The Ring of Kerry...

The owner of this land extracts a toll from everyone wanting to see this spectacular cliff view near Portmagee.

County Kerry is at the south west corner of the island that is the Republic of Ireland, and is shaped roughly like a 4 or 5 toed dinosaur footprint. Each toe is is a peninsula poking out into the North Atlantic Ocean. The most famous is the Ring of Kerry which is between Dingle Bay to the north, and Kenmare River to the south. We attempted this spectacular drive on a day of bad weather. Fog was common, rain was regular, and sunshine was rare.

The narrow road, not to mention the fog, on the Ring of Skerrig brings many driving challenges.

The Ring is about 180km long and we had read that tour buses are required to do the loop in an anti-clockwise direction. We decided to do it in the opposite way, partly because we then wouldn't get stuck behind the buses, and also because that would place us on the outside of the ring for quick nipping into scenic spots (the Irish drive on the left).

Cattle making use of the shelter afforded by this ruined cottage.

We added a "toenail" to the dinosaur's foot that is the Ring of Kerry by also doing the 20km Skellig Ring. It was supposed to be quieter than the main ring (it wasn't, too many people have read about it) but at least there were no tour buses (too narrow?). But this 20km was a highlight, and we recommend it to anyone undertaking the Ring of Kerry in their own transport.
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Pebby beaches with ruins on promontories. The story of the Irish coast.

The Ring of Kerry is signposted in an anti-clockwise direction too, so we tended to be following the arrows in the wrong direction. This led to some confusion at first. But the Ring is part of a longer drive, the Wild Atlantic Way which tracks the entire Atlantic coast of Ireland, so we had two sets of signposts to steer us. The drive took us one full day, and some of the highlights are shown in our photographs.

The first part of the clockwise journey is to climb through the hills of the Killarney National Park, around Torc and Cromaglan Mountains, with spectacular views back to the upper parts of the Park's majestic lakes. There is a lot to explore in this Park that we didn't have time for. Then you drop down to the largish seaside town of Kenmare where there is supposed to be a medieval rock circle but we couldn't find it, and didn't want to waste time on this big day looking for it.

Killarney National Park as seen from Ladies View lookout.

Rapids and a stream flowing through to village of Sneem. We found a nice cafe in this town.

Expert photographers say that on grey days, landscape photography will be fruitless but instead look for bright colours and go close up. We couldn't avoid taking the scenic shots (we won't be back here!) but we also got some nice pics of the mostly unidentified wildflowers which seem to adorn the bush-walks and country roads in Ireland. In one location, touted by the signposts as the best view in Ireland.all we could see was fog!

Colorful debris at the tiny fishing port of Ballinskelligs.

The Ring of Kerry peninsula is characterised by hilly green fields running to the very edge of cliffs which then plummet down to the ocean. When exposed to the west, the influence of the Atlantic is apparent with big swells and waves. There are numerous sheltered inlets and tiny villages with little harbours and beaches. These last are sparsely populated by locals determined to make the best of what they tell us is a very poor Irish summer.

Dismal weather doesn't dampen an Irish summer Sunday, at o'Carroll's Cove.

Hilly green fields with high fog - typical rural countryside on the Ring of Kerry.

From here, touted as the "best view in Ireland", nothing but fog and rain.

The horizon is all but invisible through the mist. Green fields right up to the cliff edge.

Off the very western point of the Ring peninsula are the tall and pointy islands Little Skellig and Skellig Michael. These must be sepctacular close up, because even in the gloom and from the mainland, they look pretty impressive. Boat trips to these two from Ballinskelligs are possible, but were not running this day due to the grim weather. Another large offshore island here is Puffin Island - we didn't see any puffins. Indeed, we haven't seen much flying wildlife at all, other than pigeons and giant seagulls.

Great and Little Skellig are barely visible through the fog from Ballinskerrig.

We shared the Ring of Kerry with many people on this grey day, but at no stage was the traffic uncomfortably heavy. Hold ups on the road were infrequent and brief. Despite the fog and drizzle, many people make the journey on bikes, and intrepid walkers like to trek various sections. As in all of Ireland, drivers are patient and tolerant - it's live and let live on these twisty and narrow roads. We can pick the European and American vistors whose discomfort at being on the wrong side of the road is apparent. We hear them talking about it in the pubs.

A typical coastal view on the Ring of Kerry.