Posted by KILLARNEY
Driving through County Kerry on the way to Killarney was lovely and around every bend there would be glimpses of the Dingle and Kerry coastal mountains in the distance. The anticipation was building and in the end the delivery far outweighed the expectation…so happy days ahead. Our accommodation was great with a nice big room in the Muckross park Hotel and spa. For our first night we dined in the Hotel pub, the Jarey’s rest and were very well feed so we then headed into Killarney town for a wander…but we could not park anywhere and decided to head to Ross Castle on the shores of Lough Leane for a lovely twilight visit. Still people around at 8pm but very quiet and serene woth lovely views to the mountains.
Of course this was another Castle destroyed by Cromwells forces but much of it was reconstructed in later years and was still in use through the 18th century.
The mountains and lake in perfect harmony in the Killarney national park.
A novel boat storage solution in Killarney at Ross castle . Dig a chanel and link up two parts of the Lake for a short cut.
Muckross House, with its extensive gardens was one of the few grand estates that survived the Civil War and it was due to the benevolence and support for independance from its Lords.
The walking trail loop through Killarney National park below Purple Mountain and around Muckross lake was a pure delight with ancient forests and mountain vistas around every corner as well as the odd man made structure like this arched bridge below.
The Torc waterfall was very polular with crazy parking chaos for a nice walk but a fairly avaerage waterfall.
The walking path around the lake was very civilised and very well used without being crowded,
A nice stop along the way at the Dinis Cottage Tea rooms where two creeks and two lakes meet.
The crossing between the two lakes, Muckross and Leane.
The Houses of Killarney are all the local shale stone and the dormer window is very popular.
Plenty to do in Killarney town and the Craich was in full force.
One of the best pubs we found in Ireland was in Killarney, The John.M.Reidy pub (below) was a real buzz with trad music and little private snugs everywhere . The place was massive and there were 4 bars spread out in all kinds of spaces with a real eclectic feel about it.
There were bands playing jumping dance music in another pub we visted and also a church (st mary’s of the sloes) with a mix of traditional and folk music from professional musicians which was an absolute delight, guitars, pipe and flute with great harmonies and incredible acoustics..
THE RING OF KERRY DRIVE
We enjoyed our two night stop in Killarney and decided to face the Ring of Kerry early to avoid the trafficc and boy was it a good choice. harly any traffic and we took a route less travelled through the mountains to start with before heading back to the coast at Sneem. The lakes all link up through the lower mountains and upper Muckross Lake was particularily picturesque with the morning light and low clouds at 8.00am
The View from the Ladies View was stunning and was names after a lady in waiting of Queen Victoria when she visited Muckross House climbed to the viewing spot and believed no better view existed in the world.
The upper mountain lakes are pitch black and shrouded with low misty cloud and are so no matter the weather, but also great fishing to be had. A real rare beauty to behold in Lough Barfinnihy.
From Sneem we ended up hitting the coast at this lovely spot called Castle Cove with it little islands and whitesandy beaches but there was a chill in the air so swimming was passed by.
The locality around Caherdaniel is stunning with vast sandy beaches at Derrynane which is where the Irish Champion of independance Daniel O’Connell lived . Below is O’Carrolls Cove, a very popular holiday destination.
Derrynane Beach above and L road lane to the point. We were lucky we did not have any cars coming the other way..
Along the Ring of Kerry drive the vistas of green fields and farms, Coves, Islands, mountains and cliffs are awe inspiring and there are plenty of spots to pull over to take it all in.
Looking over Ballinskegils Bay is such a quintessential Irish vista.
Looking across the Portmagee channel with the summer wild flowers in bloom
We got to see the trifecta of Cliffs on this trip and the last set was The Kerry Cliffs with their stripped limestone pattern and storm ravaged ruggedness. All the cliffs are very different and here it varied greatly due to the rock formations being totally different right next to each other.
The fingers stick out into the sea in facinating ways and the erosions form very interesting shapes and are much higher than the Cliffs of Moher.
The farmlands run right to the cliff edges and make for facinating landscapes and photograpy interest.
The Beach at Ballinskegills is where the surfing takes place and in winter it get very good they say.
WATERVILLE
We made some new friends in Watervile on the morning we arrived where Karin Healy invited us to sit at her table with her nephew to have a late breakfast. Ann and her hit it off straight away and she invited us to come to the pub that night where she might sing a few songs…and that is exactly what we did and she was amazing. Our accommiodation was at the Smugglers Inn on the beach at Waterville and it was a very good room. So after a nice meal at the resturant we headed to The Lobster Bar for the enetertainment. Karin’s friends were playing traditional tunes but when Karin and her husband took to the stage she burst into song with some wonderful contemporary irish songs that blew us away. Not just Karin’s voice but Pat’s fabulous guitar playing as well.
The Beach at Waterville on an overcast day.
We had jsut the one night in Waterville but what a great day and night it was and on the way back the vistas were just as spectucular and we also missed the rush of traffic in how we planned it. It was good to see the Blessed virgin mary keeping an eye on the travellers at Sheeans Point stop.
Looking down to Derrynane harbour, beach and islands
In the photo below in the bottom right hand corner is a small ring Fort that were common throughout Ireland from the Bronze Age with many still standing and used as sheep pens.
The Ring of Kerry sights and colours.
KENMARE
On the edge of The Ring and County Kerry sits the lovely town of Kenmare and Karin said it is a must to see. The only problem was that as soon as we parked the car we felt the first drops of rain so got our unmbrellas and rain coats out just in case…and within 5 mins it was a torent, even the locals were amazed as rain this heavy only happens in big storms. we were sitting outside undercover at a french cafe enjoying a coffee and pastry and nearly got washed down the gutter. But it was gone in 30 mins and we wandered around town before getting back on the road to Kinsale.
