Travel to Ireland

Day 10 Ring of Kerry (227 Km.)

(in 66 Km.) Ballycarberry Castle: Ballycarbery Castle is a castle 3 kilometres (2 mi) from Cahersiveen. The castle is high on a grass hill facing the sea and is a short distance from Cahergall Fort and Leacanabuile Fort. There was some kind of residence situated on the site of the castle as early as 1398 however the present ruins were constructed in the 16th century. Since 2017 the owner of the land has recently eliminated public access to the castle. Consequently, visitors can now only admire the beautiful structure from the small parking lot located about 200 meters from the front of the castle.

(in 1 Km.) Cahergall stone fort: Due to its proximity to the Ballycarbery Castle, we visit this Ring fort. The cashel was built around the 7th century AD as a defended farmstead. This is a circular stone ringfort (caiseal) of internal diameter 25 m (82 ft) with outer walls 4 m (13 ft) high and 5 m (16 ft) thick. It is perhaps not as well known as the Staigue Stone Fort, but we liked it more for its accessibility, the tranquility of the surroundings, the views and the remains of the interior construction.

The Skellig Islands are two small and steep rocky islands that are located about 16 km west of the Iveragh peninsula. They are famous for their populations of puffins and gannets. The largest island, known as Skellig Michael, is the largest of the two, rising to 230 m above sea level. Thanks to the presence of a 6th-century Christian monastery suspended on a ledge near the summit, Skellig Michael has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. It is also famous for appearing in the final scene of the Star Wars saga movie, The Force Awakens. The only way to access it is by booking one of the authorized boats (mainly from Portmagee). We were very excited to visit it, but unfortunately, due to its popularity, we had to book two months in advance and we ran out of places.

(in 20 Km.) Waterville: It is located on a narrow isthmus, with Lough Currane to the east and Ballinskelligs Bay to the west, and with the Currane River joining both. Waterville was one of the favorite places for Charlie Chaplin to spend vacations with his family. In his memory there is, in a garden in front of the beach, a bronze statue representing the well-known figure of Charlot next to which we stopped to take some pictures.

(in 16 Km.) Caherdaniel: We continue along the N70 and before reaching Caherdaniel we find a viewpoint, located on the top of a small mountain pass (200 m), which allows us to contemplate the Ballinskelligs bay on one side and the Derrynane beach on the other. This area is full of beautiful beaches, such as Castle Cove Beach.

(in 8 Km.) Staigue Stone Fort: Is a ruined stone ringfort three miles west of Sneem. 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. The fort´s walls are up to 5.5 m (18 ft) high in places, 4 m (13 ft) thick at the bottom and 27.4 m (90 ft) in diameter. The inside is reached through a 1.8m passage roofed with double lintels. Inside is an elaborate network of stairways leading to terraces and corbelled cells in the wall reached by passages.

(in 45 Km.) Kenmare: We arrive to this small town in the only fair day that continues being held in the city. The day attracts crowds of locals and visitors and is the busiest day of the year in Kenmare. For that reason we were not able to visit the town and we just stopped to have lunch and walked through the triangular Town park, Henry street and Main street. Finally we had a short visit to the Holy Cross Church.

(in 10 Km.) Moll´s Gap: Is a mountain pass on the N71 road from Kenmare to Killarney and offers views of the MacGillycuddy´s Reeks mountains. The rocks at Moll´s gap are formed of Old Red Sandstone, which are small quartz grains laid down over 350 million years ago. The rock at Moll´s gap is stained green by chlorite. Moll´s Gap is named after Moll Kissane, who ran a shebeen (an unlicensed public house) in the 1820s, while the road was under construction. Moll´s Gap is an example of a "glacial breach", where a 500 metre deep glacier in the Black Valley broke through Moll´s Gap 25,000 years ago during Ireland´s last ice age.

(in 6 Km.) Ladies´ View: We continue along the N71 until this scenic viewpoint on the Ring of Kerry tourist route. The Irish Times ranked Ladies View as one of the most photographed places in Ireland, while the Daily Edge ranked the views amongst Ireland´s finest on Instagram. The name Ladies View stems from the admiration of the view given by Queen Victoria´s ladies-in-waiting during Victoria´s 1861 visit to Ireland.

(in 10 Km.) Torc waterfall: The Torc Waterfall is located at the base of Torc Mountain, about 8 km from Killarney, within the Killarney National Park. A beautiful path takes us from the parking lot to the waterfall through the forest. The waterfall has a drop of 20 meters high. There is also a path from the waterfall to the top of the Torc mountain.

(in 4 Km.) Muckross House: Muckross House is a mansion with sixty-five rooms built in 1843 in the Tudor style for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife. Extensive improvements were undertaken in the 1850s in preparation for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861.

We walk from Muckross house until Muckross Abbey, one of the major ecclesiastical sites found in the Killarney National Park. It was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary for the Observantine Franciscans by Donal McCarthy Mor. It has had a violent history and has been damaged and reconstructed many times. The friars were often subjected to raids by marauding groups and were persecuted by Cromwellian forces under Lord Ludlow. 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.

(in 41 Km.) Blennerville: We return to our accommodation, with no time to visit neither Ross Castle nor Killarney.