Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Killarney

24th August
Killarney - Ring of Kerry - Killarney
What a wonderful day we had..... every one says a trip around the Ring of Kerry is a must and we would certainly agree with that. The ring is a circular tour of towns, mainly sea side beach towns, set out on a penninsula. The start of the tour is about 30k from Killarney. It is a very natural unspoilt area. The roads are narrow, very narrow in most parts, that become even narrower in places, in fact our drive way at home is as wide as some of the roads that carry two way traffic. The roads are very windy, and you never know when you will meet a truck, bus, cyclist or all of the above coming from the opposite direction. Along the sides of the road, by this I mean straight up from the edge of the tarmac, or whatever it is, there is usually a stone wall covered in plants and road side weeds or plants and bushes growing straight up like a hedge. So this makes these narrow roads appear even narrower. Along these sides, the plants that grow are just mainly weeds that have yellow and orange flowers but there is lots of wild fuschia and heathers in mauve, purple and a few pinks. They were all out in flower and so the sight of these colours all thrown in together was just beautiful.
The first town on the ring is Killorglin, then Glenbeigh and onto Kells. These are all on the coast with nice beachs and lifesavers, but alas it was only to be a top of 14 and rain so not the best for a sea side visit. But the Irish being Irish there were quite a few hearty souls having a swim. We certainly were not tempted!!! But the scenery here was a hint of what was to come. When the clouds would seperate and lift a little there were fabulous views across Dingle Bay to the Dingle Penninsula. Layer upon layer of rolling hills and cliffs, all covered in heather and rocks. Onto Cathersiveen which is a bit inland and a larger (well not as small) town. From here you catch a ferry across to Valentia Island to Knightstown. Time for a stop and a coffee and soak in some of the lovely atmosphere. Knightstown dates from the mid 1800s when the first Transatlantic cable was laid. This cable linked Valentia Island to Newfoundland.
From here we drove to the Grotto. Nothing special really, just a slate mine with a few Roman Catholic statues placed up on a ledge. Oh well onto the Tetrapod Walkway. We walked down a steep path, not sure what we would find. We came to a fence and gate. Through the gate and there on the other side of another fence, set down about 3 feet, were tracks in the stone. These are dated to 385 million years ago. The coastline here is very rugged and spectacular. These tracks are said to be the earliest record of four limbed creatures leaving the sea to live on land. The rain had been quite heavy before we arrived and so the puddles that formed in these tracks made them easier to see.
We drove on but the clouds and the rain made it difficult to see much of the spectacular surroundings. For those with more time, and in better weather there are many great walking tracks around the island. So back across the bridge to Portmagee. This is a brightly painted fishing village. From here the road winds upwards to great views across the water to Skellig Rocks. Nearby is Skellig Michael, a world Heritage site of one of the earliest examples of an early Christian site. The monks lived in stone igloo type caves. Unfortunately we were in low cloud and couldn't see a thing. We bought a postcard instead!!!!
Our next stop was Ballinskelligs Bay. The sun had come out again and so there were a few people out in the water. I kept on thinking how lovely this would be in the summer....oh yeh..it IS the summer!!! Next stop was Waterville. Another coastal village but this one had a surprise. For one thing the circus was in town. The other was a Charlie Chaplin look alike performing in and around the cars trying to drive into the town. The real Charlie Chaplin loved to holiday in this town (so too Catherine Zeta-Jones and her man) and so now there is a museum honoring Charlie and his achievements and even a life size statue of him in the the town. We parked the car and wandered back into the heart of things. There was a large circle of people watching this performer now do his show on the side street. He was very clever and funny. We must have stood there for half and hour or more watching him. Ice-cream time and a stroll along the beach (in our rain coats of course).
We drove on towards Caherdaniel. This next section between Caherdaniel, Sneem and the National Park of Killarney was the most impressive scenery I think I have ever seen. We took so many photos of the whole day. Words can not describe. You think of descriptions like ruggedness, majestic, untamed beauty etc. but I will just let the photos tell the story. We chose our favorite ones - 50 - we cut them down - and down - still probably have too many but it was so hard to eliminate any more. During the last 20k the rain was very heavy. The windscreen wipers couldn't keep up. Waterfalls were flowing off the sides of the rocks along the roadway.
Back to Dromhall Lodge. Time to dry off and recover from an exhausting but wonderful day. We finally decided to find a nice Irish Pub in town. So on with our raincoats and ten minutes later we were in the Danny Mann Tavern choosing a lovely meal, ordering a Guiness and getting ready for the band to play some traditional Irish songs. It was 'grand'. I really enjoyed that, as the songs were sung, the names of the towns came to life and I was thinking of the actual place. It was a suitable night to finish off a fabulous day.