Ireland Part 2: The Ring of Kerry

I missed the sunrise, and we still had no set plan for the day. We went down for breakfast and then decided to head out and find the Ross Castle. It wasn’t far and we made it there by 9:30am or so, but it was extremely crowded! There were children running around and screaming and chasing ducks. We did a quick tour of the site and its surroundings, got some photos, and left about an hour later. Then, without much thought, we ended up on the Ring of Kerry, which is a staple of Ireland that I had heard of before, but never really looked into.

It is a scenic drive, about 111 miles around the Iveragh peninsula in Southwest Ireland. Along the way, you pass through seven little villages, one of them including Killarney where we stayed. I didn’t know what to expect at first, everyone hears of the Ring of Kerry but I never really saw myself wanting to do it because I imagined it entailed a lot of driving. And as much as I love traveling, I typically hate long car rides. I'd rather be out exploring instead of just watching everything pass me by. So at first I was skeptical and widely misjudged the ring of Kerry. 

Our first leg of the trip was to a village called Kenmare. It was a quaint little village bustling with families out on holiday, shopping and eating outside of little cafes. There were vendors set up outside of the shops selling handmade crafts and knick-knacks. We ate lunch at a pub called Murphy’s Bar. David ate fish and chips and I had a yummy chicken salad sandwich. We were eager to see what else we could find on the drive so we didn’t stay long in crowded little Kenmare. 

The next stop was the village of Sneem. I adored Sneem, it was more of our pace. A little smaller and cozier than Kenmare; it had a tight-knit feel. We did a little souvenir shopping here, stopped for a coffee, and met Puck the mountain goat and the gentleman that rescued him. Those two really left an imprint on my memory of this trip. It was not something you see everyday - a man and his mountain goat hanging out in the village square. Puck was kind of majestic, and he and his owner had this incredible bond. The two were practically snuggling when we walked over to meet them. He told us he rescued Puck when he was four months old, and that he is now six years old which is made apparent by the lines in his horns. As odd and unusual it was to find the two sitting there in the middle of the village, it looks like they belong there after looking back at some of the photos I took of them. 

In between each village was an amazing scenic drive that I loved and hated. There were so many spots that I wanted to stop and check out, but our day trip of the Ring of Kerry would have ended up taking the whole week. It was frustrating at times, I felt like I was letting fun and good photo opportunities pass me by as we spent hours driving and only stayed in these little villages for an hour at most. As much as I enjoyed the villages, I was itching to get out and explore the cliffs and mountains.

The next drive seemed longer than the rest, probably because we hadn’t seen a bathroom this whole stretch. Caherdaniel was the upcoming village our GPS was to take us to next. And when we arrived, we found ourself on one tiny little road, barely big enough to drive down and yet people were parallel parked all along it on either side and folks were standing in the road, in no hurry to move. The only gas station we saw was in someone’s front yard. Needless to say, we turned around quickly and continued on to the next village.

The route to Waterville was incredibly scenic, we were driving up around the mountain overlooking the ocean. I was frustrated because I desperately had to use the restroom but I wanted to stop and see the views! We raced to Waterville and then finding a bathroom was another challenge. There were very few shops along the entrance into Waterville and most of them had closed because it was after 5 pm. I did a little dance all the way down the road until we finally found a fancy little bar and restaurant connected to a bed and breakfast that we snuck into to use the bathroom. We considered stopping here to eat, but we were tired, exhausted, and frankly underdressed. We felt there wasn’t much else to see here so we backtracked a little to stop and take in a view of the ocean from the mountain and then trekked on. 

Not too far on we found a bed and breakfast restaurant called The Smuggler’s Inn. We were going to try to eat there because the name was cool, but somehow we were again met with the feeling of being underdressed and out of our league. It was very fancy with a butler-esque host, and we were just looking for a place to wind down and relax. We turned around and kept going, getting frustrated and hoping to find somewhere else to dine quick.

Next up was Cahersiveen. At this point, we were wiped out and merely looking for a place to eat and head back to Killarney. It was getting late so there wasn’t much to do or see anyway. We were thrilled when we finally found this restaurant that was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. From the outside, you see a beautiful church; which confused us at first, but the sign on the lawn said “Oratory Pizza & Wine Bar” so we went for it. Once inside, we were in awe of the very modern yet historic vibe of the place. It was pretty small, but it was packed. We got a tiny little table for two and decided to each try a different pizza. David is very old school with his taste in pizza, just a plain pepperoni, and cheese. I’m a little more adventurous and tried “the Goat”, which had traditional tomato sauce, mozzarella, red onions, Ardsallagh Goat’s cheese, sun blushed tomatoes, and then drizzled with basil pesto and topped with fresh rocket leaf (an English leaf often used in salad). My mouth is watering just thinking about it. They came out on wooden pizza boards and we had to cut the slices ourselves, but this was okay by me because the food was incredible. It was definitely a pizza experience for the books. 

After we ate, we took to the road feeling better after a good meal. We stopped on the road quite a few times to take in some views. The sun had almost set and clouds were hanging over the mountain tops. We were in the middle of nowhere it seemed, and it was perfectly quiet and peaceful, with the exception of some cows mooing in the distance. There were mountains in every direction you looked. It was heaven to me. 

By the time we got to the next town, it was dark, probably about eight o’clock or so. We were too exhausted to even get out at this point and just drove through. Part of me wished we had done the Ring of Kerry in reverse because driving through the next two villages didn’t seem fair. Glenbeigh was lit up by hanging lights that were strewn across the streets and people were walking and eating outside the pubs and restaurants. It seemed much more inviting than some of the other villages we saw earlier on. It was too dark to see much through Killorglin, and from there was a half an hour stretch back to the hotel in Killarney. 

Needless to say, we were very ready to shower and crash when we got back to the hotel. Once I laid down, my mind was racing with thoughts of the events from the day. As I mentioned earlier, I was overly skeptical and misjudged the Ring of Kerry. While in some ways I found myself frustrated because of the amount of time spent in the car, I was really glad we did it and had a much more cultivated and appreciative perspective. I saw so many vastly beautiful sights of all different varieties from inside of the car and out. I can understand now why it is such a popular Irish experience and would definitely recommend it for a compact way to do a ton of sightseeing!