Day 11 – Killarney, Ireland

We decided to stay local today and spend the day in Killarney. It was still a busy day, and fortunately another beautiful day, sunny and warm.

Ross Castle – The castle is considered a typical example of the stronghold of an Irish Chieftain during the Middle Ages. It was probably built in the late 15th century by one of the ODonoghue Ross chieftains. It is surrounded by a fortified wall, and sits on Lough Leane. Carol and George took the tour, mom took half the tour, which included climbing up the tower. I took a gazillion photos because it was so beautiful. The castle contains 16th and 17th century oak furniture. Above the entrance there was a hole in the floor. It was big enough for a person to fit through. This is where the soldiers would defend, drop things on, or shoot people coming to the front door. Visitors would sleep in the parlor on the second floor. The owners slept on the next floor up.

Muckross House and Gardens – we decided to take the house tour, which lasted an hour. It reminded me of Downton Abbey. This nineteenth century Victorian mansion is set against the stunning beauty of Killarney National Park. The house stands close to the shores of Muckross Lake, one of Killarney’s three lakes, famed world wide for their splendour and beauty. The house was built for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the water-colourist Mary Balfour Herbert. This was actually the fourth house that successive generations of the Herbert family had occupied at Muckross over a period of almost two hundred years. The building was completed in 1843. Queen Victoria visited the home, with the hope that Henry would be given a title. It took 6 years to prepare for the Queen, and the costs of the upgrades eventually bankrupted the family. There were 25 bedrooms, and 35 bells in the servants quarters, so they would know which room or person would need them. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the house, but I took a few of the kitchen when everyone was leaving. The last set of owners were from the US and the gardens were built for their daughter. The gardens were lovely. It was fun to see the horse and buggies on the property. We did a little shopping and ate lunch in the cafeteria in the visitor center.

Torc Waterfall – George found us an excellent parking spot to see the falls. It was a short walk to see them, under a canopy of moss covered trees. The word Torc is from the Irish translation of a “wild boar”, and the area is associated with legends involving wild boars. One legend is of a man who was cursed by the Devil to spend each night transformed into a wild boar, but when his secret was revealed by a local farmer, he burst into flames and disappeared.

Shopping and dinner downtown – We spent almost 2 hours shopping downtown. I almost bought a cape, and may regret that later. We had some delicious ice cream at Murphy’s. Since mom and I got back to the car before George and Carol, we stepped into a pub right next to the car to have a half pint of Orchard Teeves (thieves, but that’s how they say it here. For dinner we went to a restaurant recommended by the receptionist called Flesk. They had a super special that caught out attention 1/2 of a Dingle Bay lobster, 4oz filet, shrimp and chips.It was delicious and we had room for dessert.

Night everyone. Tomorrow we drive the Ring of Kerry, which is about 110 miles. While that might only be 3.5 hours if we didn’t stop, we will be stopping lots of places.