Famine Cottages

Dingle Peninsula


The 1845-built Famine Cottages (6km southwest of Ventry) were once the home of the Kavanagh family, and the primitive furnishings and cooking utensils evoke the hardship its occupants endured. The rooms are inhabited by creepy-looking mannequins, but outside there are sheep, lambs and donkeys to interact with, and sheepdog demonstrations can be arranged (booking necessary, see www.dinglesheepdogs.com).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Dingle Peninsula attractions

1. Fahan Beehive Huts

1.18 MILES

Fahan, on the roadside 7.5km southwest of Ventry, once had some 48 drystone clochán beehive huts dating from AD 500, although the exact dates are unknown…

2. Blasket Centre

2.84 MILES

This wonderful interpretative centre celebrates the rich cultural life of the now-abandoned Blasket Islands. It is housed in a striking modern building…

3. Dingle Peninsula Museum

4.23 MILES

Set in a 19th-century schoolhouse, this local museum has displays on the history, geology, archaeology and ecology of the peninsula. It's in the centre of…

4. Reask Monastic Site

4.42 MILES

The remains of this 5th- or 6th-century monastic settlement are one of the peninsula's more evocative archaeological sites, with low stone walls among…

5. Blasket Islands

4.76 MILES

The Blasket Islands (Na Blascaodaí), 5km offshore, are the most westerly part of Ireland. At 6km by 1.2km, Great Blasket (An Blascaod Mór) is the largest…

6. Gallarus Visitor Centre

5.35 MILES

This privately owned visitor centre and car park is next to Gallarus Oratory. The only reason for paying the fee is to use the car park (the audiovisual…

7. Gallarus Oratory

5.37 MILES

Gallarus Oratory is one of Ireland's most beautiful ancient buildings, its smoothly constructed dry-stone walls in the shape of an upturned boat. It has…

8. Dingle Distillery

5.81 MILES

An offshoot of Dublin's Porterhouse microbrewery, this small-scale craft distillery went into operation in 2012, and began bottling its distinctive single…