Ireland - Killarney..the most gorgoeus place on earth (so far)

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Ireland - Killarney

Tuesday 18th March - Friday 21st March (Good Friday)

Well, Killarney won our hearts about 10 minutes after we arrived. We had booked to stay here for 2 days, but within an hour I had cancelled our next stop and booked 5 days here. Killarney is wonderful, I absolutely love it. It’s now Easter, at 9pm Good Friday night, and I’m sitting in bed with Reagan fast asleep beside me while I update my diary.

We are staying at Neptune’s Hostel which is right in the centre of town - definitely stay here (if you are ok with basic hostel accommodation) as its great. There are so many people staying here, from Canadians to Spaniards, Germans to Chinese. Everyone chats and sits around the communal areas - huge kitchen, lounge room with cable TV, free wifi and the best crew working the reception. It’s very basic accommodation but the atmosphere is just so friendly. It’s funny how many people say “G’day” to us in their version of an Aussie accent when they hear you are from Australia - I’ve heard it more times here than I’ve ever heard in my lifetime in Australia lol but its everone being freindly. We have been eating out a little, but cooking some of ours meals in the kitchen and everyone shares stuff. We feel very much at home here already even after just a few days and I would happily stay here for a few weeks. I’m actually sitting here feeling quite teary at the thought of leaving, how silly of me, but Killarney really typifies to me what I expected Ireland to be like. I love it here, simple as that. However...there are places to see and plans to keep so we will push on from here on Sunday and hope that we return one day. Killarney is the craic as the Irish say! Come and visit!

First day, we walked around town and explored then day two, Reagan was feeling the tiredness from the time zone change and the travel I think and she wanted a down day. So we just shopped, wandered around town. Yesterday we hopped on a tour bus to the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is basically a route through the south west area in County Kerry and you pass through many many little villages and towns, along the ocean and see lakes, and many beautiful vistas along the way. Definitely take a tour bus rather than drive yourself as there are many buses on the roads that the cars get stuck behind (in summer can be 200 tour buses at a time) and the roads are SOOOOO narrow that I cringe at the thought of driving on them through the winding Ring of Kerry. Several cars had to back up on the mountains so the buses could swing past.

We stopped at several villages for lunch and a few pints, to visit one of the old bog villages where they dry out the turf from the bogs to sell it for fuel to light the household fires and ovens. We met two darling Irish wolfhounds (biggest dogs in the world) - they were a bit shy but they came up for a pat. Reagan astounded me by patting one of them - she’s so funny with smaller animals and especially dogs, yet she walked up to this giant pup and stroked him. He was a sweetie. Too bad I can’t smuggle him back home with us. Still want my Great Dane though.

We also stopped for heaps of photos at scenic spots and one spot was so cold and wiondy we could hardy walk into the wind. Hats and scaves had no chance at all of staying on your head.

Our bus driver was simply hilarious, whenever we came to a boring bit with ordinarily scenery he would distract us by taking the piss out of the Americans, telling us how the Kissing Tunnel on the Ring of Kerry (where you kiss under and you’re supposed to stay in love forever) doesn’t work, as he kissed his wife there but he’s now separated, and explaining what a complicated folk the Irish are. Apparently Yes means Yes or No, but NO usually means Yes. If you buy a beer for an Irishman and he says No, you don’t need to do that, what he really means is “yes, and bloody hurry up pour it will you”. We learnt the Gaelic word to say when you raise your glass to your friends before you drink, which sounds something like “slaughter” - I’ll have to look this up, doesn’t sounds quite right to say that! We visited a few fairae forts, which are ancient rings made of stone and according to Irish folklore, if you disturb a Faerie ring, you will forever have bad luck. There were several fairae rings in the middle of farmland, which the owners had kept intact for fear of back luck. The Irish are a very superstitious lot. However, one of the Kennedy family (as in John, Ted, Robert etc), many decades ago, had a Irish farm with a fairae ring on it, which he demolished to build upon. And just look at the back luck the Kennedys have had since...
Our driver made our tour that much more enjoyable. O’Connor’s Tours if anyone is interested, book through Neptune’s Hostel, about 16 Euro.

Arrived back at Neptune’s tired as all hell, but having enjoyed the tour immensely. Cooked dinner, chilled in the common room, bed.
Today we decided to horse riding through Killarney National Park, but as that wasn’t until 2pm, we walked all over town then went and booked our bus to Doolin, our next stop, leaving Easter Sunday. Better hide the Easter Eggs for Reagan’s Easter egg hunt before we leave but I tell you it will be a very quick hunt. There is a bed in this room and that’s about it! I’ll have to get creative...

Doolin is on the west coast of Ireland, just under Galway, and right across from the Aran Islands. We won’t be able to visit the islands at this time of year - sadly it is too cold and rough for the boats to run until just after Easter - but Doolin is a good base for us to go and see the Cliffs of Moher, and maybe pop up to Connemara and Galway for a visit. We are staying in the most charming old stone B&B while we are there, about 10 walk from the centre of town and I am really looking forward to it.

At 2pm we saddled up - Reagan on a dear little brown and white Welsh Cobb called Jimmy, and I had a huge big shaggy brown beast called Oscar, who was a friendly placid boy until he realised we were heading home then he started to play up and be the comic of the group. Tried to grab the bit in his mouth, we played tug of war with the reins for a while and he obviously got sick and tired of staring at Jimmy’s arse (Reagan’s horse) and kept trying to nip him on the backside. He was very funny. We rode out with two of the stable girls who were both French, one from Avignon (which is where we are going in Provence, France so we got some tips from her) and a young Chinese couple who were from Dublin. The wife had never been on a horse and screamed blue murder when we trotted which just made her hubby giggle and Reagan roll her eyes at me, with a superior 8 year olds look of “Mum, can you believe this”. Reagan kept wanting to trot, so we did. I think she felt pretty good that she was not scared to go faster and she was only 8, when the lady was too scared. They were a very nice couple though and grabbed us for some photos when we got back to the stables.

The national park was breathtaking and I cannot recommend strongly enough that you visit here if you come to Killarney. You can walk, horseride or hire bikes to go around it (it is very big). There is a golf course, lakes, mountains, beautiful beautiful trees which reminded me of the Ents in the Lord of the Rings. I swear to god, I kept seeing Treebeards face in every one of them lol. So beautiful that we have decided to come back tomorrow and walk through the park before we head to Muckross House and Farm for a look. My camera is itching to take some of the shots I still have in my mind after today’s horseride. Anyway, enough for tonight, I could write for hours about this place but I’m tired.

I will leave you with this last bit.

The Irish have so many gorgeous sayings, expressions and greetings which express love and thankfulness for what is around them. The claddagh symbol, with hands over a crown, symbolises Love, Friendship and Loyalty. The very essence of any friendship. And many irish wont just say goodbye. They are more likely to say “safe travel” or something equally nice.

But I came across postcard with an Irish Blessing on it today, and I thought it was so beautiful, I have to share it. I’m not even remotely religious and I don’t know why I am so emotional since being in Ireland but the beauty here seems to bring it out in me - this blessing brought tears to my eyes to read it because it makes me think of all my wonderful friends back home, and if you are reading this - know that I miss you all and I wish you this...

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind always be at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
May the rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again..
...may God hold you in the palm of his hand

Love and hugs, until tomorrow...

Kel x 

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