TAKING HIGH ROADS AND LOW ROADS THROUGH IRELAND : In County Kerry, a farmhouse stay amid ancient monuments and wild landscapes on the Dingle Peninsula

We arrived in County Kerry in a mist. Although it was August, a heavy fog brooded, sealing off sky and scenery, slowing our progress and dampening our spirits. Our apprehensions grew with the gloom. “What if we don’t like it?” I thought, wishing my husband hadn’t made reservations for a whole week. When our rented car reached Lispole, a small community outside Dingle town, we peered through the downpour at the signpost for the farmhouse bed and breakfast accommodation we had booked, then followed a meandering lane for more than two miles up the side of Mt. Strickeen, desolate in the rain.

But the moment we saw the immaculate stucco house, white-washed sheds and neat flower beds, we knew we had worried needlessly. Even in the deluge we could see a field of sheep in front and a herd of handsome black-and-white cattle grazing on the hillside behind. Our hostess, Mary Devane, welcomed us heartily and showed my husband, teen-age daughter and me to our two comfortable rooms.

Next morning, the view completely took our breath away. Gone were the rains and the mists, and in their place a dazzling landscape worthy of legends and high deeds. A vast patchwork of green fields and blue hills, dotted with sheep and hemmed with hedges of flaming fuchsia, stretched as far as the eye could see. Dingle Bay, the Iveragh Peninsula and the Atlantic Ocean lay before us in shining splendor. Like sentinels, the Blasket Islands and Skellig Rocks guarded the horizon, marking the westernmost frontier of Europe. I knew then that a week would be too short.

The Dingle Peninsula, the most northerly of three trailing toes that claw the ocean at the southwestern corner of Ireland, has an extraordinary variety of antiquities and mountain scenery. Dolmens (rock monuments) from the dawn of history, ring forts from early Christianity, monastic settlements, castles, oratories--the millennia are carved boldly on the land. Ancient ogham stones (inscribed in Old Irish), cairns (stone grave mounds), megalithic tombs and beehive-shaped huts sprout all over the countryside like mushrooms after rain.

Since the Stone Age, the region has received waves of invaders: Beakers, Milesians, Celts, Vikings and Anglo-Normans. Today there’s a new wave of invaders: cyclists from Italy, hikers from Germany and Japanese armed with cameras and guidebooks. They are attracted by the wild beauty and rich cultural heritage of this Gaeltacht (Irish speaking) region, one of the few pockets left in Ireland where Gaelic is spoken on a daily basis.

Thanks to a people who are deeply superstitious, the landscape too, has remained unchanged. The prehistoric past is very present today, partly because no Kerry farmer would dare move the stone pillars or ring forts from his fields lest his cattle or sheep be cursed and perish.

One of the local legends is that Noah’s daughter was the first to settle here. But it must have been the Tuatha De Danann, a mythical, magic-wielding people who left their mark of enchantment on the Kingdom of Kerry and its people. They too, arrived in a mist, said to have come in on a cloud and caused an eclipse of the sun. According to the Irish writer Lady Gregory, a contemporary of Yeats, their music could evoke slumber, a fighting spirit, love or sadness. If a warrior lost a limb in battle, their sorcery could fashion a new one out of silver. As the legend goes, upon defeat in battle they went underground to dwell in palaces beneath hills and forts, joining forces with the fairies.

The gentle bleating of sheep, our wake-up call that first morning, echoed across the hillside as tantalizing aromas wafted up from the kitchen. Breakfast was hearty enough for a plowman and fortified us for hours. Hot and cold cereal, as well as bacon, sausages and eggs, were served with homemade bread and fragrant black currant jam and accompanied by lively discussions with our hosts, Kevin and Mary Devane. In the evening we chatted with fellow guests in the lounge--a biochemist and her psychiatrist husband from San Diego, a Canadian restaurateur and his wife, and a handsome Irish farming family from County Roscommon, to the northeast.

Because of its dramatic scenery and sweeping beaches, the Dingle Peninsula has been the location for several movies. “Far and Away,” which featured Tom Cruise, was filmed here. But it was “Ryan’s Daughter,” shot here in 1969, that put Dingle on the map. Mary told us that the David Lean film brought an infusion of money and jobs and, later, tourism to what was an impoverished region. Kevin Devane, in fact, got a job as chauffeur to actress Sarah Miles during the filming.

