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.

The Rain Begins in Killarney...

Ever since we arrived in Ireland, the weather forecasters have predicted rain. It's probably safer that way, but we hadn't seen any precipitation until we reached County Kerry. That all changed for our 4 days here. Every day has been a mixture of brief but heavy rain squalls, a lot of light drizzle, generally overcast conditions, and occasional short flashes of bright sunshine. Coats or umbrellas are an absolute necessity, but the everyone seems to take the fluctuating conditions in their stride.

Downpour in the forest of Killarney National Park.

Some friendly locals (they're everywhere!) told us that last summer was much better, that this one has been cold and wet generally. We told them that the temperatures here (10-15C) are colder than back home in winter, but in truth (we read in the online news), Sydney has had a record cold spell!

Killarney was the base for our soggy stay in County Kerry. It's a relatively modern town by the standards of this ancient land. Medieval and Norman artifacts are here, but they are not so in your face as they are in, say, Kilkenny. Killarney is home, however, to the magnificent Killarney National Park (some of the first real bush we have seen so far in Ireland), and nearby, is the fabulous Kerry coast, of which more in subsequent posts.

We entered the National Park from the inner suburbs of Killarney, it's that close. That also makes it crowded, and a popular way for tourists to get there was via horse and sulky from downtown. Driving there, we discovered by the horse transports are effective traffic-calming devices.

Many people hired bikes and rode around fine tracks through the bush here, and you can also take boat trips on the huge lakes. We opted to walk. The flora was sufficiently thick to protect us from the occasional heavy squalls that blew in, but we still managed to get pretty wet.

We encountered the remnants of an old copper mine. Read very old here! This was an underground bronze age endeavour operating thousands of years BC. The interpretative sketches were amazingly evocative, and showed us how they refined the copper from the ore using what looked like no more than bush fires circled by stones. Metallurgy was obviously coming along fine even that long ago!

The telltale colour of the "Blue Hole" at an ancient copper mine.

Entrance to a 4000 year old underground copper mine.

Ross Castle is a keep and tower house within the boundaries of the National Park and adjacent to a large lake, Lough Leane. This is no ruin. It is in exemplary condition and probably has been restored and renovated extensively. It was first built in the 1500's by the O'Donoghue family who ruled Killarney at the time, and occasionally changed hands between clans in various rebellions. Ross Castle resisted Oliver Cromwell's English invaders in the 1640's but surrendered eventually when attacked from the lake in warships.

Ross Castle in the Killarney National Park, a prime tourist attraction.

Fishermen on the hunt in the squally waters of Lough Leane.

Nice place for a picnic on the banks of Lough Leane in the Killarney National Park.

On a very modest hill overlooking Killarney is Aghadoe. Apart from a misty view over the lakes and mountains of the National Park, there are some fine ruins up here, including the 13th Century Parkavonear Castle. For a Norman keep, this one is apparently unusual in that it is circular in the more medieval tower style. Nearby is an old graveyard, and the ruins of an 1158 church. A monastery here was mentioned in annals as far back as 939AD.

Norman keep on Aghadoe overlooking Lough Leane.

The township of Killarney and the spire of Saint Mary's Cathedral as seen from the Aghadoe graveyard.

Back in town, we found that dining is quite pleasurable in Killarney. Traditional Irish food in pubs is always tasty and hearty, but a bit of research and serendipity enabled us to up the quality ante a bit. At Gaby's Restaurant we were able to sample a wide variety of fresh local seafoods (they called it a Mozaic) including local specialty fish Turbot. At the bright and modern Cucina Italiana, which we stumbled across in a back lane, we had superb meal of fresh pasta with prawns and pancetta.

Pretty tame wildlife encountered on our walk near Ross Castle.

Mike has also been sampling various Irish whiskeys. Jamesons is the most common, of course, and is easily obtainable world-wide. One legendary superior brand is Red Breast, Midleton is exquisite but way too expensive, but Mike's favourite has become Yellow Spot. This whiskey apparently derives a unique flavour by being aged in Spanish Malaga casks. Clare has discovered Dingle Vodka, and declares it to be a good drop!

In yesterday's local newspaper, no less than 18 pages in the Sports section were headed GAA, but the articles appeared to cover both hurling and Gaelic football. A knowledgeable bar hostess called Denise put us straight, by explaining that the GAA organisation manages both sports and also handball, but the last is the least popular. Different regions prefer one to the other.

Pretty as a picture - rowboat pulled up to a tiny cabin.

Walking around, we encountered the Killarney railway station, and were lucky enough to see the train to Cork arrive. It was a modern 4 carraige diesel electric set, and the station had a good number of travellers, including a lot of young backpackers, to get on board. The old terminal, now next door to the current station, has been converted to a factory outlet store.

Tralee express leaving Killarney.

Our hotel in this town is Scotts, which fronts Scott St, now a pedestrian mall. It has a modern facade but seems to extend its tentacles into older surrounding buildings. Our room on the 1st fllor, extremely spacious with a gigantic bathroom, overlooks extremely busy College St. We seem destined in Ireland to attract noisy rooms. Opposite, a pub has its live music speakers blaring into the street, and in the mornings the garbage trucks, street maintenance vehicles and delivery vans arrive in force. Luckily, the room has sound-proofing windows, but again, no air-conditioning to circulate the air in the shut up room. But we slept very well here - ear plugs are a great invention. The car park is underneath the hotel and mall and must have been designed by the devil. The columns are so close together that it's really difficult to manoevre our Volvo, and there's no way you can open the doors, once in a spot. The hotel is very popular with bus tours - it's very busy. It's fascinating to watch the tour groups getting read for their morning departures.