After spending the night on the beach near Kinsale, we headed northwest through farmlands towards Killarney. By the time we arrived at our campground in Killarney, it was raining pretty hard. We stocked up on groceries and spent some time cooking in our camper and planning our route around the Ring of Kerry the next day.
The Ring of Kerry is the name of a 135-mile driving loop around the wild Iveragh Peninsula. Because we were traveling in a camper, we were advised to drive the route counter-clockwise, which is the direction used by buses (because you really don’t want to meet them head-on on these small, windy roads). This advice worked out perfectly for us, as we got an early start and hardly saw any buses all day. The sky was overcast and the roads were quite narrow in some parts, but beautiful. We had several white-knuckle moments meeting trucks and tractors, but we took it slow.
Our first stop was the cute town of Cahersiveen where we stopped to walk around the downtown and get directions to the nearby Cahergal Stone Fort.
The Cahergal Stone Fort is an impressive stone structure built around the 7th century AD. While there are around 45,000 ring forts in Ireland, this is one of the largest and best-preserved. Its walls were 20 feet tall and up to 10 feet thick! The forts served all sorts of purposes: defense, homesteads, status symbols, even religious sites. This one was certainly home to a wealthy or powerful family.
After visiting the Cahergal Stone Fort, we got back on the Ring of Kerry Loop Drive to reach our next stop, the Kerry Cliffs located at the west end of the peninsula. It was raining pretty hard when we arrived at the parking lot, where you had to walk up a steep trail to the cliffs viewpoints. Amazingly by the time we got to the top, it stopped raining and the sun even peaked out briefly between the clouds. Perched high above the Atlantic ocean, the Kerry Cliffs were stunning!
The landscape leading up to the edge was lush and green, with pastures and wildflowers. But nothing prepared us for the awesome views when we reached the edge of the cliffs. The Kerry Cliffs are actually much taller than the famous Cliffs of Moher. Stratified layers of rock mixed with green grass and plants give the cliff faces a surreal look.
Jutting high out of the sea directly in front of the cliffs seven miles away, you can spot the famous Skellig Islands: Skellig Michael and Little Skellig (Skellig is Irish for “splinter”). Skellig Michael is a barren, jagged rocky island which was inhabited by an order of monks from the 6th to the 13th century. This island with its steep rocky stairways was featured in the opening scene of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. It served as the remote home of Luke Skywalker.
We continued on the very picturesque Skellig Ring road. The drive down to St. Finian’s Bay was pretty amazing and Sophie kept snapping pictures. We happened to pass by one of the most remote chocolate factories in the world: Skellig Chocolates. Sophie and I LOVE chocolate, so we had to stop and buy some. Yum!
After that little pause, we continued the drive along the peninsula and back along the southern end. The landscape was so scenic with lots of mountains and lots of green!
Our final stop on the Ring of Kerry was Killarney National Park where we took a short hike to the Torc Waterfall. A pretty trail followed the stream through the woods to the waterfall. Despite rain, it was a pleasant walk and a good last stop before returning to Killarney.
When we got back to our campground, we were treated to some rainbows and a respite from the rain. All the campgrounds in Killarney were full with bicyclists in town for an annual bike ride of the Ring of Kerry taking place the next day. Biking the scenic 135-mile loop sounded kind of fun, but not in rainy conditions. On a side note, the hydrangea bushes must love all the rain because they were humongous everywhere.
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