MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Ireland Trip
Day 6 - September 21 2018
This was the longest day planned- the Ring of Kerry! You can’t travel southern Ireland without hitting the Ring of Kerry can you?? The ring is a cluster of old archaeological sites, stunning landscape views and pullouts that are in the rough shape of a circle that most visitors either drive or take buses along. We followed the MANY travel blog’s recommendation of touring the ring clockwise to avoid being stuck behind the tour busses. Only downside to this, is you are now contending with the giant tour busses on the one-lane roads!
It was so hard to not spend an hour at each stop-and some we did!
We began our trip around the Ring of Kerry near Killarney. We didn’t stop in the city but we hit a couple sight nearby, starting with Ross Castle.
On our way out of town we hiked down to the Torc waterfall. From the car park it was a 10 to 15 minute moderately difficult walk. The path was fairly well groomed, but since it had rained recently it was quite muddy and slick in some spots.
After Torc Waterfall, we continued through Killarney National Park stopping off for a few photo ops, including Ladies’ View.
During our gorgeous drive, we stopped in the Blind Piper, a pub in Caherdaniel. It’s a tiny village, and the tour buses don’t seem to stop there, so it was just us and some locals inside. The staff was super friendly and the food was tasty. Mike got yet another order of fish (hake) and chips.
Our final stop was near the town of Ballinskelligs to see some ruins of an old stone castle and abbey. The castle hasn’t really stood the test of time, so the ruins are quite small. However, it was still fun to explore, especially with the town and ocean as a backdrop. A several minute walk along the beach was the ruins of the Ballinskelligs Abbey, which is surrounded by a small, but old cemetery.
The castle and the abbey weren’t necessarily impressive, but the experience of walking along the windswept beach alone to explore the two ruins was a highlight of our trip.
We finished our drive to Dingle, where we were spending the next few days. After dropping our bags off at the Airbnb, we hit Paul Geaney’s Bar & Restaurant for a quick dinner. It was not a memorable meal, but not an unpleasant one either.
Overall, our Ring of Kerry day was VERY long, but memorable.