The Ring of Kerry

So, this is not the post I had planned for today. I’m not having a very good food week (at all) but I am having a fun sightseeing week, and I took some beautiful pictures of the field at Antietam National Battlefield Park that I wanted to share. But for some reason, the intertubes are not taking my new pictures. Bummer. So instead, I want to take you on a photo essay to another place–the Ring of Kerry. It’s been nearly 2 months since I was there, but this beautiful space will surely stay with me for a long time.

The Ring of Kerry is possibly the most famous attraction in all of Ireland. The famous road rings the county of Kerry on Ireland’s west coast. It’s 120 miles of narrow road that goes through some of the most dramatic and changing landscape I’ve ever seen in one place.

From mountains to the sea, the Ring has it all.

We started our day on the Ring in Killarney National Park, at Muckross House. Muckross was pretty amazing inside, but sadly no pictures. The house was used for a visit of Queen Victoria to Ireland and it was done up beautifully for her visit. The view from the house wasn’t bad either.

From there, we went on to circle the Lakes. We stopped at Ladies View to take it all in.

The area around Ladies View was some of the brownest we saw in Ireland–very rocky, kind of like the American West.

But soon enough, we turned a corner a suddenly we were on the lush green coast. Amazing. There were sheep everywhere, and we even tried to help one get back to its field. We failed, but we felt better about it.

Our next stop was the Steig Fort, a 2,000 year old stone fort constructed without mortar, but that somehow looks brand new. The Irish believe these ancient structures are now the homes of fairies, and disturbing them is REALLY bad luck. So they are there for us to check out and enjoy.

After hanging out in the fort and (apparently) upsetting the fairies by drinking a bottle of wine and not sharing, we continued on the ring. We tried to stop at the Steig fort visitor center, but after a few really creepy moments, we headed out. Our next stop, a tiny town on the sea, which was sadly still closed for the season. But we enjoyed a little snack and some nice pictures by the water.

Soon, we were in the town of Killorglin at the end of the Ring. We sat down to a wonderful dinner full of fresh Dingle Bay seafood.

And then, a real treat to end our day. A fantastic sunset. Beautiful.

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