Visiting Killarney: Wise Iron

“I was once told I needed just a bit of iron and I’d be safer walking between worlds.” -Old Sean

The Gate and Ring

After leaving Cork and Blarney Castle, I moved west, heading towards the town of Killarney. While Killarney itself is a relatively small Irish town, it’s a vital hub for tourists. Killarney is the primary gateway to one of the most scenic loops in all of Ireland, The Ring of Kerry.

I took my sleepy bus into town and settled into the 3 Lakes Hostel. It’s a nice little place (though a bit outside the main city) and very comfortable overall. However, while visiting Killarney, I didn’t have a wealth of free time available.

My tourism company was largely interested in me researching locations on the Ring of Kerry. But the Ring of Kerry is a large loop and public vehicles typically only travel the loop counter-clockwise. As such, while I had a fair amount of time visiting Killarney, I knew I had to factor in considerable travel time.

For my first few hours in town, I planned out my next route using a combination of bikes and public buses. Then, I wandered around town, taking photos of some of the local features.

Around Killarney

I quickly walked through Killarney Park, where a few young men were playing football and passed the downtown area for views of various shops with flowers out front. I took a very swift hike through the town-portion of Knockreer, which is technically a park linked with the nearby Lough Leane.

Afterwards, I moved back into town, noticing the rather impressive crowds at various bars. At the time of this writing, the 2018 FIFA World Cup is in full swing.

I ducked into a Lord Of The Rings-Themed bar called The Shire. Hobbit decorations and fantasy quotes speckled the venue. As I nursed a beer and munched away on a veggie burger, I listened to numerous groans at Croatia’s defeat. This was followed by some jubilant shouts by three borderline-rude Frenchmen.

To The Shores

After finishing my meal, I dispersed with the rest of the crowd, the football match finally over. However, instead of heading back to my hostel to rest, I started walking south. Slightly tipsy and eyeing incoming clouds wearily, I shouldered my yet-unused umbrella and wandered out to Ross Castle.

And Ross Castle is great.  It’s tall, strong, stoic, stony, and all manners of castley.  The sturdy, historic walls boarder a gorgeous lakeside view.

However, I won’t deny I’m growing a bit weary of castles.  I’m certainly unwilling to pay entrance fees at this point.  Since my time in Poland, I’ve seen more castles than I can count.  

Despite being desensitized to castles, I found the natural scenery compelling.

As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, Ireland is suffering from extended heat waves.  As such, their broad, shallow lakes have yielded up acres of mud. Opportunist shoots of grass have attempted a hostile takeover of the newly revealed land.  May their reign be short and green.

For me, this meant that Lough Leane had new, previously inaccessible hiking trails. Since I had a watertight bag with me, I was hoping for a quick swim in the lake, especially considering the heat of the day.

I wandered away from the tourism crowds, hoping to find a more secluded swimming area.

An Ill-Advised Dip

After hiking for a half-hour, I eventually reached a quiet stretch of lonely shoreline.

The area I found was speckled with islands, dotted with crows and devoid of humans or any of their footprints.  My kinsmen safe from being blinded by my pale belly, I packed away my gear, shoes and shirt, ready for a quick dip.

Much later that day, I would learn that I shouldn’t have done that. A barmaid back in town chided me with wide, disbelieving eyes, saying ” Ye shouldn’ta done that, dim child, there’s a semi-toxic algae bloom, donchaknow?”

Sadly, I didn’t know. But fortunately, I didn’t suffer any ill-effects.  Either my luck was holding steady or God protects fools lovingly. Perhaps both.

So I waded out into the lake, and picked my way across long tendrils of kelp. Eventually, I reached stone islands, where I stood dramatically in windy caverns of knee-high water on thrice-sharp-stones.

It was actually a lovely swim. But when I turned around, I spotted a herd of thirteen horses, which had appeared from the foliage. They stood on a muddy peninsula as I waded into the lake.  The quiet herd remained gazing at me for the entire hour. When I emerged from the waters safely, they clopped away with slow strides.

Oddities in life yet undone, a herd of the famed Red Deer of Killarney burst away from forest cover as I strode towards the low, gnarled woods, led by a pair of massive, bounding stags.

I’ve heard enough of the Fae tales to be glad my necklace is impure iron and I didn’t bleed on anything important.  Yeesh, omens.

For the record, I’ve suffered no ill effects from swimming as of yet.

Around The Ring o’ Kerry

With my day visiting Killarney and the nearby attractions complete, my next morning was a little more spread out. I woke up early to take a bus to Kenmare, where I visited the Kenmare Stone Circle, the Reenagross Woodland Park and a series of shoreside cottages.

In the same morning, I angled back north, hopping on and off buses to visiting Killarney National Park, the Torc Waterfall and the Muckross House. After re-entering town, I managed to hitch a ride for photos at The Kerry Bog Village Museum, which has live examples of Irish domesticated animals, including Irish Wolfhounds and Bog Ponies near little, historic cottages.

Since I couldn’t find buses willing to take me back to Killarney, I ended up hitching a couple of times with standard tourists. I first found a group who kindly dropped me off at the Carrauntoohil National Park trailhead for a few photos. Afterwards, I loitered around a parking lot until some hikers returned and caught a ride back into Killarney.

It was fully dark by the time I made it back to my hostel.

A Rest in the Ring of Kerry

If that list sounded like too much, too fast, that’s correct. I barely spent an hour per location. Though my company ideally would’ve liked research and photos of places like Glenbeigh, Cahersiveen and Sneem, I simply wasn’t able to make it that far without a personal vehicle.

Instead, I spent most of my time visiting Killarney and the surrounding areas. I settled for the semi-loop since it included plenty of locations, photos, research points and interviews.

My next plan, however, wasn’t to truly rest. It was instead an upcoming trial of fitness and personal bucket-list items.

More than anything else, I wanted to experience Ireland properly, exploring the countryside under my own motions.

Tomorrow, I plan on picking up my bike rental and riding all the way to Dingle over the next day or so.

There’s aren’t that many countries which are well-developed, scenic and comfortable enough to do this sort of impromptu travel plan. So for me, this will be a special way to see a tiny corner of Ireland.

The ride should be further improved thanks to the weather. With Ireland in the midst of a drought, I stand a very good chance of riding without getting soaked by rains.

So, until my next trip,

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written July 13th, 2018

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