The final part of fall break was checking out County Kerry.
The first day we drove the Ring of Kerry clockwise from Kenmare. A storm was coming in so it was incredibly windy, but it was mostly sunny so I’ll take it as a win. We honestly were not sure if the weather was always like that, but did ask our host at dinner to clarify. The Ring of Kerry is all it is cracked up to be and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive.
Mid-day David needed to make a phone call so we stopped off at Ballinskelligs Bay. It was very cold and windy, and I was thinking Sally and I were very brave to be out walking about. Then two young women ran past us IN BATHING SUITS and special water shoes and dove in for a swim. These Irish are so freaking hardy, it’s nuts.
At the end of the drive we explored up to the Gap of Dunloe but by the time the weather was really coming in so the view was pretty minimal and the winds were pushing us over so we headed to the hotel (which, to Sally’s delight, had a pool!) in Killarney.
The second morning in Kerry, Riley’s and my morning run took us through the Killarney house and gardens and into Killarney National Park. It was very misty so there was no seeing the mountains, but it was still lovely. Also, it’s nice never to worry about being eaten by anything here when you’re out and about. In Cali I never ran in parks at dusk/dawn because of mountain lions and coyotes; but here there’s literally nothing that will hurt you.
After another swim in the pool, Sally and I headed off for a tour of Killarney National Park. Here national parks are free (the guide looked at me like I was crazy when I said they were not free in the US) and there’s no big entrance or anything. This is one of 6 national parks in Ireland. It’s huge, 24,000 acres and I really want to come back and do some hiking. Our tour on this trip was via “jaunting car” (horse and carriage) and boat, which is a common tourist way to see the park. The boat took us from Ross Castle out past Innisfallen island, where you can see ruins of a monastery from 640! We also saw an otter playing by the boat.
We did a very quick family walk in the rain to Torc waterfall, and we actually never made it to the waterfall because of time constraints…but the walk was still beautiful with all the fall colors.
After lunch we explored Killarney House and Garden, which interestingly was most recently owned by William/John McShaine (who designed the pentagon in the U.S.) and then donated/sold it to the Irish Republic to be a public space. Our next door neighbor here (Sylvia McShaine) is a distant cousin of these men, and recommended we check it out. Much like every exhibit we’ve been to here, the one in the house was incredibly well done and honestly we could have spent hours there.
On the drive home we stopped at Barack Obama plaza in Moneygall, honoring President Obama's roots there (a local descendant is the 3rd Great Grandfather of Obama). This is also where Obama had that famed pint of Guinness back in 2011.
Comments