Our last leg of our Ireland journey took us along the Ring of Kerry, a picturesque 111 mile circular driving route in County Kerry, southwest Ireland. We loved the scenery in Ireland and wish we had time to see more. The weather was pretty good, although misty at some points and this is where we wore our rain jackets the most. Ireland is known for being rainy though, so we weren’t surprised.
This is one of the buses we were on, so plenty big for our group of 38 passengers. It was comfortable for the journey and we have frequent stops, which is always appreciated.
Jaunting Cars Through Killarney National Park
As we got into Killarney, we stopped for a beautiful scenic drive on the jaunting cars through the Killarney National Forest and was that a treat! We had beautiful weather that morning and our driver was Mikey.
With views of the mountains misty with clouds, it was gorgeous!
I took a lot of pics from our jaunting car, there was so much beauty to capture.
Along the route of horse drawn carriages, we all loved this portion of our tour.
Absolutely gorgeous!
I read online that they do lake tours too as well as tasting tours of the area.
I got a lucky shot of this swan in the water with his wings out.
We arrived at Ross Castle and this was where we got back on our bus to continue our tour for the day. We didn’t have time to tour the castle, but it was pretty to see.
Ross Castle is a 15th-century stronghold rich in history and legend. Built by the O’Donoghue clan, it played a key role in Ireland’s past, including the Cromwellian conquest, and is steeped in folklore with tales of battles and ghostly apparitions.
So much beauty around this area. Who could ever get tired of seeing castles!
We continued on our way and the weather got a bit more rainy the further we went, so taking pictures out of the bus got more difficult. I still couldn’t get enough of the cows and sheep!
Loved this bridge in a picturesque town.
And this Inn caught my eye.
The green green grass is so abundant.
Kell’s Sheep Dog Demonstration
This was one of our favorite stops in Ireland! Kell’s sheep dogs were so fun to see and we got a live demonstration on how they herd the sheep. You can see the bond with the owner, Tom O’Sullivan. You can find them on Instagram at Kell’s Sheep Dogs.
He sent the sheep all the way up the hill and the dog herded them back down again.
The he had the dog sepearate the sheep into 3 and 3, giving them directions on which ones to move.
The dog is so smart with how they herd and the sheep are scared of the dog so they do what he wants.
The dog creeps like a wolf to get what he wants.
Aren’t they pretty sheep?
It was so fun to see this in person. I’ve seen videos before, but the see it in person was wonderful.
The dogs do have wolf like behavior and when they are in work mode, their eyes do not leave the sheep. There were 3 other dogs off to the right and he told us about them too. One of them was 10 years old and about to go to a sheep herding contest.
The countryside of Ireland is everything you’ve heard it would be. Absolutely beautiful in every way.
Another ruin along the way.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant along the way and we had the best fish and chips of our entire visit. So delicious!
More scenic views along the Ring of Kerry. Unfortunately, the fog had come in so we couldn’t see this beautiful vista for very far.
I’m sure it’s really gorgeous without the fog, but we were lucky that the fog wasn’t worse in other places.
The next morning, we continued our Ring of Kerry tour. At one point, our tour guide via the driver got some good information that we could take a ferry across the water to save some time on the road, so we did that and the bus drove right on the ferry. We could even get off and use the restroom and buy snacks if we wanted. It was a short ride over, maybe 30 minutes.
We arrived in LaHinch, a small surfing village. We saw older women in swimsuits getting into the water, which was a surprise and there were lots of surfers around in wetsuits.
It was a beautiful day for a drive.
We stopped here for lunch and we all walked around town and found things to take for lunch on the bus with us, so this bakery got our attention. They had some good looking bread and pastries. We got ham and cheese sandwiches on the most delicious bread along with some chips and pastries.
More scenic views.
Cliffs of Moher
Our next stop was the famous, Cliffs of Moher. I had heard of this one, so it was so great to see it in person. We had a rainy mist when we got there, so we all wore our rain jackets, but as time went on it cleared up more and the sun came out. There are two paved walkways where you can go up and see one side or the other to see the other side views. We only went on one side, but some others on our trip took pics from the other side, so I borrowed those too.
From the top of the hill, this is the spectacular view of the Cliffs of Moher.
They really are a wonder of the world.
The sheer drop into the blue water with all the green grass surrounding is truly awe-inspiring.
At the top of the hill where we walked was O’Brien’s tower built in 1835 as an observation tower. We didn’t go all the way to the top, as we could see everything from below.
These sheep pastures surround the cliffs.
Of course, we had to get a picture here.
Rain was stopping by this time, but it was very windy up there.
Shots from the other side of the cliffs over to where we were. That tower looks like a lego toy from this view!
It’s truly an amazing site to see. We were so glad the weather cooperated!
And that’s the end of our beautiful journey to Ireland. I know we didn’t get to see all of Ireland, but what we did see filled us with joy and awe at such a pretty country. We loved the people and seeing where they all live. Mark has a special affinity for Ireland, as his mother was Irish (and a redhead) and her grandparents came over from Ireland and met up north and married. Mark’s mother was born in NYC and then migrated with her parents to Orlando, FL when she was 18. So, Mark was looking for his relatives’ names along the way, McCarthy and Fedderman. He did find McCarthy on some things, but never found the other one.
Thanks for joining on this once in a lifetime trip! We sure enjoyed every bit of our trip, even though we were exhausted when we got home. That’s the way international travel is. You just have to power through and see as much as you can before you head home and rest. We tried to make the best of every single day!
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