Ireland: Day 9 (Sept. 19, 2011)

Today was a rather dismal day.  It rained on and off all day long.  There was a VERY heavy, low cloud cover.  We drove the Ring of Kerry which is supposed to be gorgeous.  It goes along the coast of the Iveragh peninsula.  We couldn't see much of anything!  It was a kind of disappointing day!

Ladies View is a scenic point along a portion of the Ring of Kerry drive, in Killarney National Park. The name comes from the admiration of the view given by Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting during their 1861 visit to the area.  It is a spectacular panoramic view of the Lakes of Killarney.  The view was not as great as it could have been on a clearer day but it was still pretty.  There was a nice shop at this spot where we did some damage...

The Kenmare Stone Circle (The Druid's Circle) is probably the largest in southwest Ireland.  It dates back to 1,000 B.C. The circle is composed of 15 heavy boulders: 13 standing and 2 laying down. At the center is an impressive boulder-burial with a giant capstone measuring 6ft 6in x 6ft x 2ft 6in. The weight of this capstone is almost seven tons.  At least 30 laborers would have been needed to put it into position. Stone Circles were built during the Bronze Age (2,200-500 B.C) for ritual and ceremonial purposes. 

Views along the coast on the Ring of Kerry:

Staigue Stone Fort is a partly ruined round stone fort, located on the Iveragh Peninsula. The fort is thought to have been built during the late Iron Age, probably somewhere between 300 and 400 AD, as a defensive stronghold for a local lord or king.  It is situated at the head of a valley opening south to the sea, surrounded by a ditch over 8m wide. The fort's walls are up to 18 ft high in places, 13 ft thick at the base and 90 ft in diameter. The interior is reached through a 1.8m passage roofed with double lintels. It represents a considerable feat in engineering and construction. It was built without use of mortar. Inside is an elaborate system of stairways leading to terraces and corbelled cells in the wall reached by passages. 

More views along the coast:

We absolutely loved all the stone walls in Ireland.  They were everywhere!!!  There are over a quarter of a million miles of them!  They are built without mortar. 

We kept seeing the sheep with colors painted on them.  We finally asked a farmer about it.  He said that each farmer paints their flock a different color.  That way, when looking out over the fields, you know where your sheep are, if they are out of your fields or if someone else's sheep are in your field.  Pretty good idea!!!  But it looks kind of funny...

Loher Stone Fort:  probably the property of a local chieftain in the early Christian period around the 9th century AD. 

Ballinskelligs Castle is a 16th century two story tower overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay.   Its purpose was to protect the bay from pirates, and possibly in order to charge a tariff on incoming trade ships. 

The Old Barracks is a former Royal Irish Constabulary (Police during British occupation) Barracks. The building was burned by anti-treaty forces in 1922 & has been restored.  This building seems quite out of place in Kerry but there is a story that the plans for it were mixed up with a barracks to be built in India.  It was designed and constructed between 1869-1871.  

This was a cool building we could see from The Old Barracks.  Not sure exactly what it is...

Nice view from The Old Barracks.  Love the train tracks and the bridge!

Ballycarbery Castle is situated high on a grass hill facing the sea.  The present ruins were constructed in the 16th century. (that sounds funny - like they built the "ruins"... ha ha ha)  The castle was surrounded by a high wall with less than half still remaining.  Ballycarbery Castle was featured in the 2010 film Leap Year starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode.  It was very picturesque and we loved all the ivy on it!!

We are staying in Dingle Town on the Dingle Peninsula for 2 nights.  It is a nice, quiet small fishing village.  We walked down to the town center and had a seafood dinner at the Lord Bakers, the oldest pub in Dingle.  It was a rather fancy, sedate pub, but the food was great! 

We are staying at DeVane's Bed and Breakfast.  We have the attic room (you can see the windows of the room on the roof).  It was a nice place and the owner was very sweet!

Ireland: Day 8 (Sept. 18, 2011)

This was the view from our hotel this morning.  Very pretty - but it does look like it might rain some today... 

Today, we spent the morning hiking in Killarney National Park.  Killarney National Park includes the McGillycuddy's Reeks, the highest mountain range in Ireland which rise to a height of over 3280 feet. At the foot of these mountains nestle the world famous lakes of Killarney. Here, where the mountains sweep down to the lake shores, their lower slopes covered in woodlands, lies the 26,000 acres of Killarney National Park . The distinctive combination of mountains, lakes, woods and waterfalls under ever changing skies gives the area a special scenic beauty.

First we walked to see Torc Waterfall.  It was a short, fairly level walk (219 yards).  It was a very pretty stroll to the falls.  The waterfall is 60 feet tall.



After walking back to our car from the falls, we drove to the trailhead for Torc Mountain.  We then hiked to the top of the mountain (1,673 feet high).  It was 4.6 miles roundtrip.  The hike was tough!!!  It was very steep - we had an elevation gain of 1145 feet in 2.3 miles!  We took several breaks on the way up.  The first part of the trail was easy, just a wide rocky path.  Then we started going up - part of the trail had rocks used as steps, then it was railroad ties end to end covered in a wire mesh to keep you from slipping.  I hated those railroad ties - I thought the wire mesh was slick!  But I guess if it hadn't been on there, it could have been worse.  We had light rain on and off during our hike.  It was a beautiful hike.  Even though it was overcast, you could really see a long ways all around.  The hike was difficult but the view was great!  It took us about 1 hr 45 min to get to the top.  It was very cold and windy at the top.  It took us about 1 hr 20 min to climb back down. There were a fair amount of other people hiking the trail - quite a few had dogs who were having a grand time!  We got quite a workout today!!

Also in Killarney National Park is the Muckross House & Gardens.  The house was built in 1843. The 65 - room Victorian mansion house is one of Irelands leading stately homes. It stands majestically on the lake shore.  The only way to get around in this part of the Park is by foot or you can rent a horse & carriage.  We didn't spend a lot of time there, so we just walked.

This is a view of Torc Mountain from the Muckross House.  It was hard to believe we had just climbed to the top of that "huge" mountain!!!

From the Muckross House, we walked to the Muckross Abbey (about 2 miles roundtrip).  It is one of the major ecclesiastical sites found in the Killarney National Park, County Kerry. It was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan Friary.  The Abbey has had a violent history and has been damaged and reconstructed many times. The friars were often persecuted and subjected to raids by marauding groups. Today the Abbey is largely roofless although, apart from this, is generally quite well preserved. Its most striking feature is a central courtyard, which contains a large yew tree and is surrounded by a vaulted cloister.  Three of Kerry's four great Gaelic poets are buried inside the Abbey and the fourth in the graveyard.  

 Ross Castle was our next stop.  This square medieval tower which was built by the O' Donoghues in the 15th century is beautifully situated on the shores of Lough Lein which is in Killarney city.  The castle is typical of strongholds of Irish chieftains built during the Middle Ages.  There is a legend that O’Donoghue leaped or was sucked out of the window of the grand chamber at the top of the castle and disappeared into the waters of the lake along with his horse, his table and his library. It's said that he now lives in a great palace at the bottom of the lake where he keeps a close eye on everything that he sees.

After Ross Castle, we freshened up at our hotel and walked to dinner.  It was a 25 minute walk to the pubs!!  Our hotel was definitely NOT centrally located.  We could have driven, but as I have said before, driving in these towns is a nightmare and finding parking is even worse!  So we opted to just get some more exercise!  So we got to see quite a bit of Killarney city. 

We ate dinner at McSweeney Arms Pub.  



We had a good dinner and got back to the hotel early so we could relax and try to get to bed early.  Here is our hotel, the Heights at Killarney.