Ring of Kerry

Southwest Ireland is probably one of the most popular parts of the country, with the Ring of Kerry, the Dingle Peninsula, and Killarney National Park all drawing visitors into the region.

But with so much to see and experience, where you stay can really make a difference to your trip.

So how far can you reasonably travel on day trips from Killarney or even Tralee? And what about Dingle? I love staying there, but I personally don't think it's a great base for day trips.

So when we're looking at Killarney, a 90-minute radius actually can take you quite far.

You can go...

Over here, up through here, and of course down Dingle and Ring of Kerry.

So what does that include? Well, in and around Killarney, you obviously have Killarney National Park right here.

You have the Gap of Dunloe.

So I'm over there in England.

Now, a very scenic part is on the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula in the southwest of Ireland.

And I was there with some clients at a national insurance company.

It's what we call incentive travel.

So we're in Ireland.

That's what they wanted to do.

And you've got to go to the Ring of Kerry on the Dingle Peninsula.

And there's a small village called Dingle.

And I planned one to Ireland.

And then while I was here, everywhere we went, whether we were, we started in Dublin and then we're like going down, doing the Ring of Kerry and ended up in Killarney and I mean, the pigs lane there is beautiful.

It's a, it's a pub that like I had the best drink of my life there.

And then we're like over in Galway and just like, we're dancing in the streets while, you know, trad music is coming out of the pubs.

There's a community in Kerry called Drummond.

It's in the middle of the Ring of Kerry.

So if you're going around the Ring of Kerry, around the coast, around Killarney, but there's an inside pit around Cairntool and McGillicuddy Reeks in there called Drummond.

And they almost lost their bar.

their pub and the community came together and they bought the pub so it's the only community run pub and it's it's an amazing little community so the pub is here 100 metres to the left is the creche 100 metres behind it is the community centre slash hostel okay right and uh the football

field has just been home for so it's like a hamlet

yes you know so we did a show there in August and we had about 320 people turned out for it in the middle of the ring of Kerry practically in the heart of Kerry in South Kerry in Drummond that's incredible an amazing community and then afterwards we all went to the Indy Tavern the bar that was bought by the community yeah an amazing night but the great thing with it you know you can do obviously the big shows sure and then you go and you go for your drink or whatever and you go home But you're amongst a little great night.

It's just great to have a crowd around here.

Nine days, eight nights through Dublin, Cork, and Killarney.

Cider Mill Flane, Dan Kelly's, Llewellyn's Orchard, plus stops at Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, Howard's Court Estate and Gardens, Larney Castle, and a full day on the Ring of Kerry.

It

even includes a medieval-style dinner at Nat Poe Castle and a smokehouse tour.

Yeah, I mean, I, I, I think he's actually right again.

I mean, a- again, you know, I'm, I'm from North Cork and the, kinda the, the, the Kerry border, so, you know, the, you know, you can't drive through the Ring of Kerry without seeing signs everywhere to be wary of deer and all the rest of it, you know, on, on the roads.

And again, I grew up and down to Wicklow, um, so I've seen deer on the sides of the roads.

I've seen, you know, I, I...

Mm.

And I have family from Ireland, from County Kerry on the Ring of Kerry, so I've always been interested in, um, the Irish and their contributions to our country.

But going on this trip at Antietam has made me wonder that not many Americans knew about the Irish Brigade and the contributions of the Irish to our Civil War and our history, and I'm wondering to what extent today do the Irish understand and celebrate their contributions to our Civil War?

Hmm.