A slightly belated trip report from me, I'm home a week and I still have a bedroom full of camping gear needed sorting out but I'm slowly getting there!
Anyway, we had a wonderful two weeks in Mannix Point on the famous Ring of Kerry (a circular route on a penninsula on the west coast of Ireland). We've been before, two teenagers and myself. Mannix Point seems to have a lot of return visitors. We met people this time that we'd met before. The owner, Mortimer, is a real gentleman and he's so helpful. The amenities are housed in an old fishermans cottage, and Mortimer has the front (and indeed much of the site) abundantly planted with flowers.
The campers facilities are great, there is a kitchen fully equipped as many backpackers, motorcyclists and cyclists come through and aren't able to bring much in the way of cooking pots etc. The dining room has got tablecloths placed down the length of the communal table and a nice touch is the bowls of flowers refreshed each day. Mortimer also prints out a weather report each day and blue-tacs it to the window in the dining area.
Inside there is a dish washing and laundry area, and then a campers living room with musical instruments hanging on the wall for anyone to use. There is often a turf fire lit as well. People tend to congregate in the sitting room in the evenings, some evenings quietly reading their books, on others the instruments will be used and there's more of a sing-a-long.
Outside there's a new barbecue area, and fire pits available for use there, or for taking to your pitch if you ask Mortimer. There's also two rotary airers for drying clothes, and clothes pegs are provided. Mortimer just thinks of everything!
My pitch was in the 'highfield' section. It is a tent only area with EHU available but which I didn't use. The family tents seem to be put there. There are no cars allowed in this area, indeed you can't get your car in there as it is surrounded on two sides by a bank. There is a car park adjacent to the tent area. It's actually quite nice to have no cars on site, and if my kids were small I'd feel they were safer without the cars.
What I was able to do was take my car to the point on the lane closest to my pitch, and everything got chucked over the bank. Then in relay we took our tent etc to the pitch, which is a marked out pitch (the field is marked out in a grid with white markers with a number on them). I used a large 8 man Easycamp Topeka on this occasion. In the end it wasn't the best tent choice as we had a heat wave and in 30 degrees heat it is just not possible to go into the tent. In hindsight I should have taken my canvas frame tent. The Easycamp is still a great tent and should it have rained it would have been really useful. Having said that, the fact that there's a campers sitting room on site means that you can get away with a small tent as you will probably only be sleeping in it. Many people used small dome tents, choosing to make meals in the kitchen, eat them in the dining room and hang out in the campers sitting room.
The great thing about this site is that it has a great international flavour. There's lots of backpackers coming through, and they're from all over the world. But there's also a lot of dutch, german, spanish etc families who are repeat visitors to Mannix Point, using tents, campervans etc.
The site is right on the coast, and across the water is incredible vistas towards Valentia Island and Killylan Mountain. I got in to the habit of rising early each morning, the sense of peace you can get in that incredible landscape is good for the soul. I'd get the kettle on and hover over it so I could get to it before the whistle went off, then cuppa in hand, I'd stroll to the waters edge through a sea of snores from other tents! Love Mannix Point, best campsite in Ireland!
pic taken very early in the morning at Mannix Point
------------- canvas for the wind,
a roof for the rain
and tea beside the fire.
Laughter to cheer you,
those you love near you
and all that your heart might desire.
He is, the last time I was there in 2011, the aluminium tent poles of my frame tent were damaged in the wind. We spent that night in a small pop up tent I'd brought 'just in case' and the next day Mortimer brought me (and the poles) in his car to a local garage for repair. He goes that extra mile and that's why I'll be back, not many sites like it!
Almost every campsite in Scandinavia has a campsite kitchen, so I've seen lots of them, but that campsite kitchen at Mannix Point is the nicest I've ever seen!
Thanks for sharing the photos, it's a lovely place.
------------- Proud owner of a 1987 Sprite Alpine 370 EK, a cheap popup tent and a beloved retro Trio frame tent from the early seventies, called Giraffen.
I am so going here one of these days. I live in Ireland but it would still be quite a drive but seems worth it. Mortimer is kind of a "celebrity" campsite owner, isn't he?
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Our trip to Mannix Point in Ireland
