Letters from the Kerry foothills — slow travel, cottage life, and walks in County Kerry, by Nóra Cronin.https://beenoskee.net/en-iehttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-path-up-beenoskee-mountain/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-path-up-beenoskee-mountain/I've lived at the foot of Beenoskee for thirty years and only now am I writing it down – which tells you something, though I'm not sure what.Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/a-long-way-round-to-limerick/https://beenoskee.net/posts/a-long-way-round-to-limerick/I drove to Limerick for a hospital appointment and came home through Adare, which added an hour and solved nothing and was completely the right decision.Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/a-spring-cleaning-that-wasnt/https://beenoskee.net/posts/a-spring-cleaning-that-wasnt/Bríd rang at half eleven and by the time we were done the light had changed and the bucket was still in the middle of the kitchen floor.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/five-mossy-lanes/https://beenoskee.net/posts/five-mossy-lanes/Five lanes I've walked so often I could do them in the dark – and once or twice, in November, I more or less did.Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-first-day-you-can-sit-outside/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-first-day-you-can-sit-outside/Tom came by with Bess around three, when the sun was still on the garden wall. Neither of us said much. It was enough.Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/walking-the-dingle-way-day-three/https://beenoskee.net/posts/walking-the-dingle-way-day-three/Bríd got a blister outside Lispole and didn't mention it for three miles – I only found out at the top of the hill when she sat down without being asked.Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/three-small-bbs-in-west-cork/https://beenoskee.net/posts/three-small-bbs-in-west-cork/West Cork is a long drive from here – nearly four hours – but I've made it several times over the years, and three places in particular I keep thinking about.Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/a-weekend-in-westport/https://beenoskee.net/posts/a-weekend-in-westport/Bríd had been telling me to go to Westport for two years. I'd been resisting on no very good grounds.Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/what-i-pack-for-a-few-days-away/https://beenoskee.net/posts/what-i-pack-for-a-few-days-away/After years watching guests arrive with wheelie cases for two nights, I've learned what actually needs to come with you.Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/doolin-in-february/https://beenoskee.net/posts/doolin-in-february/The cliffs were mostly fog. The village had three people in it by my count. I went anyway, and I'm glad I did.Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-cliffs-at-slea-head-slowly/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-cliffs-at-slea-head-slowly/The Blaskets were there and then they weren't – just grey water where the islands had been, and the wind making no apology for any of it.Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/repairing-the-back-gate-badly/https://beenoskee.net/posts/repairing-the-back-gate-badly/I bought new hinges in Tralee. The repair took most of Saturday. The gate works now, sort of, if you lift it slightly.Tue, 20 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/cnoc-breanainn-mount-brandon/https://beenoskee.net/posts/cnoc-breanainn-mount-brandon/The Faha path up Brandon in January: steep, quiet, cold enough to matter, and worth every slow step.Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/on-finishing-things-slowly/https://beenoskee.net/posts/on-finishing-things-slowly/The novel has been on the arm of the chair since November. Bríd's letter exists only as an intention. The kitchen tile is still cracked.Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/why-i-keep-going-back-to-sherkin-island/https://beenoskee.net/posts/why-i-keep-going-back-to-sherkin-island/Three hours from home and no cars to speak of. I've been four times now and I still can't fully explain what pulls me back.Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-ferry-to-valentia/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-ferry-to-valentia/The Valentia ferry takes about five minutes. You barely have time to zip your coat before you're there.Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/january-and-what-i-read-this-month/https://beenoskee.net/posts/january-and-what-i-read-this-month/Four books in three weeks, two cups of cold tea I forgot about, and the strange gift January makes of the dark.Sun, 04 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/christmas-without-much-fuss/https://beenoskee.net/posts/christmas-without-much-fuss/Donal rang at half ten on Christmas morning to tell me it was dry in Cork, as if I'd want to know that.Sun, 21 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-neighbours-dog/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-neighbours-dog/Bess had been in the garden since before eight. By the time I noticed, she'd already made a decision about the vegetable patch.Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-slow-train-from-killarney-to-cork/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-slow-train-from-killarney-to-cork/I took the train from Killarney to Cork to see Donal before Christmas. It takes two hours and twenty minutes. I'd forgotten how much I like trains.Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/a-pot-of-stew-for-a-soft-day/https://beenoskee.net/posts/a-pot-of-stew-for-a-soft-day/Donal rang while I had my hands in the onions, and by the time I got off the phone I'd done it wrong according to him three separate times.Wed, 26 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/a-week-in-dingle-off-season/https://beenoskee.net/posts/a-week-in-dingle-off-season/Five nights in Dingle in November, and I barely saw another tourist. The harbour was quiet in a way that felt almost rude.Thu, 20 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/soda-bread-more-or-less/https://beenoskee.net/posts/soda-bread-more-or-less/The bread didn't rise the first three times I tried it this winter, and I'm still not entirely sure what I was doing wrong.Sun, 16 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-press-of-cracked-teacups/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-press-of-cracked-teacups/The cracked teacup with the blue rim is still in the press. I keep meaning to throw it out. I never do.Tue, 11 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/a-short-loop-above-anascaul-lake/https://beenoskee.net/posts/a-short-loop-above-anascaul-lake/Four things I noticed on the loop above Anascaul Lake, in November, when the light was already thinking about going.Thu, 06 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/lighting-the-fire-in-november/https://beenoskee.net/posts/lighting-the-fire-in-november/The turf Eoin dropped last week is still sitting in the plastic sacks. Today felt like the day.Tue, 04 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/driving-the-ring-of-beara/https://beenoskee.net/posts/driving-the-ring-of-beara/The Healy Pass in October, and not another car in either direction – which should have felt lonely but didn't, quite.Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/a-wet-afternoon-in-kenmare/https://beenoskee.net/posts/a-wet-afternoon-in-kenmare/I drove to Kenmare on a Wednesday because I'd run out of stamps and because I wanted to, and those two reasons together felt sufficient.Sun, 19 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/the-bookshop-in-schull/https://beenoskee.net/posts/the-bookshop-in-schull/I went to Schull for the drive, which is a thing I do sometimes, and came home with a book I hadn't heard of and didn't need.Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://beenoskee.net/posts/october-in-the-garden-finally/https://beenoskee.net/posts/october-in-the-garden-finally/The fuchsia had grown so far over the path I'd been stepping sideways past it since August.Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT