The Southwestern area of Ireland around Kerry is blessed with an unusually mild climate. We have both been to Ireland several times, but never to this corner. In the hedgerows the most dominant plant is the Fuchsia of all things!
Whole banks of delicate nodding heads, some robust, others more delicate, line the roadsides.
It is such a feature of the area that in Chapeltown, the northernmost village on the island, they even have a restaurant named after them, with this particularly fetching sign:
If you are in the area, pay a visit to Glanleam. It is a hotel with a sloping series of gardens working down a sheltered slope which actually boasts a sub-tropical climate. There are tree ferns abounding, glades of bamboo, and a fine walled vegetable garden.
This magnificent Ram's head decorates one of the iron gates which protect it. It has a pagan look to it, suggesting virility and strong growth. Maybe it is a reference to
Puck Fair, celebrated in the nearby town of Killorglin.
