If there is a scenic drive around we will more than likely be looking for it and the “Ring of Kerry” is just one of those drives in Ireland.
The town of Killarney is probably the more central or well known base for this area however Adrienne’s research has us better placed here in Kenmare. So we are all set for our drive tomorrow “around the ring”. But today was our first time on the road in Ireland, getting us to Kenmare from Dublin.
The hire car pickup was just down the street so that was relatively easy. The poor French couple in front of us trying to sort out the language problem with the check-in girl did slow us down a bit though. And actually getting out of Dublin was pretty slow also thanks to peak hour traffic ! Once out of town though we were back in open country winding through rural countryside and driving up into the Wicklow mountains to the south of Dublin.
Winding through the Wicklow Mountains – watch out for the sheep !
After about an hour we reached Glendalough, a significant monastic site in Ireland. It is an early Christian monastic settlement, founded by St. Kevin (true – not a Monty Python name) in the 6th century. Eventually it developed into a ‘Monastic City’. The area now consists of the remains of a number of monastic buildings, the most intact and impressive is the Round Tower which stands about 30m high. When attacked, the monks would use this tower to escape, climbing a ladder to the door – about 10-15 feet above ground, then pulling up the ladder so the attackers couldn’t reach them. There are many old graves within the site also.
The Round Tower at Glendalough
Admiring the parklands at Glendalough
Back on our way, we drove on south west, through a combination of narrow winding lanes between hedges and stone walls, open farming fields and then once in a while passing through a village. The first part of our drive included a number of fancy horse studs. Driving the narrow lanes is like driving through a green tunnel ! There are tall hedges on both sides of the roads which in a lot of cases have merged well above the road. If there aren’t hedges, there are stone walls instead !.
We finally reached a motorway which moved us along a bit quicker toward our next stop – the Rock of Cashel . This is reputed to be where St Patrick baptized King Aengus in AD 450. It was also the seat of the ancient Kings of Munster and the old forts located here were eventually replaced by a stone tower and cathedral when King O’Brien gave the Rock to the church. As you drive towards it, it is an impressive sight – a huge structure on top of a hill with the stone buildings rising up from the rock foundations. We stopped to have a look around, although it is now mostly a ruin. There are a number of gravestones around the complex within the walls – apparently the graveyard is full however it is still used – but only if you had reserved your spot prior to the 1930’s !
The Rock of Cashel
A lot of our driving for the remainder of the trip was on the motorway, at least until we reached Cork. We arrived in Kenmare around 4pm and our B&B is just on the edge of the town, just a short walk to the main street. The town is a much “quieter” option than Killarney which is much more of a tourist town with large hotels – and easier for the big tour buses to negotiate.
Our B&B host gave us a few tips for dinner options and as it was still early and we had spent most of the day in the car, we decided to have a walk around the town. It is not very big – about 3 blocks of shops and restaurants – however Adrienne managed to find a nice shamrock gold charm for her “travels” bracelet so she was very happy !
The Stone Circle at Kenmare
Nearby there is also a small “Irish” stone circle so we took a look at this also, significantly smaller than the ones on Orkney we had seen. Also along the little river which runs between our B&B and the town, is a bridge believed to have been built in the 11th century by Augustinian monks. Rather obscure shape for a bridge – I suppose they were monks and not engineers !
For dinner, we tried “Davitt’s” a nice little pub which had a couple of musicians playing in the restaurant / bar – more for atmosphere as the pub and restaurant were pretty loud. A very nice meal and one of our B&B host’s recommendations. Adrienne also stretched to desert – eat, drink and be merry they say !
After a sunny start in Dublin, the weather has been a bit cloudier as we’ve headed south however still fine – we are probably overdue for a “bad” day so we’ll see what tomorrow brings us as we head off on the “Ring of Kerry”
Today’s Tour Trivia – Kenmare has another Quidditch team – the Kenmare Kestrals