I can feel a bit of general-tiredness creeping today. But it’s not a major concern. I was up early, enjoyed a lovely Irish breakfast at my B&B (I really need to learn how to make black and white pudding at home), and walked a couple miles to the nearest car rental. This is today’s steed. We’re going to take a long jaunt around the Ring of Kerry – a loop that covers a lot of pretty country in the southwest of Ireland. It comes very highly recommended.
Right out the door (or city, in this case), I hit the jackpot. Red Deer! A European deer similar to Elk. A whole herd of does and fawns, with a single stag. This is pretty damn cool. We’re close to the Ross Castle (or Muckross House…I forget which) grounds here. I didn’t really care to see this Castle and drove right by it. And I’m pretty glad I did. I would have missed this.
My first real stop is the Torc Waterfall. This is the view right off the parking lot. Green. Lots of it.
It’s not a large hike, maybe a quarter of a mile or so, to the waterfall. Apparently this was preserved because the family that lived in the castle enjoyed it as a place to get away. So far, it’s a breath-taking intro hiking in Ireland.
The trees are just covered in moss! So green!
The Torc Waterfall. It’s a pretty tall one, despite how small this picture makes it look. No one else was out at this point, and I’m terrible at selfies. This is a low flow for the waterfall – when it has a full flow, you don’t see the rocks in the vertical descent.
An overgrown stone wall. So much moss. It’s so green. I can’t get over how green!
Another short drive and I land at what looks like another potential little hike. I really don’t want to stay in the car right now and just need to be out and about – it’s too gorgeous. Despite how bright it seems, there are clouds ahead and the threat of rain. And, of course, that doesn’t bother me in the list bit. I’ve been wanting to go for a walk in the Irish rain (the version of that song by the Irish Descendants is the best.)
A narrow paved road that apparently doesn’t get used too often. Not a real hike, but it is a great walk so far.
And then the rain hits. The day was warm enough and the rain was light enough to be pleasant. I have my rain shell and my puffy jacket so I’m not worried.
A lake!
Not sure what these were. Spikey plants with pretty flowers. They looked a little like rosemary plants, but were definately capable of stabbing. An irish cactus maybe? It’s pretty!
The rain didn’t last long. Long enough for the bottoms of my jeans to get a little soaked.
The forest vegetation here isn’t as aggressive as the Scottish forms. Apparently there is enough rain here in Ireland for a sizable tree to grow on a boulder. Taking over a boulder, but taking it’s time doing so.
Seriously. How lucky am I? Irish rain AND an Irish rainbow all in less than an hour?
As you can see, the rain and the clouds are clearing up pretty quick.
I love it. I can start to appreciate KL’s obsession with moss. Out here, especially, it takes over. Ok. Hike’s over, time to get back into the car.
I don’t know if that’s a real castle. It looks a little too recently-built. I could be wrong. There wasn’t a sign for it and no mention of it on the Ring of Kerry information I had.
After some winding roads through some of the prettiest countryside I’ve seen since the Highlands, I get here – the stunning Ladies View.
Oh look! Another rainbow!
Reminds me of Scotland. But not as tall.
Farmland. Wow. Green!
The first city I drove into is Kenmare. Apparently I got here just in time for a little farmer’s market. How cool is this! I can pick up some snacks and maybe picnic somewhere along the route!
I love the buildings here. Very cute and pretty. There wasn’t too much that caught my eye in terms of buying things. I got a cup of coffee, some cheese, and an apple for the road.
Happy sheep in one of the greenest pastures I’ve ever seen.
After following a very narrow single-lane road on the suggestion of a Kenmare local, I ended up at a rock fort. With sheep just hanging out. They were actually pretty friendly.
Yes. Happy steers. Chilling in a pasture, where the Fort is.
This is a pretty simple structure. A ring-wall of stone. I think the idea was that the locals could herd their animals in this and bring some possessions and be safe when invaders came by.
If I was back home, I would swear that this grass was taken very well care of. But out here…I bet this just happens naturally.
Steps of a sort, to see over the wall. Notice the lack of cement or other types of mortar to hold the rocks together. Everything here could easily be pulled off, but it’s all very soundly put together. I’ve never seen this before (except at Newgrange so far) and it blows my mind.
I snuck this picture of that lady for size comparison.
See? Everything is loosely placed, but done in a way that it stands without feeling unstable.
Beautiful view from the top.
Hand for comparison. I’m obviously fascinated. This is how the roof was in Newgrange.
The road I had to drive to get to the fort – also the only way out.
The Atlantic ocean.
…pasture and farmland near the Atlantic ocean. It’s become absolutely clear to me why this place is called the Emerald Isle.
The next town was Sneem, but I passed through and continued on to Waterville. A Killarney local told me to keep an eye out for a pub with a sign that says ‘loud Americans aren’t welcome’ (which would completely rule out the entire RSC). A cute little town, with buildings similar to Kenmare. Stopped to enjoy this wonderful view. There was an older couple strolling along, but for the most part, I’m completely by myself out here. It’s a little chilly, but I’m still willing to dip my toes in the water.
Somebody else was enjoying the water too. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the pub that I was told to look for. I diverged from the Ring of Kerry route just a bit to hit the Skellig Ring road to catch a glimpse of the island and visit Portmagee.
