Beara Peninsula & Ring of Kerry

The Healy Pass is a winding, twisting route which passes through the highest summits of the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula.  The road is an inspirational piece of construction not least because it snakes and climbs steeply through solid rock.  Views from the top were worth Molly’s effort in getting up there!

The dull, grey weather warranted a garden visit – Derreen Gardens fitted the bill perfectly – a lovely 19^th Century woodland garden with many rare plants and trees that have been collected and planted over 150 years.   Paths meander through the woods and suddenly we were treated to a splendid view of the harbour and mountains.  Members of the Derreen family still live on site. 

Very narrow, winding roads led us out to the tip of the Beara Peninsula, where we bravely took a short Cable Car ride, 250m above the water to Dursey Island.  This  rickety little wooden box only takes six people at a time, and dropped us on Dursey for a walk and a bit of escapism!  Bright sunshine with the inevitable cold wind accompanied us – a few houses and a lot of sheep make this a pretty remote community.

Early morning mountain mist shrouded any views as we made our way over another mountain pass – appropriately called Moll’s Gap! – to Killarney.  A lovely town with a population of some 14,000, we particularly enjoyed visiting St Mary’s Church of Ireland – Splendid stained-glass windows are complimented with stunning paintwork around the walls.  There have been churches on this site since the 1200’s – the present one was built in 1870. It was originally known as the Church of Sloes (they grow well in this area) – ‘Cill Airne’’ in Gaelic which gave its name to Killarney. 

The Ring of Kerry forms a large part of the Wild Atlantic Way on the Iveragh Peninsula.  It was strongly suggested that we drive the ROK in an anticlockwise direction which is the same direction that tour buses go.  We were SO GLAD we took that advice.  To meet a tour bus on the narrow windy roads would NOT have been any fun!  The Skellig Ring is beyond the ROK and too narrow for the large tour buses but GOOD OLD MOLLY managed it, and we were rewarded with some wonderful scenery and superb views.

The Kerry Cliffs were our favourite view of the day  (and each day’s views are getting better and better!), but we also enjoyed a walk near Ballinskelligs Beach – believe it or not, one of the first transatlantic telegraph cables was laid from here to Nova Scotia in Canada in 1875. From the combined efforts of the various companies in the mid 1800’s, to the  Global Communications we enjoy now, we have a lot to be grateful for. 

See you next time . . . .