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About Ireland Jeanne has gathered a great deal of information about Ireland and traveling in Ireland.  Some comes from Jeanne's research and some comes from comments of our clients.  The collection is so voluminous that we will present it serialized and add installments weekly.  This week we look at County Kerry.  Check back often as we will begin again at the beginning when we reach the end of the prodigious file.  I'll start off each week's installment with three books we recommend dealing with Ireland past and present.  - Scott We recommend three books that you might enjoy.  None of these is dry - all are informative and very enjoyable. Ireland in Mind - edited by Alice Powers    A compilation of excerpts by Irish writers How the Irish Saved Civilization -  by James Cahill     A serious subject splendidly told Honey from Stone -  by Chet Raymo    A brilliant personal essay on Irish culture and history and nature - fabulous writing We think that Eyewitness Ireland is the best of the regular tour books - lots of photos! Go raibh mile maith agat!!! (A thousand thanks) COUNTY KERRY: From a client: With a clear cloudless day, the view from Connor Pass is awesome.  Each time we go back to Ireland we increase the amount of time spent on the Dingle Peninsula. The Ring of Kerry is beautiful too, but maybe a bit more touristy.  The Dingle Peninsula scenery is spectacular.  We  found so much in Dingle that we decided to stay there every day!  We drove on the Connor Pass several times, with and without fog. We took the Connor Pass one way and the Camp-to-Inch Road the other. The Gallarus Oratory is an interesting stop with gorgeous views (you can drive about 150 yards beyond the official entrance to the Oratory interpretive center and walk up a path to see the Oratory for free, but the center has a nice video to see and the entry fee helps keep up this important piece of Irish heritage. - Scott). Kilmakedar Church, the stone age beehive huts and the ancient Dunbeg Fort are great.  The highlight of the Dingle trip was meeting a cousin, Niamh Utsch, a goldsmith with a shop on Main Street.  We had a lovely dinner at The Half Door restaurant. Dingle is wonderful, the foxglove and fuchsia grow wild.  Strawberries are the sweetest I've ever eaten.  Had a great meal at Murphy's Pub across from the pier. Beginish Restaurant offered fine dining. Ballyferriter served a great supper. Tell folks to start the Ring of Kerry early and drive counter-clockwise, and they'll miss most of the tour buses. Stop at a small grocery store for a picnic lunch (and a pint of Guinness).  It isn't commercialized, just a beautiful drive.  Drive (or take the ferry) to Valentia Island. We lunched in Port Magee and saw The Skellig Experience, a multi-media show about the Skellig Islands settled by monks in early Christian times.  We did a side trip around Finian's Bay.  It was deserted, quiet, beautiful. There's a little fishing village at the beginning with a neat pub. Killarney National Forest: About 35 minutes from Kenmare is one of the most beautiful drives you'll ever experience.  Spring-fed lakes, moss-covered forests, waterfalls and spectacular mountain ranges make this park a must for a long day trip. Muckross House is a favorite stop, so pack a picnic lunch and dine with the "little people."   (The upper end of Killarney National Forrest is in the city of Killarney. -Scott) RESTAURANTS: The Beaufort Bar was established in 1840. It offers an excellent selection of local dishes including beef, lamb, fish and vegetarian meals.  Pat Sheahan's Bar is a popular pub in Beaufort village that serves very good bar food - ideal for casual dining. Kate Kearney's Cottage is a friendly darkish inn at the mouth of the Gap of Dunloe.  Kate Kearney was a legendary beauty who a 150 years ago served poteen - illegally brewed from potatoes - to visitors to the Gap.  This is a historic and very Irish place. Good for lunch, but best for dinner (when they often have first-class Irish music and dancing). Aghadoe Heights is in a modern hotel beside the ancient monastic ruins at Aghadoe, between Beaufort Village and Killarney. It has a panoramic views of the Lakes and the McGillycuddy Reeks. The food is excellent; prices are high. We do not usually recommend hotel restaurants but this is truly exceptional.  We always have dinner or a lunch here when we are in Killarney. The Old Presbytery is one of the finest restaurants in Killarney. Opposite the Cathedral, it has excellent food and a decent wine list in very civilized surroundings.  Bricin, also in Killarney, has excellent food, including Irish Boxty, and friendly service.  Gaby's is an internationally known fish restaurant.  Robertino's Restaurant is an Italian family restaurant. Killorglin, a pretty village about 15 minutes from Killarney, has two excellent restaurants. Nick's is a legendary steak and seafood restaurant and one of our favorites. Service can be slow, but the food, wine list and ambiance are terrific.  Bianconi is a very good pub restaurant a few doors from Nick's. Kenmare has several excellent restaurants.  Sheen Falls Lodge is fancy and expensive and totally worth it. The Park Hotel is also excellent. Dingle is a casual restaurant (and music) town. Out of the Blue is a great fish restaurant.  Waterside, Doyle's, Half Door, The Chart House are also excellent.  Caragh Lodge GOLF: County Kerry is heaven for golfers. Tee times must be booked as far in advance as possible, especially for the most famous courses, especially in spring and summer. Six of Golf World's Top 100 British and Irish Courses are in Kerry.  