Dobber-Blog: Ring of Kerry

My sister should remember this... but does anyone else out there remember the Disney film "Darby O'Gill and the Little People"? It was a 1959 Disney film starring Sean Connery (among others less noteworthy). It's a great ol' Irish story full of leprechauns, fairies and even the evil Banshee. Maybe it's not so great. I haven't seen it for years, but I remember watching it as a kid...

Anyway, we stayed at this hotel in Killarney:

Yep, that's Darby O'Gill's hotel and it was full of film photos, memorabilia, etc. Nice place to stay too... In case you're ever in Killarney, Ireland.

On to the next phase of our travels:

The "Ring of Kerry" is a tourist trail in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. The route covers a 179 km circular road starting from Killarney (where we were staying), heading around the Iveragh Peninsula, and passing through Kenmare (Lace Centre), Sneem (lunch stop), Waterville (pretty), Cahersiveen (can’t remember…) and Killorglin (bog museum).

Here is a sampling of some of the magnificent scenery along the Ring:

We stretched our legs on a little hike to Torc Waterfall:

I enjoyed a demonstration on needle-point lace at the Kenmare Lace Centre. I know how to work bobbin lace (English-French style), so this was different and intriguing. Then onto Sneem for lunch-stop and a bit o' shopping, then we hiked at Staigue Fort.

Staigue Fort is a partly ruined round stone fort that is thought to have been built during the late Iron Age – (somewhere between 300 and 400 AD) - as a defensive stronghold for a local lord or king. It was built without use of mortar, using undressed stones. There is also an interesting tapered, lintelled doorway:

Inside is an elaborate system of stairways leading to terraces and miniature cells in the wall reached by passages.

Next, the Kerry Bog Village Museum: an insight into how people lived and worked in Ireland in the 18th Century. The village is the only one of its kind in Europe and great care was taken to ensure the dwellings on-site are exact replicas of those used in Ireland in the 1700's. Old sites were visited, old ruins measured, and old documents consulted. In the words of Happy Gilmore - it's... old.