20/05/2023
A pretty chill day. After a lazy start we headed off in the car to explore the scenic area of Connemara. Main visit on our costal loop drive was Kylemore Abbey and Gardens. Not much else to report… just a nice day out and about 🙂
19/05/2023
We headed off again further up the west coast. Kate was keen for a quiet morning and I was keen to get back out exploring, so I jumped on to a ferry again and headed out to the Aran Islands. A set of three islands, the furtherst (and largest) is now famous for being the location of the film The Banshees of Inishirin. I was just up for a few hours of exploring so headed to the smallest, closest island Inis OÃrr, also known as Inisheer.
A quick 20 minute ferry and I was there. being only 2km x 3km, I headed off wandering the island. With a small township and then miles and miles of stone walls, I made my way to some of the notable sights, including large shipwreck, still sitting on the beach, the lighthouse, and some ruins of churches and forts. I had enough time for cheeky pint before catching the ferry back and then onwards up the coast.
On the way we stopped by one of the ancient burial grounds that dot the country.
Our Friday night was in the busy town of Westport, which judging by the music going late into the night gets its fair share of visitors.
18/05/2023
A driving day to head north, away from the Ring of Kerry and further up the west coast. It was a combo of a driving day but mostly a day to visit the Cliffs of Moher.
Alas it was our first main day of rain. It settled in on the drive and was well set in when we got to the cliffs. We still parked nearby and made our way to the view points. Ha! We couldn’t see much at all! We had been supremely lucky to this point and our luck ran out a little. Thankfully the rain did stop and we got some breaks in the clouds to see some of the spectacular cliffs.
We also planned to do a ferry cruise to see the cliffs from the water, but the weather was not kind. So we decided to settle into the pub for a bit and wait it out for an hour. And what do you know! After a pint the weather cleared up and we headed out on a boat to see the cliffs from below.
Our accommodation was a cute B&B in the hills where we settled for the night.
17/05/2023
On our last full day in Killarney, we embarked on the famous Ring of Kerry drive, around the Kerry peninsula. It was windy green roads, waterfalls, Â beaches and cliffs all around. Midway I jumped on a boat to visit (not land on though sadly) Skellig Michael, now famous as the home of curmudgeonly Luke Skywalker in the recent Star Wars trilogy. We also chanced upon a Minke Whale as well!
On the way back round we discovered a great ring fort before arriving back for the night.
16/05/2023
The next day the weather was still glorious, so it was amazing to head out and make our way to do some hiking. We went off to do the famous Gap of Dunloe, a pass through mountains on the Ring of Kerry. After getting a bus to the start, we embarked on the 12km up and down hike. The weather was kind, as were the local sheep and horses we passed along the way. While steep it felt good and we did it fairly comfortably. We were greeted with a nice boat ride back Ross Castle and then a bus back into town to rest up and, yes, more Guinness.
