Killarney

20 to 24 August 2024

On Wednesday, we booked a boat ride out to see the Porgs/Puffins on Skellig Island. On our way out we stopped at a couple of lakes in the Killarney National Park.

Soon after we got out of the Park, we got a message that our tour was cancelled because of the weather. So we stopped in Kenmare for Lunch. Julie rescheduled the cruise for Thursday.

After lunch we walked over to the Kenmare stone circle.

Julie did not hear any music from the stones.

Even though the boat ride was cancelled we continued on the Ring of Kerry road which goes around Kerry's Iveragh Peninsula. This was also a segment of the Wild Atlantic Way, so we got two for the price of one.

On Thursday, we started out for our Skellig Island Cruise, this time widdershins (counter clockwise) around the Ring of Kerry. Again, our cruise was cancelled, so we rebooked for Friday, our last day in Killarney. Instead, we headed out to Valentia Island, which is at the end of the Iveragh Peninsula.

We drove up to the top of Geokaun Mountain, which afforded views around Valentia Island.

Heather

Gorst

The story of the Fianna

We stopped at Portmagee for lunch at the Moorings. Anthony had the best seafood chowder he has ever eaten.

Besides being the filming location for the Star Wars sequels, Portmagee, Skellig Michael and Valentia Island have a rich history.

Portmagee is named after an 18th century Jacobite smuggler, Captain Theobald Mcgee. Mcgee married a local politician’s daughter, and had to skedaddle to Portugal to avoid hanging. His wife and kids took over the family business and founded Portmagee.

Gaelic Christian Monks founded a monastery on Skellig Michael Island in the 6th century AD (or so). They took boats, made of wood and animal skins, out to the island and built domed buildings out of stones. These are featured in the Star Wars movies.

John O’Shea, a leader in the 1916 rising for Irish independence, was born in Portmagee.

The 1957 James Stewart movie, The Spirit of Saint Louis, depicts Skellig Michael and Portmagee as the first land Charles Lindburgh sees on his transatlantic flight.

Apparently, Mark Hamill poured the perfect pint in Portmagee when filming the Star Wars sequels on Skellig Michael Island.

Scenes on our way back to the hotel. This time we drove through the center of the pennisula.

Third times the charm. We got notice the night before that, once again, our cruise was cancelled. However, we did sign up for a shorter cruise that did not leave the harbor. So back to Portmagee we went.

We started counter clockwise again, and took advantage of the Valentia Island Ferry.

Even though we never left the harbor, the sea was still pretty rough!! Anthony doesn’t know how those monks made it out to the island.

The Monks build a shrine on the small island in the harbor.

Our old buddy Lord Kelvin ran the first successful transatlantic communications line in 1866 (to Newfoundland) up the side of this cliff on Valentia Island.

Skellig Islands (as close as we got)

Below are pictures from our drive back to Killarney

We stopped and got ice cream in this little town.

On our way back to Killarney, we finally tried to see some of the beautiful sites around town.

We stopped at Muckross House and walked some of the grounds. Muckross House had several owners, most notably Arthur Guinness. The house was eventually given to the Republic of Ireland, becoming the first national park of the new country.

We got there after closing, so were not able to go inside.

We then went to look at Muckross Abbey. It was founded in the 1400s by the Franciscan monks. Today, it is a beautiful ruin, with a cemetery that is still used.