Today we headed west to visit one of Ireland’s most frequently visited tourist attractions, the Ring of Kerry. This is a 170 km drive around the Iveragh Peninsula. It was beautiful drive, although it made for a long day since we started in Kinsale and ended in Limerick. See the map below for the day’s drive.
Our first stop was Kilarney, the town where the scenic drive begins. We had breakfast at “The Street Cafe” which was right across the street from this pharmacy. Our good friend Marc is a pharmacist and his last name is Sweeney….his family name used to be McSweeney further down the family line. So Marc here is a picture of your family pharmacy!
While at the cafe we found reviews on-line stating the best way to drive around the Ring of Kerry was to start in Killorglin and drive counter-clock wise. This was the direction most people drive including the tour buses. This means you don’t meet a tour bus head on, on the side of a clif. Our first stop was Rossbeigh beach, here is a picture below.
Then we traveled on to a small town called Caherciveen, home of this barrack. This particular barrack was supposed to be built in India during a time when the British occupied India, but the plans got mixed up and it was built here instead.
Here are some other views along the way. Including Derrynane beach, one of the finest beaches in Ireland. It is way too cold for any kind of sun bathing. It got up into the low 50’s today. But since I love the beach I put my hand in, while Dustin, Sarah and Josh waiting in the car. They were cold! The ocean and beach refresh my soul, as I mentioned in my Seattle post, the ocean always reminds me of how BIG our God is and how BIG His love for us is. 🙂
As we rounded out the last part of the drive, which seemed like it might never end we saw the Lakes of Killarney at the National Park and the Torc Waterfall.
We were exhausted from this day of driving, we stopped back in Killarney for dinner at a bistro. The food was ok, Ireland food tends to be very plain. We waited a long time for our food but quickly consumed it and headed on the road to Limmerick where we stayed for the night. Sarah and I fell asleep in the car before we even got on the road 30 minutes. Not sure how many roundabouts we went through today but it was a large number. Dustin has them mastered at this point!
Tomorrow’s plan..Cliffs of Mohr and Burren National Park, and then head back to Dublin. Our flight to Paris leaves at 6:15 pm on Monday. I am super excited although I do wish I would have had more time to brush up on french before we left. Oh well I can say a few phrases & ask if they speak english!
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