Great Irish Roads: No 13 - The Ballaghnabeama Gap
THE Ballaghnabeama Gap has intrigued me since I came across a photograph taken around 1900 of a hardy - and adventurous - group of cyclists making their way through the rocky defile which forms the pass. It's a rugged, wild place in this old photograph and very different to any other road I had travelled in Ireland.
It took me a while to find it - the original photograph gave no information other than its name. Eventually, a search of the most likely locations revealed that it was situated on the Kenmare Peninsula close to the heart of the mighty Macgillycuddy Reeks and within sight of Ireland's highest mountain, the 1038m Carauntoohil.
A close study of the latest edition of the excellent Ordnance survey of Ireland Discovery series map of the area revealed that there appeared to be a car-navigable road crossing the Gap.
I decided to approach the Ballaghnabeama Gap from the west as the whole interior of the Kenmare Peninsula looked interesting on the map, seemingly sparsely populated and dotted with mountains which promised to make for an interesting road to travel.
So it was that I turned off the N70 about 3 kilometres north of Waterville forsaking the tourist trail of the Ring of Kerry for I knew not what. I turned off the N70 at a crossroads marked by a church and followed the signposts for Glencar.
Initially, the road is fairly straight and is reasonably wide having the good surface which characterised the entire route I took. Soon, the scattered houses grew fewer and I began to realise that I had entered a part of the Kingdom very different from the better-known tourist locations.
Over the next 20 kilometres I met a postman's van and a single car. By then I had gently climbed through Derreennageeha Forest to Ballaghisheen, between the twin pillars of Knocknagapple (466m) and the higher Knocknausha.
Crossing the gap at Ballaghisheen, the landscape unexpectedly stretched ahead of me in a lush but empty plain to the Macgillycuddy Reeks, reminiscent of some of the landscapes from Peter Jackson's beloved new Zealand in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The lack of any sign of habitation or other cars added to the pleasant illusion.
Turning south at a Y-junction signposted for Sneem and Killarney, I now began to travel through an area of considerably more roads, but clearly sign posted towards my destination. Climbing away from the Glashwee river the Ballaghnabeama Gap came into sight, confirming its identity by its very wildness, so evident in that century-old photograph.
THE GAP itself was soon reached and proved every bit as wild and rugged as hoped. In all I spent about half an hour there savouring its still, empty silence and wondering at the total lack of tourists here between the rocky heights of Mullaghanattin and Knockaunattin.
Perhaps, the narrowness of the road - only sufficient for a single car although there are plenty of places to pull in to allow two cars pass - puts them off. If so, they are missing out on one of the most wonderful places I have discovered anywhere in Ireland.
After Ballaghnabeama, I have to admit, the rest of the journey could only be an anti-climax as one descends down to the junction with the R568 leading to Moll's Gap or southwest to Sneem.
Seek out this road. It will reward your effort. But don't tell too many people. It's a Kerry secret.
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