Today’s journey took us around the Ring of Kerry, a drive that traces the coastline of the Iveragh Peninsula. The sights were equal to, if not more stunning than, yesterday’s Dingle Peninsula.
We went through several small towns along the way. Early in our journey, we passed the cart of an Irish Traveller, often referred to as gypsies. While the original Irish Travellers lived in horse-drawn wagons and travelled, most today live in caravans on official sites provided by a local authority.
The Iveragh Peninsula is south of the Dingle Peninsula. We started our trip on the north side of the Iveragh Peninsula and travelled “anti-clockwise.” This view is looking north to the Dingle Peninsula.
Loher Stone Fort was probably built around 900 AD by a local chieftain in early Christian Ireland to defend the surrounding farmland. Its high vantage point gave it great views of the land and bay.
A close up view of the stone fort.
Deenish and Scariff Islands can be seen on the right.
We ate lunch in Sneem with this beautiful view as our backdrop.
Most trips, there are only a few pictures of Bonnie and me together. Well, this trip we have our own personal photographer, thanks to Sharon from Palo Alto. Here we are at Ladies View. The name apparently stems from the admiration of the view given by Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting during their 1861 visit.
This view is looking in the opposite direction towards Killarney. At this point, we are now in the Killarney National Park.
The Muckross House was built in 1834 and is located about 4 miles outside of Killarney. It was gifted to Ireland in 1932 and became the first National Park in the Irish Free State (now Republic of Ireland) and formed the basis of the present day Killarney National Park.
This is the view of the beautiful grounds and lake from the house. If you look carefully just below the tree line towards the right, you can see one of the jaunties that ride around the park.
We ended our day at a sheep ranch where we watched Rose, the Border Collie, herd some sheep.
I can understand why Killarney is the most visited place in Ireland. The natural beauty of the surrounding area is not to be missed. Tonight, we pack our bags once again and make our way to Galway.
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