During our stay in early August, some of the Irish guests had arrived with their horses from as far away as Bundoran and Donegal, in the northwestern corner of Ireland, to compete in the local races. Horse racing is a big sport in Ireland, and people look forward all year to the excitement it brings to small towns. At our remote farmhouse, horse owners felt their animals were safe from drugging by competitors.

“I wish I were as well looked after,” said Mary, laughing. “They get Guinness and eggs for breakfast, and then a drive to the strand (beach) for a swim and canter.” We watched the trainers sponge saltwater off the horses and groom them in the barnyard. One balmy Sunday afternoon, we followed crowds to the local racetrack by the sea and placed our bets on Shady Lady, a horse we had watched being groomed.

We were amused by the informality and carnival atmosphere of the races. A flurry of announcements came over the loudspeaker: “Get that child off the racetrack,” and “We can’t start until that car is moved.” Colorful booths sold toys, brassware, clothes, fish and chips, cotton candy and ice-cream cones, turning the event into a family day. After the big race, a victory celebration took place in a noisy pub, where a great silver trophy cup was filled with Guinness and passed around.

County Kerry, filled with majestic mountains, lakes and ocean scenery, is considered one of the most beautiful in all Ireland. While we were there, the remote towns were teeming with Europeans and very few Americans (who tend to stay in Killarney, to the east), and the sounds of the ancient guttural Irish tongue were mixed with German, Italian and French. English seemed to be the most foreign language. Irish students come each year for six weeks to immerse themselves in their culture, staying in private homes. This was how my husband, Kieran, came to discover the area decades earlier, when he was a freshman at University College Dublin and course requirements obliged him to spend a summer here, speaking Irish every day.

One Sunday morning, after Mass conducted in Gaelic, one of the children’s summer counselors told us wistfully, “A sad day is coming when these children will have to go home.” The Irish take their culture very seriously indeed.

Devane’s Farmhouse was about six miles from Dingle town, and during the days we made forays into the village, where houses and shops are painted in all colors of the rainbow and the signs have Irish lettering. Baskets, barrels and window boxes overflow with a profusion of flowers during the summer, and “tinkers,” or native itinerant people, tell fortunes near the harbor and entertain with music and fire-eating feats. Tourists throng the streets in the evening--a sort of Irish ramblas --and shops stay open until 10 o’clock, when it’s still daylight this far north. Traditional music pours out of Flaherty’s and the many “singing” pubs in town.

Dingle has an unexpected Spanish influence, apparently dating back to Ireland’s 14th-Century trading ties with that country. Wrought-iron work and ceramic tiles still decorate windows and street corners of the small town, which today has a population of about 1,200. In the Middle Ages, the town was a point of departure for pilgrimages to the shrine at Santiago de Compostela in Spain. And, of course, the ill-fated Spanish Armada came to grief in the treacherous seas off the nearby Blasket Islands.

One day, we drove to the village of Dunquin, at the tip of the Dingle Peninsula, where a steep, winding path led us down to a small motor boat. The boat ferried us over choppy seas to Great Blasket Island. After days of dragging her to ruins, our daughter Fiona’s face finally lit up as the waves tossed us about and drenched us with cold spray, much more exciting to her than any heap of stones. On these far-flung crags, at the mercy of the full might of the Atlantic, the inhabitants plowed a perilous living on land and sea. In the 1950s, the last islanders were evacuated from their bleak existence, ending a rare, almost medieval, way of life. They fished from boats called currachs , or naomhogs , made of tarred canvas on a wooden frame light enough to carry on their shoulders and unique to western Ireland. Shipwrecks brought unexpected supplies to this often stormbound and hungry community. Once, barrels of tea were washed ashore and the women, not knowing what it was, used it to dye their clothes.

The Blasket Islands produced an unusual number of native Irish writers. Thomas O Crohan, perhaps the most celebrated, recorded a history of this hardy people in “The Islandman” declaring that “the like of us will never be again.”

The Dingle Peninsula is a treasure trove of archeological sites, much to my delight but to poor Fiona’s dismay. Kieran and I wanted to spend many hours exploring these sites, but our daughter rebelled. We compromised by agreeing to pay her an Irish “punt” (worth about $1.50) for each megalith and souterrain (underground passageway) we examined.

