Killorglin

Picked up the car from Cork airport and drove to Killorglin our next stop for a week. When we arrived we found a food festival underway in the market square and we made our way to the cottage. This was situated approx 4 ks from the town with farms around residential homes. We were lucky to catch the final match Wimbleton tennis and enjoyed seeing Andy Murray win. On the Sunday we went into town to listen to some jazz music and enjoy the food festival atmosphere. Killorglin is home to the Puck Fair which is held every August and apparently over 25,000 attend which is hard to believe given the size of the town. Believe it or not the fair starts with the crowning of a male goat as King of the fair and this year will be their 400th anniversary. 

There is so much to see in this beautiful part of Ireland. The weather is way above the norm even for summer with highs at 30c and as no one has any air con nor do we have it in the car we are finding it very warm. Walked into town which took about an hour to have a beer and listen to some Trad music one night, it was a great atmosphere as musicians kept arriving to join in on the act. 

Visited Killarney and toured Ross castle with a guide. The castle is a tower castle which sits on a lake and you can get their from the town by horse and cart. We walked back via Killarney National Park. 

A full day was spent driving the Dingal peninsular. The landscape is stunning with great views over the sea from the cliffs. One section was advertised as the location for the movie Ryan's Daughter. We ate our picnic lunch looking over the sea, just amazing. We stopped on the way to Slea Head to visit the historical and original Irish Famine Cottages. We have leant a lot about the way the Irish people were treated by the English and how when the famine hit Irelands food continued to be sent to England even though they had enough. The population fell during this 5 year period in 1845 by over two million as a result of death or emigration caused by the famine. We also got to see inside a Beehive Hut which were houses used in ancient times but later were used for housing pigs. Just down the road was the Dunbeg Fort built on a sheer cliff dating back to 8th century AD. 

Because it was so hot we took a swim in the sea just after Inch Point. Driving past Inch Point we were surprised to see rows of cars on the beach. Apparently people drive their cars on the sand and set up for the day. We never dreamed we would be swimming in Ireland. 

The next big drive was completing the Ring of Kerry. Our first stop was to the Kerry Bog Village which displays a number of buildings with ceilings made from Peat (bog) which helps to insulate the houses and for fuel. It was interesting to see the different houses depending on the occupation of the males. 

On our last two days a neighbouring farmer decided to place his baby cows in the paddock right next to our cottage. The cows had been inside a barn and found it upsetting to be out in the paddock so mooed all night and day. Very annoying. 

The Ring of Kerry takes you through a number of towns and the prettiest one was Kenmare. We discovered the town would host a  food festival the following weekend so we decided to visit on the Friday night before we left for Galway. We witnessed a parade and had a lovely meal in a local pub and watch entertainment on the stage in the park. A nice way to finish off our time in Kerry County.