Jack McDade

Day Four – Ring of Beara

Posted on 02. Apr, 2009 by Jack in Ireland

This is where things started getting good. I mean really good.

We left Skibbereen as early as we could and set off for Killarney. The plan was to head up to the Muckross House, an enormous mansion built on the Killarney Lakes who’s 10,000+ acres of land (including mountains and lakes and waterfalls) were donated to Ireland around 70 years ago. However, the GPS (Mrs. Garmin as Jen likes to call her) faked us out an we ended up heading towards the Ring of Beara.

I recalled Jamie, Gina, Tom and Sara having gone to the Ring of Beara and loving it, so we decided to just roll with it and continued on. Boy were we glad we did. Rings in Ireland are generally big driving routes with wicked scenery (e.g. Ring of Beara, Ring of Kerry), and this one was its own peninsula, about 2/3 the size and just south of the Ring of Kerry.

The landscape was wild, literally and figuratively. Mountains cascading right down into the sea, craggy, rocky mountains with brown vegetation and dead grass covering them at bizarre angles. The road varied from quite friendly to downright narrow were it but a bike path. More than a few times I had to wedge the Fiat in the side of the wall/cliff/hill for another to get past. But it was worth it! Everytime the road bent sharply, we’d come around to another even bigger and crazier view. Mountains showed up in the foreground, near distance, and far into the distance, sheep (which are spray-painted colored strips across their back to show their owner) climbed all over the sharp hills, and small islands were out in the Bay of Beara. Once we got to the end of the point, we could look out and see the full Atlantic Ocean, with waves crashing against the island off the coast.

A cable car could take you one step further, really out to the very, very end of Ireland, but it was out of service. Repairs, I imagine, are a positive thing.

Jen was probably pretty tired of hearing my say “Oh man, look at that! Wow this is crazy!” for about 4 hours, but she never said anything. I was totally loving driving this backwards car through the tightest and windiest  roads i have ever been on, with the most dramatic backdrop i could imagine.  It almost looked like the Hills of Rohan in Lord of the Rings, that sort of burnt color and rocky crags.

We came across a few villages out on the Ring as well. I literally can’t imagine how they get anything done living there. You just stand back and see these colorful buildings RIGHT UP AGAINST the dramatic mountainside overlooking the Atlantic… I would just be standing there right now if i could. We took 300+ pictures of the Ring alone, so even though a picture can never capture the experience, hopefully it will come as close as possible so i can show everyone.

After working our way back to the mainland, we headed into the Killarney, to the Muckross House. A very cool tour brought us through the place in detail for €7/person. Definitely worth doing as you get some cool history and great views of the grounds. Apparently the previous owners from the 1920s had spent 3 years getting the place ready to host Queen Victoria who wanted to visit. Enormous hand-carved furniture from China, new wallpaper and paint everywhere, custom fire-escapes (she had a wicked fear of fire, apparently), and much much more, all for 2 nights.

The grounds lay right on the edge of a series of 3 lakes, each of which are beautiful, with mountains barreling right down to their edge. The area was once a huge hunting Reserve, and the walls inside the House showed it. We’re planning on heading back into Killarney National Park (the 10,000+ acres) to hike up to Torc Waterfall before tackling the Ring of Kerry.

The town here in Killarney is so nice, not all scrunched on top of itself like most towns (though that looks cool in its own way), but very relaxed and contemporary feeling. Our B&B, The Chelmsford House is a gorgeous home on a ridge looking out at the mountains — Muckross View. We’re spoiled again!

Weather has been beautiful, in the mid 50s with NO RAIN to speak of. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful. We’ve been blessed!