Allihies is a village of painted houses at the western tip of the Beara peninsula, and it has an unlikely history. In the nineteenth century this remote corner was the centre of a copper mining boom, and Cornish miners came to work the mines under the Puxley family, bringing their skills, their Methodism and their names. The chimneys and engine houses of the old mines still stand on the hillside above the village, empty and photogenic in a bleak way, and the houses of the miners are painted in yellow, blue, pink and green.
The mine closed in the 1880s, and many of the families emigrated, some to America and some to Australia, and the village has never quite recovered its former size. A small museum in a former church tells the story, with displays of mining equipment and photographs, and the Cornish connection is still recalled with affection. On the beach below the village the sand has a golden colour and a peculiar texture, partly the product of mining waste ground by the sea.
The ride here is a delight. The road from Castletownbere runs west along the southern shore of the peninsula in tight bends, rising and falling with the contours, with views of the sea and the islands, and the final run to the village crosses an open, windswept moor. It is narrow, with stone walls, sheep and cattle grids, and a surface that is generally good but can be rough in places. At the very end of the peninsula, a road leads to Dursey Sound, where Ireland's only cable car carries passengers over the water to Dursey Island.
Nature is spectacular. The moors are covered with heather and gorse, the cliffs are home to seabirds, and gannets plunge into the sea offshore. Whales and dolphins are sometimes seen from the headlands, and the light on the Atlantic is extraordinary. The air has a salty tang with a hint of turf smoke.
The village has a few pubs, cafes and places to stay, but a larger range of services is at Castletownbere, about fifteen kilometres back along the road. Walk up to the mine buildings, and look out across the ocean.