Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [239]
Heading to the coast poses the first great Kerry decision: Dingle Peninsula or Ring of Kerry? The fortunate simply say ‘both’. But for most travellers on a schedule it comes down to one or the other. The Ring of Kerry around the Iveragh Peninsula is the larger of the two and has the greater sweep of land, with windswept coasts and islands with ancient histories, such as Valentia and Skellig Michael.
In contrast, the compact little Dingle Peninsula is like much of Ireland’s coast boiled down to a reduction of ancient sites, evocative beauty and little glimpses of a hard and always unforgiving land. Here, the namesake town of Dingle is the centre of everything. Its seafood restaurants vie for attention with its ancient yarn-filled pubs.
How to enjoy Kerry is up to you. And when you need to escape from everyone else who flocks here in summer and faces the same question, remember there’s always a mountain pass, an isolated cove or an untrodden trail where you can find your own answers.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Placid Sheep The sheep are oblivious to the perilous beauty of the Dingle Peninsula
Setting Sail Heading out for the Upper Lake in Killarney National Park
Island Hopping The rocky Skelligs and evacuated Blaskets
Oceans Infinity Dingle town’s array of superb seafood restaurants Click here
Tenors & Spoons Impromptu trad music and singing in a Ring of Kerry pub Click here and the county’s many storytellers
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POPULATION: 140,000
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AREA: 4746 SQ KM
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KILLARNEY
pop 16,900
Killarney is a well-oiled tourism machine in the middle of the sublime scenery of its namesake national park. Its studied twee-ness is renowned. However, it has many charms beyond the obvious proximity to lakes, waterfalls, woodland and moors dwarfed by 1000m-plus peaks. In a town that’s been practising the tourism game for over 250 years, competition keeps standards high, and visitors on all budgets can expect to find good restaurants, fine pubs and plenty of accommodation.
Mobbed in summer, Killarney is perhaps at its best in the late spring and early autumn when the weather allows enjoyment of its outdoor charms and the crowds have thinned.
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HISTORY
Killarney and its surrounds have been inhabited probably since the Neolithic period and were certainly important Bronze Age settlements, based on the copper ore mined on Ross Island. Killarney changed hands between warring tribes, the most notable of which were the Fir Bolg (‘bag men’), expert stonemasons who built forts (including Staigue) and developed Ogham script.
In the 7th century St Finian founded a monastery on Inisfallen Island, and Killarney became a focus for Christianity in the region. The O’Donoghue clan later ousted the Gaels, before building Ross Castle (in the 15th century).
It wasn’t until much later, in the 17th century, that Viscount Kenmare developed the town as a tourist centre, an Irish version of England’s Lake District. Among its many notable 19th-century visitors were Queen Victoria and the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who began Queen Mab here.
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ORIENTATION
The centre of Killarney is the T-junction where New St meets High and Main Sts. As it heads south, High St becomes Main St, then turns east into Kenmare Pl and East Ave Rd, where the large hotels are. The national park is to the south, while the bus and train stations are east of the centre.
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INFORMATION
Bookshops
Killarney Bookshop ( 064-663 4108; 32 Main St) Good for hiking maps.
Pages Bookstore (064-662 6757; 20 New St) Lots of fiction.
Emergency
For emergencies (ambulance, fire or police) dial 999.
Internet Access
Killarney Library ( 064-663 2655; Rock Rd) Free access.
Leaders ( 064-663 9635; Beech Rd; per 30 min €2; 9.30am-5pm Mon-Sat)
Rí Rá ( 064-663 8729; Plunkett St; per 30 min €2; 11am-9pm) Offers