Skellig Michael. It was definitely on my list to visit. But unfortunately boats out to this place are rare this time of the year. You have to call the morning of the day you hope to visit and see if anyone is going out. Sadly, no one is heading out today. The weather makes it hard to get there safely for one, and a lot of the terrain on the island makes it unsafe in bad weather. An ancient monastery is out on these islands and I would have loved to see it. I hope K and RHL get a chance to go out there and take pictures.
So far away…but the view is great.
To the left in this picture are cliffs – I love how the land slopes upwards and suddenly ends in cliffside. This was also a bit of a tourist trap area – for $20, I could park my car and walk out to these privately owned cliffs. Nope.
At this point, I began to realize that my being tired wasn’t just that – I’m getting sick. I thought it might happen somewhere along this trip, especially considering RF had a cold at Oktoberfest. I’m thankful that at least it waited this long. But this kind of sucks because I still have so much I want to do today. Not to mention I still have a few hours of driving to do to get back to Killarney. Thankfully Portmagee was a cute town to stop in. A sat a small sandwich shop and had soup and more of that wonderful brown soda bread. I read a bit and then continued onwards.
Seals! Just hanging out. I’ve never seen seals in the wild before! Awesome!
Happy cows in a pasture. We’d never see that many cows in one small pasture back home, unless they had several huge bales of hay strewn about. I wonder how many cows per acre you can have here. The next town is Cahersiveen. Another small town similar to all the others I’ve passed through. I stopped to get directions to my next point of interest and saw some cyclists – they were cycling the Ring of Kerry and staying in all these little towns as they went! Next vacation, you can definitely bet this is making the list.
After getting turned around a bit and then following signs that were posted down little roads, I’m here! Ballcarberry Castle!! And no one else is here! AND it’s in someone’s pasture. I think everyone in Ireland must have a castle in their pastures and only us Americans care. Still, this is pretty wicked cool.
Literally, no one else is here. And there are no fences/signs to keep me from exploring this place to my heart’s content. So I did.
Similar building technique. I’m not sure if the moss is what’s holding it all together now. But inside this wall is a smallish ‘hall’ area that you can walk through.
Inside the lower floor.
I don’t know what this plant is, but it’s climbing the walls and is pretty damned awesome. Some of the ‘trunks’ are thicker than my arm.
It’s like a flat tree.
Going around the back…this is so cool. I feel like a little kid.
Inside. Maybe I shouldn’t be climbing around this place, but everything seems sturdy and like I said, there was nothing set up to prevent me from doing this. I’ve never had an opportunity like this – the castles in Scotland and Germany were pretty strictly regulated. This is such a contrast. I can’t believe I’m getting to see an ancient castle like this up close.
Obviously this has had some repair done to it – the cement on the right isn’t part of the original structure.
But still – how the hell did they manage to get the roof to stay?
I mean, look at those arches!
A view of the inlet here. A castle in a pasture near the ocean – I know I keep seeming shocked by how awesome this is, but can you blame me?
The rooftop. Obviously some repair. Still pretty awesome.
On top of the wall – there’s the house that owns this pasture. This would be the coolest pasture in Ireland to have. I think.
View from the castle.
The backside of the castle.
And like I was with the rocks, I’m fascinated by this plant too. I love how it scales the walls, embedded, like it was part of the original structure and may actually be all that’s holding it together any more.
Another view from the castle.
Probably the coolest castle I’ve seen on this trip, mostly just because I got to explore it on my own without any restrictions. Time to hit the road again.
Obviously not all of Ireland is green. Sometimes the hillsides are orange.
…I can’t believe how pretty this is. Ocean and green pastures on one side, and suddenly, an orange hill. This is covered in ferns similar to the ones I saw in Scotland.
After this, the fact that I was getting sick finally really caught up with me. There wasn’t much more to see – I was hoping to get back to Killarney before the sun went down so I could see Moll’s Gap. Unfortunately this wasn’t going to be the case. By the time I got back, Moll’s Gap was closed and I was cutting it close to time to turn in the car.
This pretty fellow greeted me after I dropped off the car. I miss my boys. A lot. I didn’t realize it would be this hard to be away from them for so long.
The Friary near the train station in Killarney.
Horse carriages at the Hahah. I really wanted to take a shower and go to bed, but also wanted dinner. Apparently I looked a little pathetic as I walked around trying to decide where I was going to go for dinner. An older gentleman named Christy asked me if I needed some help and I mentioned I was just looking for somewhere to get dinner. He pegged me as American and we talked a bit over a pint at a place called Tatler Jack. I mentioned at some point that I wasn’t feeling great and he gave me a fantastic recommendation. Go to a bar called Hannigans and order their lamb stew (it’s made with Guiness). He said to mention to the bartender (who was a friend of his) that I was feeling under the weather and that the bartender would take care of me. And while I enjoyed dinner and the medicine the bartender gave me, there would be two older men playing traditional music. The ‘medicine’ happened to be an Irish hot toddy/hot whiskey – whiskey (Paddy’s, in this case) mixed with boiling water, lemon juice, and honey. It was a perfect way to spend the evening and probably the best remedy for a cold I’ve ever had. I’m going to fight a cold this way every time from now on.