About 12 miles from Dingle, near Annascaul, we stopped at 15th-Century Minard Castle, the setting for one of the lovers’ trysts in “Ryan’s Daughter.” The castle is said to have been built by the Knight of Kerry and besieged by Oliver Cromwell’s forces in the 1600s. Today it’s a place of tranquil beauty framed against sea and a parade of purple mountains, though I think the curse of Cromwell still menaces the site, for I sprained my ankle trying to find a way over the barbed-wire fence that surrounds it. The barbed wire is there because the crumbling walls are dangerous, and I was foolish to have tried to see inside--nothing there but sheep.

Early settlers in the area built numerous ring forts, circular earthen ramparts providing protection from wolves and cattle raiders. The Iron Age ring fort at Dunbeg, on a promontory at the base of Mt. Eagle about five miles from Dunquin, is one of the most elaborate in Ireland, and features a clochaun, or unmortared stone beehive hut, a souterrain and an elaborate system of fortifications overlooking rugged cliffs that drop sharply to the sea. Here, as at many other archeological sites, a small admission fee (about $2) is paid to the owner of the land.

Outside the town of Ballydavid, about 10 miles from Dingle on the northwest side of the peninsula, is Gallarus Oratory, one of the best preserved early Christian buildings in Ireland. It’s a tiny building shaped like an upturned boat, with unmortared stone walls that taper inward. Its only openings are a door in the west wall and a small window in the east, designed for the sun to enter at the spring equinox. Even after 1,200 years, this small architectural gem is in perfect condition and still watertight. Nearby, Riasc, an early Christian monastic settlement, dates back to the 5th Century, when it was built by hermits.

But the Dingle Peninsula is more than old stones. There are mountains to climb, trails to follow, spectacular strands, fishing, golf, traditional music, boat rides, shopping and an eclectic array of restaurants and pubs. A huge attraction in recent years has been a single bottlenose dolphin named Fungi who makes his home in Dingle Bay and entertains boatloads of visitors who motor out to see him frolic.

After a week crammed with bewitching scenery, prehistoric entertainments and memorable dining, we felt a glow that time still hasn’t dimmed. In fact, as I write this we are packing up for a return to the Dingle Peninsula, a place to find the real Ireland.

GUIDEBOOK: To Dally Near Dingle

Getting there: There is no nonstop service from Los Angeles to Shannon, the international airport nearest the Dingle Peninsula, but American Airlines and TWA flights connect with nonstop Aer Lingus service from New York. Lowest current advance-purchase fare is about $900 round trip. Tower Air also flies from New York to Shannon on Fridays and Sundays for about $420 round trip.

Dingle town lies 107 miles from Shannon Airport; the drive takes up to three hours. From Dublin, it’s 230 miles along better roads. It’s best to rent a car; public transportation is spotty. However, remember that the Irish drive on the left. Most major car rental agencies operate out of Shannon; after shopping around, we recently booked a car through Hertz for about $345 per week.

Where to stay: Devane’s Farmhouse (Lisdargan, Lispole, County Kerry, Ireland; telephone 011-353-66-51418), located about 10 minutes from town and open April 1 to Nov. 1, has four rooms, some with private bath, at about $42 per double, breakfast included. In Dingle town, Doyle’s (John Street, Dingle; tel. 011-353-66-51174), adjoining Doyle’s restaurant, has eight elegantly appointed rooms with private baths; about $93 per double.

The Irish Tourist Board publishes several comprehensive books of accommodations in Ireland. Among them, “Farm Holidays” lists 14 farmhouses in Dingle, “Ireland Self-Catering Guide” lists private homes and cottages for rent, and another book, “Guest Accommodation,” has listings for hotels and B&Bs.;

Where to eat: In Dingle, Doyle’s (see above) specializes is local seafood, lamb and produce, served in a sophisticated but cozy country setting; entrees start at about $24. The Armada on Strand Street (local tel. 51476) near the harbor; entrees from $23. The Islandsman on Main Street (tel. 51803) is a bookshop-cafe serving sandwiches and a Celtic breakfast all day.

In Ballydavid, Cafe na Mara (tel. 55162) faces the sea at the tip of the Dingle Peninsula and specializes in seafood, home-baked breads and desserts; entrees $13-$17. In Annascaul, the Old Anchor Guest House (tel. 57382) features dishes such as local lamb with Madeira and orange sauce, black sole, baked salmon with basil sauce; four-course, fixed-price menu about $19; entrees from $12.

For more information: Irish Tourist Board, 345 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. 10154, (800) 223-6470 or (212) 418-0800.