Today we left Dingle and drove to Killarney. Only an hour's drive. As I've been acquiring extra luggage I made an investment and bought a suitcase. I noticed a deal at Super Valu, a local supermarket chain, excellent suitcases at a great price - only if you had 10 coupon stickers. When I mentioned this at the B&B Terese rummaged through her purse and produced the required coupons and voila, another purchase!
Killarney is in the County of Kerry.
Last glimpse of Dingle harbour.
And last word from the locals.
Travelling to Killarney - more fertile soil with farms on the hillside.
Killarney is tourist central, like Dingle. Their season is 12 months of the year and the benefits show in the obvious prosperity in the area. There are seven golf courses, riding stables, lakes for anglers, a well advertised racing season ( with evening races). There are good brand shops as well as local speciality stores.
Attractively presented displays
St Mary's Cathedral consecrated in 1855 and renovated in 1970s.
Spacious and simple with vibrant traditional stained glass windows
The entrance to Killaney National Park, close to the city centre. Horse-drawn carriages, or Jarvies, take visitors all over the town.
We walked through the National Park, past the deer park, towards Ross Castle. 2 kms.
The castle is on a lake where tourists can go punting, take a ferry ride or go fishing. You only need to pay a fee if you intend to catch salmon and then only a limit of two and only over 6 lbs.
Ross Castle, built in the 1500s for the O'Donoghue Chieftains. Passed down to different owners, upgrading the building as the years progressed. The common thread was that each generation was able to thwart the threat to their Catholic faith, particularly during the Reformation. The state purchased the building and have restored the basic structure.
We succumbed and had a Jarvie ride back to the B&B. This young lad is working with his grandad for the school holidays.
Tonight we are staying at Robeen House, the first B&B for our Kerry Way walk. We have organised to do the 8 day walk through an Irish company, Footfalls Walking Holidays www.walkinghikingireland.com, who have booked our accommodation, given us detailed walking instructions and will transport our luggage. Our Irish friends, John and Maugie, ( whom we met on our Spanish walk in 2012) are walking with us but prefer to stay in hostels and self-cater. Hopefully, some more of their friends will join us. Having said that, it seems to be a popular route so we look forward to meeting others on the way. From our initial reading of the route it appears to be a challenging walk with long days but with no serious ascents. Time will tell. We hope to report daily depending on wifi. We are optimistic as we have been lucky so far.
M&M
9/7/2014
2 comments:
Lush, green and spectacular...and we wish we were there too! :)
The scenery for your past week has been fabulous. I'm sure you have boosted future tourist numbers as I for one have added the route to my bucket list!....JulieJ
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