The Beaufort Golf Club (064 44440) is a newish 18-hole parkland course with the back 9 dominated by the ruins of the 15th c. Castle Core and wonderful views of the McGillycuddy Reeks.  Killarney Golf Club (064 31034) has two superb 18-hole courses, b>Mahonys Point and Killeen, which hosted the 1997 Curtis Cup, along the side of the Lower Lake with views up to the Purple Mountain and the Gap of Dunloe, this is one of the most beautiful courses in the world.  The excellent and relatively unknown Dooks (066 9768205) is an 18-hole links course off the Ring of Kerry.  Tralee (066 71363790), designed by Arnold Palmer.  Waterville (066 94741020), where Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara practiced for the 1999 British Open.  Ballybunion's two legendary links courses (068 27146). WALKING: Please take safety precautions when walking.  Have water, a mobile phone and a good, small torch. Leave word with someone that you are walking. Easy: Tomies Wood, the largest Oak forest in Europe, is relatively easy, about 6 miles along the otherwise inaccessible south side of the Lower Lake crossing O'Sullivan's Cascade, a legendary waterfall.  The Gap of Dunloe is a spectacular glacial breach valley.  You can walk all or part of the Gap. It is possible to walk right through the Gap to the Black Valley and back to Killarney - a distance of some 20 miles, some parts of it more difficult than others.  The Arthur Young Walk has a number of walks starting from Muckross House in the National Park. One follows a lakeside route taken by Arthur Young, a naturalist, in the late 18th Century. Almost all the features he described are still there. This walk takes 2½ hours. Medium: Dinis Walk, in Killarney National Park, is about 10 miles around Muckross Lake passing the rock from which, according to local legend, Danny Mann threw the Colleen Bawn. Ross Island: this walk encompasses the promontory on which Ross Castle was built in the early 15th C. It was the last castle in Ireland to hold out against Cromwell's General Ludlow.  Torc: this walk takes you up the side of the spectacular Torc Waterfall and offers splendid views of the Lakes from the top. Strenuous: Old Kenmare Road is a superb walk following the path of the old green road from Killarney to Kenmare which closed in the 1850s.  Carrauntoohil is a path up the highest mountain in Ireland, 3414 feet up the Hag's Glen to the Devil's Ladder (a rock scree which can be treacherous in wet weather) and then up to the summit. This can be a dangerous if the weather is less than perfect, but on fine days the effort is worth it for the splendid views of the Shannon Estuary. RIDING: Pony trekking in Kerry can take you to places otherwise accessible only on foot and is highly recommended.  Traditional riding in Kerry is the trek through the Gap of Dunloe. This can be an all-day trip coming back to Killarney by boat or as a round trip horse ride (about 2.5 hours). The Killarney Riding Stables (064 31696) and the Muckross Stables (064 32238) offer rides through Killarney National Park.  The most spectacular trekking experiences are Gene Tangney's Equestrian Centre (064 37133) in the Black Valley offering treks of varying degrees of difficulty through the wild and wonderful scenery in the Black Valley.  Two hours to a full day. FISHING: (written by a rhapsodizing fisherman): The Laune is a short river, only 14 miles from the Lakes of Killarney to the sea below Killorglin. As the waters have only been lightly fished, there is usually a good spring run of salmon from mid April to mid May and an Autumn run from mid-August to the end of September.  There is also excellent sea trout and brown trout fishing.  Salmon fishing is available on the Lakes of Killarney.  There are a number of lochs stocked with brown trout.  Deep Sea fishing trips can also be arranged.  There excellent fly fishing for salmon and sea trout.  The fishery has a good stock of wild brown trout, most in the 12 - 16 ounce range. There is a great variety of fly life - olives, sedges, stone flies and terrestrials, including the hawthorn. On summer evenings, the number of trout taking the blue winged olive and its spinners has to be seen to be appreciated. Trout can be difficult to tempt in the clear water - the best chance is at dusk with a dry fly and a fine tippet. Wet fly fishing for brown trout can be productive. It has occasionally attracted a nice Atlantic salmon. When the water is cold early in the season sinking lines are recommended with double handed fly rods. Best flies are 'The Collie Dog' with 5 inch wing, and a short red throat hackle, 'The Comet' - a 3 inch brass tube - a very good fly for spring salmon. 'The Garry Dog' another good Laune fly in big size's at least 2.5 inches.  In April, the temperature of the water will rise to the magic 48 degrees for most of the day. Now intermediate and floating fly lines can be used as salmon are more interested in what is happening at the surface. Best patterns are Silver Doctor, Thunder & Lightning, Thunder Stoat, Stoat's Tail, Hairy Mary, Garry Dog, Blue Charm and Lemon & Grey in sizes 2 to 6. The fishery has a good stock of wild brown trout, many in the 12 - 16 ounce range. There is a great variety of fly life - olives, sedges, stone flies and terrestrials, including the hawthorn. On summer evenings, the number of trout taking the blue winged olive and its spinners has to be seen to be appreciated. The trout can be difficult to tempt in the clear water and the best chance is at dusk with a dry fly and a fine tippet. Wet fly fishing for brown trout can also be productive and the wet fly has the added bonus of occasionally attracting a nice Atlantic salmon.  