On our way to the seaside town of Kinsale we stopped in Cork to Visit the Blarney castle and gardens…and to also kiss the Blarney Stone. We were not expecting the Castle to have such beautiful grounds and gardens as well as another stately mansion called the Blarney house that was incredible and its own right. We stood in line and went up the really steep winding stone staircase For a chance to kiss the Blarney Stone to receive the gift of gab.
We then got back on the road and headed to our next destination of Kinsale, a sleepy seaside town about 40min down the road. We explored the shops and took a beautiful seaside 2mile walk to Fort Charles. The pubs and shops were just steps from our place. Such a cute town!
Getting to Dublin on Saturday morning to meet George almost didnt happen. George was in Berlin all week for work and Karen and I flew out friday night from Pittsburgh to DC then DC to Dublin, except the pittsburgh to DC flight was a mess! After being delayed twice, the flight that was supposed to take off at 8pm took off at 8:50 and landed giving us only 15min to deplane and make our connection in a seperate terminal. We RAN, took a tram, RAN again and made it with 5min to spare! Not the most relaxing way to start a trip, but we made our connection and we were on our way to Ireland!
We met up with George in Dublin airport, grabbed our car and drove the 3.5hrs to Killarney. I wont bore you with the details of the drive, lets just say at some point karen and I switched seats because jet lagged me is an angry copilot that yells alot! 😬🤣😬
Killarney has a lively pub scene with lots of music and i think we ran into 3 different Hen Parties (bachelorette weekend) in one night! The live music scene was amazing two of the pubs we went into had fantastic duos. Ill try to attach videos.
Day 2 – The Ring of Kerry
The next morning we got back in the car and headed to see the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is a 179-kilometre-long (111-mile) circular tourist route in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. – Wikipedia
George found a great website that maps out travel routes in Ireland and they had an itinerary for The Ring of Kerry that was perfect. If you are ever headed to Ireland we highly recommend this website The Irish Road Trip. No words could do this day trip justice, im not even sure my pictures do but here they are… we skipped the first few stops because we planned on doing those the next day and started with Staigue Stone Fort then stopped at The Blind Piper Pub for lunch
We stopped at some beautiful beaches one with a seaside cemetery before we headed to Kerry Cliffs which were outstanding!
The Kerry Cliffs
The two small islands in the distance are the Skellig islands
The final scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was shot on Skellig in July 2015, with additional filming taking place there in September 2015 for The Last Jedi, the following film in the series. The remains of the Skellig Michael monastery appear in the film, representing an ancient Jedi temple.
Day 3
Biking to Muckcross House & Abbey & Torc Waterfall
From our apartment we walked 1.5 miles to the E-bike rental shop just on the edge of Killarney National Park. E-bikes are the way to go for sightseeing, they are super fun and fast and you can cover some distance.
We started at Muckcross house, toured the house, gardens and farm, then biked around the scenic lake to Torc waterfall. From there we went to the Muckcross Abbey which was the highlight of the day, it was stunningly beautiful !
Muckcross House & Gardens
The Farm
Biking around the Lake and Torc Waterfall
Muckcross Abbey and some final shots of our ride
A well deserved pint at the end of a long day!
Day 3 – The Gap of Dunloe
Woke up packed our bags and headed to the Gap of Dunloe before we head on to our next destination, Kinsale. It was breathtaking, unbelievably gorgeous!
The Gap of Dunloe is a narrow mountain pass running north–south in County Kerry, Ireland, that separates the MacGillycuddy’s Reeksmountain range in the west, from the Purple Mountain Group range in the east. It is one of Kerry’s most popular tourist destinations on account of its scenery. – wikipedia
Siddoway Get Away 