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The Ring of Kerry

County Kerry, Ireland · 22 stories · 1 day

Ireland's classic loop round the Iveragh Peninsula: a goat crowned king in Killorglin, the first transatlantic cable on Valentia, Skellig Michael on the horizon and the lakes of Killarney to finish.

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Stories along the way

  1. 1. The Coronation of King PuckEvery August, if you pass through Killorglin in County Kerry, you might witness one of the stranger spectacles in Ireland: a wild mountain goat being crowned king by a primary…
  2. 2. Rescuing Kerry's Vanished Bog PoniesAs you wind through west Kerry between Killorglin and Glenbeigh, you are travelling through a landscape long shaped by turf, rain, and hard living. Tucked into this countryside is…
  3. 3. The Vanishing Dunes of RossbeighYou are coming into a landscape shaped by a relentless duel between land and ocean. This is Rossbeigh—or in Irish, Ros Beithe, meaning the headland of the birch trees. It is a…
  4. 4. Daniel O'Connell: The LiberatorIn January 1793, a young Irish student stepped off a boat from France, utterly shaken. He had just watched two passengers display a handkerchief soaked, or so they claimed, in the…
  5. 5. Ballycarbery CastleHigh on a grassy hill facing the sea in County Kerry, the roofless silhouette of Ballycarbery Castle looms over the coast. It takes its name from Carberry O’Shea, who established…
  6. 6. Footprints in Devonian StoneNearly four hundred million years ago, long before the dinosaurs took their first steps, something pulled itself out of the water and went for a walk. On the purple sandstones of…
  7. 7. Valentia Island's Atlantic ConnectionsValentia sounds like it belongs on the sunny coast of Spain, but you are coming into the far western edge of Ireland. The name is actually a bit of a historical misunderstanding.…
  8. 8. The Resounding Rocks of SkelligIn Old Irish, the word sceilig means a splinter or steep area of rock, though some suggest it comes from an Old Norse term meaning the resounding ones. Out off the coast of the…
  9. 9. Waterville: Cables and Charlie ChaplinIn August 1922, during the Irish Civil War, the direct telegraph line between Paris and New York suddenly went dark. The culprit was not a storm in the Atlantic, but armed…
  10. 10. The Ocean Home of Daniel O'ConnellAs you travel along the coast of the Iveragh Peninsula on the Ring of Kerry, you are passing through the grounds of Derrynane. In Irish, it is Teach Dhoire Fhionáin. This…
  11. 11. Staigue FortImagine coming into the head of a valley on the Iveragh peninsula, where the land opens south toward the sea. Tucked into this landscape is a massive, circular wall of unmortared…
  12. 12. Sneem: Village of the KnotAs you travel along the Iveragh Peninsula, where the River Sneem meets the wide currents of Kenmare Bay, you are coming into the village of Sneem. In Irish, its name is An…
  13. 13. The Sea They Called a RiverYou are looking out across a long, sweeping stretch of salt water framed by mountains, but if you asked a local landlord a few centuries back, he would have insisted with a…
  14. 14. The Little Nest of KenmareYou are coming into a town tucked neatly between mountain ranges, right where the Roughty River meets the ocean. The Irish call it Neidín, meaning the little nest, though its…
  15. 15. The Story of Moll's GapAs you wind through the mountains on this stretch of the N71, you are passing through Céim an Daimh, which translates from Gaelic as the Gap of the Ox. But most travellers today…
  16. 16. The Royal View at Ladies ViewAround here, the road climbs through the rugged heart of Killarney National Park, winding along the route between Killarney and Kenmare. Suddenly, the terrain unfolds into a…
  17. 17. The Pass of Lóich's StrongholdYou are coming into a dramatic pass carved out twenty-five thousand years ago during Ireland's last ice age, when a massive glacier over five hundred metres deep tore through the…
  18. 18. The Impregnable Fortress of Lough LeaneAs you travel through the edges of Killarney National Park, the solid stone of Ross Castle sits right at the water’s edge of Lough Leane. Built in the late fifteenth century by…
  19. 19. The Ruins of Muckross AbbeyAround the eastern shores of Lough Leane, just south of Killarney, you are passing through a landscape where history has left its mark in roofless stone. Here stands Muckross…
  20. 20. The Cascade of the Wild BoarAround here, in the lush green heart of County Kerry, the old Irish name for this spot is Easach Toirc, which translates to the cascade of the wild boar. It is named for a beast…
  21. 21. The Story of Muckross HouseImagine spending a fortune to host a royal guest for a few days, only for the bill to ruin your family. You are coming into the lush peninsula pinned between Muckross Lake and…
  22. 22. Ireland's First National ParkYou are traveling through a landscape where ancient oak woods cling to rugged sandstone mountains, sweeping down to dark, glassy lakes. This is Killarney, home to Ireland's…