Our favourite fly is the Golden Headed Hare's Ear, a good fly for spring trout. It is tied like the Hare's Ear described below with the addition of a gold bead at the eye of the hook. Other good wet flies are the Mallard and Claret, the Butcher, the Black Pennell, the March Brown. AREAS OF INTEREST: Gap of Dunloe and the Lakes of Killarney These are two of the world's most famous beauty spots. Day trips can be arranged going through the Gap of Dunloe by pony and trap or on horseback to the Black Valley through the Upper, Middle and Lower Lakes by boat.  Or just drive it by yourselves.  It's so beautiful. The Ring Of Kerry The famous Ring of Kerry is a 105-mile drive around the gorgeous coastline of the Iveragh Peninsula. It includes Derrynane, birthplace of the Liberator, Daniel O'Connell, Valentia Island, terminus for the first Trans-Atlantic telegraph line and the beautiful market town of Kenmare.  The drive takes about 5 hours, but you should spend much more time enjoying this magnificent place. The Inner Ring This is a wild and beautiful drive along the McGillycuddy Reeks and Lough Acoose traverses the Ballaghbeama Pass, one of the most remote and spectacular landscapes in Ireland. It is accessed at Moll's Gap before joining the Ring of Kerry Road and returning to Killarney. About 2.5 hours. The Dingle Peninsula This was the setting for Ryan's Daughter and Far And Away. The Slea Head drive around the westernmost tip of the peninsula brings one to Dunquin, the most westerly village in Europe, and the splendid Kruger Kavanagh's bar, where you can drink the most westerly pint of Guinness in Europe, before visiting the 7th Century Gallarus Oratory, a dry stone chapel still waterproof after 1000 years. 5 - 6 hours, but do NOT rush through this incredible area. The Skellig Rocks If the weather is fine, a boat trip to The Skelligs, a spectacular pair of Rocks rising vertiginously from the sea 10 miles off the coast, is a must. Taking a boat from Valentia or Portmagee, the trip passes Little Skellig, a bare rock which contains the largest gannet colony in Europe, and lands on Skellig Michael, which has the amazingly well-preserved ruins of a 7th Century monastic settlement on one of its two peaks. Our friend Con says you cannot really know Ireland unless you have been to Skellig Michael.  This is an experience.  Note that the climb has 600 steps and it's not easy. Muckross House This Victorian Mansion, in Killarney, was built in 1840 by the Herbert family and given to the nation in 1932. The house contains fine Irish furniture. There is a craft shop, gorgeous gardens, the ruins of Muckross Abbey and a recreation of Kerry farms. Nearby is Ross Castle, the last castle in Ireland to fall to Oliver Cromwell. Next installment - The Connemara in County Galway. FERRIES: There are various routes between the UK and Ireland: Stranear (Scotland) - Larne (near Belfast). Holyhead (Wales) - Dun Laoghaire (just beside Dublin) Fishguard (Wales) - Rosslare (Wexford - 2.5 hours from Dublin) The ferries from Wales leave from Fishguard (Stena Sealink) and Penbroke (Irish ferries). http://www.irishferries.com GENERAL COMMENTS: This includes a compilation of messages we've received from clients over the years.  Client comments are italicized.  We are going to Paris this time and I am a little sad about this, missing Ireland. Of all the places we have visited, Ireland was the best. The Irish folks are so very nice. The thrill of travel is discovering bits of big wide world out there and realizing how much there is to learn - if you're looking for guarantees that you'll be wildly entertained wherever you travel then you are bound to be let down no matter what.  Ireland is not a theme park - it's an ancient country with a rich history and that's populated with folks with a truly unique view of the world.  I never understood the term "a terrible beauty" until I traveled to Ireland - the Dingle peninsula - the Cliffs of Moher. What is spectacular in Ireland even more than the often breathtaking sights, is the people. Never have I been somewhere where strangers WANT to spend time talking with you and helping you with absolutely no gain for themselves. I have been to Ireland 3 times. I have seen all of the sites. I will return for the people. We pulled up to the pub in Doolin, got out of the car,and three older men working on a fence greeted us with,"And where would ye be from then? How long will ye be stayin' in Doolin? What else are ye goin' to see?". The reception throughout Ireland was the same; people genuinely glad to see you and eager to hear who you were and where you were going. Thank you.  That house was lovely and we now feel we have an extended family there. We were treated to home-made bread, tea cakes, wine.  There is nothing like those green mountains covered in mist! We went for the history and were delighted by each bend in the road and the people. We stopped in a pub for lunch in Dingle. The proprietor told us that we had missed lunch. We stayed and had a pint, he disappeared then came back and told us the restaurant next door was still serving and had a table waiting there for us. We were amazed at the roads. One gentleman at a pub told me "Ah, darlin, if we made the roads better, more people might come!!" Tractors are all over the place slowing traffic to a crawl. It's all part of driving in Ireland and is charming (unless you are trying to get somewhere by a certain time).

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