minor sites, while several excellent guides to the peninsula exist for real enthusiasts (available at bookshops in Dingle town). First off there's the spectacular Dun Beag (dating from the eighth or ninth century AD), a scramble down from the road towards the ocean about three to four miles out from Ventry (entry GBP1/?1.27). A promontory fort, its defences include four earthen rings, with an underground escape route, or souterrain, by the main entrance. It's a magical location, overlooking the open sea and the Iveragh Peninsula, the drama of its setting only increased by the fact that some of the building has fallen off into the sea. Between Dun Beag and Slea Head , the hillside above the road is studded with stone beehive huts, cave dwellings, souterrains, forts, churches, standing stones and crosses - over five hundred in all. The beehive huts can be deceptive - they were still being built and used for storing farm tools and produce until the late nineteenth century, so not all of them are as old as they look. But once you're standing among genuinely ancient buildings like the signposted Fahan group (entry GBP1/?1.27) and looking south over a landscape that's remained essentially unchanged for centuries, the Iveragh Peninsula and the two Skellig Islands in the distance, you get a strong sense of past lives. Ventry itself consists of a sprinkling of houses with, at the east end of the bay, a shop, post office, pub and a few accommodation options. Up the lane past the post office are Ceann Tra Heights (tel 066/915 9866; GBP40-55/?50.79-69.84) and The Plough (tel 066/915 9727; GBP33-40/?41.90-50.79), two B&Bs which are worth trying. The very comfortable Bally Beag Hostel , signposted from the main road at the turning for Ballyferriter (tel 066/915 9876), has dorms, family and twin rooms (under GBP26/?33.01), and offers bike rental, laundry facilities and also gives lifts to and from Dingle. Penny's Pottery Cafe (summer only) is a good spot for inexpensive coffee, cakes, crumbles and baguettes. At the west end of Ventry is Paid O Se's , a bar noted for traditional music sessions which also serves food . Just west of Ventry is the Celtic and Prehistoric Museum (May-Sept daily 10am-5.30pm; phone at other times; tel 066/915 9941; GBP3/?3.81), a small up-beat family-run museum which boasts a large nest of dinosaur eggs, beautiful Celtic jewellery and the only woolly mammoth skull fossil in Ireland - complete with huge curling tusks and affectionately named Milly. Try and take one of their personalized tours in which your enthusiastic guide will encourage you to handle Neolithic flint axes and will tell tales of local mythology. There's a pleasant tea room on site here too.
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