DAY 14b
RATHFIELD (County Kerry, IRL)
Thursday September 11th, 2008
TODAYS MILEAGE – 223 miles or 359 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 12514 miles or 20139 kilometres
For the longest time, when telling people we were going to Ireland, to a person, we would hear "you have to do the Ring of Kerry" drive. From Blarney Castle, we pushed on into Southwestern Ireland, after a quick lunch in Killarney.
The Ring of Kerry is a tourist trail in County Kerry, which circular route covers 110 miles (177 kilometres), starting from Killarney. You meander your way around the Iveragh Peninsula and passing through Kenmare, Sneem, Waterville (favourite holiday spot of Charlie Chaplin, that now has a statue of him to commemorate his love of the place), Cahersiveen and Killorglin.
Major attractions located along the Ring include Muckross House (near Killarney), Staigue stone fort and Derrynane House, home of Daniel O'Connell. Just south of Killarney, Ross Castle, Lough Leane, and Ladies View (a panoramic viewpoint), all located within Killarney National Park.
We travelled the route in a clockwise direction and unwittingly saved ourselves a lot of hassles by doing so.
"The Ring" is a popular day trip and numerous bus companies offer trips during the summer months. As the narrow roads make it difficult for tour coaches to pass, all tour buses run in an anti-clockwise (or counter-clockwise) direction, travelling via Killorglin first. It was only when I got back to Australia that I found out it is recommended that car owners travel in the opposite direction to the busses.
