From Kinsale we took a car and driver to our B&B just outside the town of Killarney. A beautiful location, just inside the Killarney National Park, and an easy walk across the street into the park. We were greeted by a few of the locals (a fox in the yard, and deer in the field), and by our hosts at Friars Glen B&B. a great B&B with wonderful hosts and staff, and fabulous scones!


Killarney town was maybe “just the right size” for us. Many little shops and pubs, and some excellent walks right in town. We visited the Killarney Brewery which was about halfway to town from our B&B for refreshments along the way. And of course there was music - it must just be all through Ireland! Loved it! The hotel near our B&B had Irish music and dancing about 5 nights a week, and we were able to enjoy that a couple times while we were here.


Just across the street was Muckross Abbey founded in 1448 and the Muckross House built in 1843. Well, I wouldn’t call it a house - built with 52 fireplaces and chimneys (one for each week) and 365 windows (one for each day) - but it certainly is a beautiful mansion. Much of the work on the grounds was done in preparation for a visit by Queen Victoria in 1861, and all of this work eventually led to the financial collapse of the owner and sale of the property to Arthur Guinness. He later sold the property to a wealthy California mining businessman, who later donated it back to Ireland - the house and the 11,000 acre estate. Taking a ride in a Jaunting Cart around the grounds and up to Torc Waterfall is a great way to see just a small portion of this property.



We only had 3 days in Killarney, which is not near enough as there is so much hiking that can be done in the park. We decided to do The Ring of Kerry tour (on a bus), with Wild Kerry Tours - and it was fabulous! This was a great way to see the peninsula with a few stops along the way for brief tours and pictures. After a stop for coffee (Irish Coffee) at the Red Fox Inn, we soon arrived at Kells Sheep Center. This was maybe the highlight of our entire trip so far. PLEASE - watch the two videos (and turn up the sound) of Brendan Ferris working with his dogs - it is amazing. He uses different phrases for each dog, but similar meanings - one might be “lay down” while for the other “stay there”. Anyway, an amazing demonstration and well worth the 5 Euro price!



Some incredible views on this loop around The Ring of Kerry. And in talking to one of our drivers, we found they also do a Dingle Peninsula tour. Since we were moving to Dingle the next day, we were able to book the tour, and our driver would drop us (and our bags) right at our B&B - actually ended up cheaper than doing taxi-bus-taxi, and the tour of the peninsula was awesome as well.


While we were waiting for the bus the next morning around 9:00 AM, we had a chance to see “rush hour” in Killarney. Check it out...



The tour of the Dingle Peninsula was great. First stopping at Inch Beach, which is a very long mini-peninsula that juts out into the bay, and provides perfect waves for surfers and a long stretch of sand. The water is warmer than it looks but still, a wetsuit is a good idea. Heading around the peninsula provided beautiful views everywhere - from patchwork farmland and sheep, to ocean cliffs. At the end of the peninsula is Slea Head - the westernmost point on the mainland of Ireland - with views of the Blasket Islands. In this area we stopped to take pictures a few times (evidently this was a big location used for Star Wars), and saw some of the old Beehive Huts, built around the 12th century.


Dingle was a cute little town in a protected harbor, with colorful buildings, many pubs (starting to get sick and tired of fried fish and chips), and some good activities. Many of these activities are focused around the star of the town, “Fungie” the dolphin. Evidently, at around four years old in 1984, this dolphin got separated from its pod, and ended up in this bay. Not able to communicate with other pods (so we were told), he has lived on his own here, and never seems to travel more than a mile or so from the town. He seems to enjoy interaction with the many tour boats - riding the bow wake, all of which advertise full refunds if you don’t see Fungie - and in 30-some years, I don’t think they have ever had to pay.


We had several chances to see Fungie - we went on a morning Stand Up Paddle trip on the bay, and he came up within 20 yards of us (he is big by the way), and we also saw him while we were on a boat tour (RIB) to see the coast and the Blasket Islands. On this trip we saw other pods of dolphin, and some seals near the Blaskets. The small boat was great - taking us into a few caves and out onto the open Atlantic beyond the islands.


We took a beautiful hike while we were in Dingle - out around the harbor and past the lighthouse, and up to the cliffs above the bay. It is a well used trail that takes you through several pastures (watch for cow pies), and right next to the cliffs (too close in some cases), for some incredible views. Pay attention to the signs - there aren’t many, but when you see them, they mean it...


After our time in Dingle, we headed to Galway, about a 250 km drive, using the wonderful Irish Bus system “Bus Éireann”. It really is a good system, and although we had to make a couple transfers (first in Tralee, and then in Limerick), it was easy to do, and took about six hours total, providing great scenery along the way. After this experience we have become bus-hounds! For the price, it’s a great way to see the country.


Galway itself is a fairly large city, with a main walking street right near the core featuring many shops and of course pubs! It was “Race Week” in Galway, which we were unaware of when we booked in, and our hotel was a short taxi ride out of town. Race Week is a 7-day event of horse races (and the hats and fashion to go with it), and is somewhat like Seattle’s Seafair week. People come from all over Ireland and the UK to be part of the party. The racetracks here are amazing - not flat manicured tracks - but grass tracks that go up and down gentle slopes of the natural landscape. And they run about 12-16 horses at a time. Actually, it was quite interesting to watch (from a T.V. In a pub).


Enjoyed some street music while we were in Galway, and Eileen enjoyed winning a few Euro’s in a Casino (first one on this trip, but I have a feeling many to come). After a couple nights in Galway, we hop on another bus and are on our way to visit Doolin, the Cliff’s of Moher, and the Aran Islands.



About 10 days to go here in Ireland.

Hope you enjoy the pictures in the album, as well as the other videos.


All the best,

Tim & (Euro 100 richer) Eileen