Ireland Day 7: Killarney National Park
Today, we decided to go back into
Killarney National Park for a more in-depth look. However, before we
set out for the park, we wanted to try and find a nearby stone circle.
Megalithic ruins have always
been my favorite, and we had not seen any
yet. About 5 minutes from our B&B, we found a sign indicating a
stone circle
nearby. After driving for a while on a tiny dirt road we
came to the stone "circle." Unfortunately, all but one of the
standing stones had fallen ages ago, and were only recognizable as
lumps on the ground. Oh well, maybe next time :)
We drove into the park, and headed into the Black Valley. Apparently, the homes here were the last houses in Ireland to receive electricity, sometime in the 1970s (please correct me if I am wrong). Although this was a park, it was still being used by about 6 billion sheep! There were lots of stone pens for the sheep, which we had seen before (and thought they were some kind of ruins ! Oops.) We hiked for a while down a road, and then found part of a hiking trail to experience the countryside. It was a nice enough trail, as long as we watched out for the sheep!
After the hike, we drove up to the Gap of Dunloe (link 2) This is a popular attraction in the park, although we apparently did it in reverse. Many people were walking or biking up from the other side. This was a rocky pass that was the windiest place I have ever been. It was pretty cool.
Another main attraction in the park was Muckross House. This is an estate that was donated to the park. It has a huge house, nice grounds, and pretty decent arboretum. They have a good tour of the inside. The greatest claim to fame of this estate is that Queen Victoria once planned a visit here. She was supposed to stay for quite a while, so the owners made a bunch of changes to accommodate her unusual requests. She had them put in a fire escape and plant a garden outside her bedroom window so her view would be nicer. Of course, politics happens, so she was called back to London after only staying there one day! D'oh! Apparently, the resulting lack of royal favor led to the financial and political downfall of the family. Sorry, not too many pictures of the house (no cameras allowed inside). They had a huge, scary plant in the arboretum. I don't know what it is, but it grew very tall and had some pretty nasty spines.
So that was pretty much the end of that day. We drove back to Killarney, and stayed at the same B&B as on day 5. Once again, we had Italian food in a restaurant staffed entirely by Spaniards. (Sorry about that to all of the travel purists, but it was the most reliable food!)
Proceed to Day 8: Driving and a Banquet
Go back to Day 6
Return to index
All photos (c) Hoyt Heaton, 2003, yadayada....
We drove into the park, and headed into the Black Valley. Apparently, the homes here were the last houses in Ireland to receive electricity, sometime in the 1970s (please correct me if I am wrong). Although this was a park, it was still being used by about 6 billion sheep! There were lots of stone pens for the sheep, which we had seen before (and thought they were some kind of ruins ! Oops.) We hiked for a while down a road, and then found part of a hiking trail to experience the countryside. It was a nice enough trail, as long as we watched out for the sheep!
After the hike, we drove up to the Gap of Dunloe (link 2) This is a popular attraction in the park, although we apparently did it in reverse. Many people were walking or biking up from the other side. This was a rocky pass that was the windiest place I have ever been. It was pretty cool.
Another main attraction in the park was Muckross House. This is an estate that was donated to the park. It has a huge house, nice grounds, and pretty decent arboretum. They have a good tour of the inside. The greatest claim to fame of this estate is that Queen Victoria once planned a visit here. She was supposed to stay for quite a while, so the owners made a bunch of changes to accommodate her unusual requests. She had them put in a fire escape and plant a garden outside her bedroom window so her view would be nicer. Of course, politics happens, so she was called back to London after only staying there one day! D'oh! Apparently, the resulting lack of royal favor led to the financial and political downfall of the family. Sorry, not too many pictures of the house (no cameras allowed inside). They had a huge, scary plant in the arboretum. I don't know what it is, but it grew very tall and had some pretty nasty spines.
So that was pretty much the end of that day. We drove back to Killarney, and stayed at the same B&B as on day 5. Once again, we had Italian food in a restaurant staffed entirely by Spaniards. (Sorry about that to all of the travel purists, but it was the most reliable food!)
Proceed to Day 8: Driving and a Banquet
Go back to Day 6
Return to index
All photos (c) Hoyt Heaton, 2003, yadayada....