County Kerry

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Killarney & Dingle

A few days after getting back from Belfast and the Antrim coast, my friend Roisin and I took a 3 day trip to county Kerry. That trip included the small town of Killarney, Dingle, and the gap of dunloe.

Killarney itself was a very cute little Irish town, full of pubs, friendly locals, and a very confusing western ireland accent. It was definitely not as easy to understand as the accent I'm accustomed to in the east. Within half an hour from Killarney is the ring of Kerry, the Slea Head drive along the Dingle peninsula, the Killarney National Park, and the town of Dingle, which is one of few left with Gaelic spoken.

The first day, Roisin and I started on a walk towards the park which we were told would take an hour or so and it ended up being about 20 km. We walked through the park, went to the Muckross Abby and Muckross House, then ended up at the Torc Waterfall. To end our 4 hour hike, we finished the day in a nice local pub and had shepherd's pie and chips 😊

On the second day, Roisin and I took a bus tour on the Dingle peninsula. It took us to inch bink, the slea head drive, several beautiful coastal views, and a few towns along the way including Dingle. When we got to Dingle we both got some beer battered cod, chips, and mushy peas and listened to all the locals speaking Gaelic. Like the views I saw on the Antrim Coast in northern ireland, I feel like it's better to just post the photos than try and describe it 😊

On the last day, Roisin and I took a trip to the Gap of Dunloe. This trip started off with a 15 km boat trip through the Killarney lakes. Once we got to the end of the three lakes we took a 12 km hike through the gap. It looked like something out of lord of the rings; an amazing lake in between two mountains. After a long hike up the side of the first mountain, it was really cool to sit in the middle along the lake, eating our baguettes and cheese we brought with us.

After the extensive walking from the three days, it was nice to just sit on the bus for about four hours and relax. It was a beautiful trip but definitely a tiring one! I had about three days after getting back to relax until dad came to visit.

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