Dún Chaoin
Dún Chaoin ( Anglicised Dunquin ) is a small town with 159 inhabitants (as of 2006) in the far west of Ireland . Dún Chaoin is located in County Kerry on the western tip of the Dingle Peninsula on Slea Head Drive. The place is, apart from a few smaller islands, the most westerly place in the British Isles . The westernmost pub in Europe is also located in Dún Chaoin .
The Irish name Dún, also Anglicised Doon, with the meaning "fortification" goes back to a Bronze Age or Iron Age system made of dry masonry. Dún Chaoin is located in a Gaeltacht region.
Personalities
Dún Chaoin is famous as the birthplace of the Irish-speaking author Peig Sayers . From the place you have a breathtaking view of the Blasket Islands ; Peig Sayers got married on Great Blasket Island and wrote the book "An old woman's reflections". Her burial place can be found in the cemetery on the road from Dunmore Head to Dún Chaoin.
Other well-known residents included Tomás Ó Criomhthain , who was born on the Great Blasket in 1856 and died there in 1937. In 1926 he wrote the book "An tÓileanach" (The Islandman - The Boats Do Not Go Out), which was published in Dublin in 1937 . In it he describes the arduous life of the islanders autobiographically in Gaelic . The book was later translated into English by one of his confidants, Robin Flower. Probably the most striking sentence appears in the epilogue: “… for the like of us will never be again” (people like us will never be there again). His grave can be found in the cemetery below the small church in Dún Chaoin.
Transport links
Dún Chaoin is located on Slea Head Drive, a scenic road in western Dingle. A few days a week the town is served by a bus route that provides connections to An Daingean and neighboring villages.
Attractions
From Dún Chaoin there is a ferry connection to the Blasket Islands, which were inhabited until the 1950s. A museum in the village, the Blasket Heritage Center, tells the story of these islands as well as the Irish writers who described the hard life of the islanders. Also worth seeing is the schoolhouse that was built for the movie Ryan's Daughter (original title Ryan's Daughter ); David Lean made the film in 1969. The actual schoolhouse is a very small house with only two classrooms; the language of instruction is Irish.
literature
- JH Brennan: A guide to megalithic Ireland Aquarian Press 1994 ISBN 1-85538-270-9 p. 89
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ N , 10 ° 27 ′ W