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July 2 - Killearney and the Ring of Kerry

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Along the Ring of Kerry

 

Today, we drove the Ring of Kerry. The Kerry peninsula is known as the place to go for some of the best scenes of Irish coast and country.

The Ring was populated by tour buses and, taking the advice of the tour book, we drove it counterclockwise since the buses usually go in the other direction. However, buses were not a problem, especially since many roads off the main one have no buses at all and some of the best views are to be found there. If you take this drive, explore.

It is along the ring that you find seaside resort towns, small and cozy. We noted however, that wetsuits were the common bathing apparel. This is not the Caribbean. That North Atlantic water is cold.

Upon the return through the loop making the ring, we stopped at Quills, a good place to buy Irish knits, which we did.

 

As we ended the ring, we found ourselves back at the Lakes of Killearney. This time, we made a point of stopping at Muckross House. Situated along the bank of the lake, Muckross House was built for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolourist Mary Balfour Herbert. This was actually the fourth house that successive generations of the Herbert family had occupied at Muckross over a period of almost two hundred years. The house was completed in 1843. It was visited by Queen Victoria in 1861. What is rare about Muckross among old homes of the wealthy is that, although there are tour guides, you can wander around on your own.

After wandering the house and gardens, we took one of the jaunting carts back to the place were we parked. A jaunting cart is one of the standard modes of horse drawn transportation in old Ireland. Check out The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara to what one looks like.