Wild Atlantic Coast - Ring of Kerry

 

Round of Golf one afternoon

We are staying in Killarney in an apartment for a week as there is a lot to do in the area as well as time to cook a little, wash some clothes etc.  (Haircut for me) Killarney is very walkable and full of tourists in the area we are staying in close to the Killarney National Park.  The majority of which are from the USA, but also many Irish, English, German and Italian tourists too. It’s a cute town and we enjoy exploring it on our first day. 

Killarney National Park

Killarney National Park is the fourth largest in Ireland and contains the tallest mountain range with several beautiful lakes below.  It was created in 1932 when the Muckross Estate was donated.  Additional properties were donated and acquired over the years.  We could easily have spent all of our time within the park boundaries, but we will explore beyond its boundaries too.  

Killarney House & Gardens

Killarney House & Gardens is within the park and adjacent to the central business district.  The gardens are the main draw here.   Adjacent is one of several starting points for jaunting cars, which is the same as a horse and carriage.  They will take you through the park where no cars are allowed.  However, we are waiting for the Gap of Dunloe to enjoying a jaunting car.  

Gap of Dunloe 

The next morning, we are taking a tour to explore the Gap of Dunloe.  It is a narrow mountain pass that separates two mountain ranges (One of the ranges is the Macgillycuddy peaks.  The name bugged me becasue I knew it - turns out in the TV show I Love Lucy - her mother was Carol Macgillicuddy).  It’s a gorgeous day at the start of our adventure.  Our tour will transport us to the start of our journey where we will take a jaunting car.  Our horse Skipper is pulling an old two wheeled cart with five adults including the driver who stands in the back.  We are sharing the cart with an Irish couple who live in Wexford Ireland, home of those fantastic strawberries we purchased along the road.   They too have an interesting life in that they spend half the year at their second home in South Africa.  We had a grand time getting to know them during the ride and lunch afterward.  It’s a 7 mile route up to the Gap and back down.   We did get out several times to walk the hills as Skipper wasn’t up to the task of pulling us all up the steep inclines.  As we approach the Gap, the wind gets very strong and cold as it compresses between the mountain ranges.   

Gap in the distance

As we approach the Gap, the wind is getting stronger as its forced through a narrow space

Skipper pulling our cart

Village near black valley where the sun doesn’t shine in the winter due to the steep hills

Next up is some lunch until it’s time for the second half of our tour.  Our return journey will be by an open boat with about a dozen passengers.  It’s overcast and windy now.  For the next 90 minutes we will traverse 3 lakes listening to our pilot tell us some tall tales and a few facts.  The lakes are very deep in spots, but our pilot must be careful as there are also rocks just under the surface too.  Each lake is joined to the other with a narrow tributary.  One of which we must disembark while he takes the boat through the rapids.  

Purple mountain gets its name from the slate rock its comprised of

Approaching one of the narrows

Evening out

Tonight we are going out for a show depicting traditional Irish Music, Song and Dance,  Celtic Step.  Carol was excited to finally go to an Irish Show.  I was a little skeptic, but the show turned out very good.  The musicians and dancers were very talented and the MC did a great job explaining what we were seeing and listening to.   The dancers were late teens to twenties with most having won one or more championships.  The violinist was also the vocalist, demonstrating great talent in each role.  The surprise was the dancing skills of our grey haired MC.  

Ross Castle

Next morning it’s off to Ross Castle, which is really one of about 3 thousand Tower Homes in Ireland.  The rare aspect of this one is that it has been restored while most are in ruins.  It seems back in the day if you removed the roof, you didn’t owe any taxes.  Once the roof is gone, weather turns a fine home into a ruin.  

Tower Homes were built to protect a Chieftan’s family, guards and servants in the 1400s.   These effective defensive structures were needed to protect them from other Chieftains and raiders.  Tower homes were effective at protecting the people.  The walls surrounding the compound protected the livestock.  This was an effective system until the advent of canons. 

Every aspect of these Tower Homes had a purpose.  Several things stood out:

• Threshold originally was two words meaning to hold the straw (thresh)covering a cold stone floor from leaving the room.
• Garderobes in this case was both the homes toilet and storage room for robes.  In this tower house the predominant wind would blow the ammonia vapors back into the room thus killing bugs infesting the garments hanging in the room. 
• The spiral staircase had uneven steps slowing an attacker.  It’s clockwise direction favored the defender as the attacker if right handed could not swing their sword.  
• The recreated doors showed several effective means of keeping someone from bashing the door down by placing the boards both vertical and horizontal with pointed metal studs.   Bashing in the door also assumes they survived the murder hole above.  
• The only bed was short with a high headboard as people slept sitting up during these times.  Everyone else slept on the floor, sitting up against a wall.

Ross Castle

Muckross House

This stately Victorian Mansion was completed in 1843.  Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited the Estate in 1861.  As we toured the fully restored mansion, it felt a lot like we were visiting Downton Abby.   We came to realize how unrealistic the lighting depicted in the TV show was as this home was initially built with Lanterns, candles and fireplaces for light in the evening.   The ballroom doubled as the entry and had a large window for light at the top of the stairway leading upstairs.   The home has 25 bedrooms, though we toured only the Master and the Nursery upstairs.   We also toured a suite of rooms reserved for Queen Victoria’s use upon her visit, The Boudoir, Dressing Room and Queen’s Bedroom on the ground floor.  

Side of home faces Muckross Lake

Entry doubles as the Ballroom

Dining Room

The servants work area downstairs was much larger than as depicted in Downton Abbey.  The servants' dining area was quite large with large windows despite being below ground level.   There was both a main kitchen as well as a smaller second one for baking and tea preparation.   Other rooms included a large laundry, cobbler workspace, scullery and storage.  The long hall was lined with several dozen bells all with a different tone so that just by listening servants could tell which room they were being called to.  

Kitchen, Summoning bells, wine cellar

The home and its surrounding lands were donated to the Irish Nation in 1932 to become the beginning of the Killarney National Park. 

Muckross Abbey

A Franciscan friary built in 1448 it is roofless today but you can walk around and even go upstairs in the structure.   It has had a violent life despite its fortress like construction with its own variation of a Tower Home.  

Defensible Tower attached to Abbey

The Ring of Kerry

A clever marketing person has effectively branded the many sites to see on the Kerry peninsula.  By tying together the sites above and a long list of others, they have created a simple means to message the beauty of the area.  Killarney and the sights above are the start of the 111 mile route.  Bus tours and many people will accomplish that in a long day, but we are dividing it up.  After leaving Muckross House and Abby we start our drive to see Torc Waterfall and several great vistas.

Torc Waterfall

Ladies View stems from the admiration by Queen Victoria and her ladies in waiting

Moll’s Gap in Macgillycuddy’s Reeks (Mtn Range)

We stop and eat at Kenmare, Ireland

Leisure time in Killarney

We opted for a hike today along Lake Muckross with a stop for a light lunch at Lake Hotel, just outside the park.  Fortunately the rain let up and we had an enjoyable walk.  It’s amazing how the trees can grow out of solid rock, the ferns grow so tall and moss such a vibrant color.  We saw ruins of walls and structures along the way.  On the edge of the lake in front of Lake Hotel we walked the 12th century ruins of McCarthy Mor Castle, Louth Lein.  

The path had a sinister feel like the Dark Hedges in N. Ireland

Louth Lein Castle bottom right

\