Killarney and the Gap of Dunloe with Irish chauffeurdriven tours

Friday was my final day with Alison and Andy and we made the most of this by visiting the famous Gap of Dunloe in Killarney. Normally i would send my clients into the Gap on the horse drawn buggies, and then on down through the Lakes of Killarney in the open boats. This would not have been suitable for Alison, or anybody suffering from lower back problems, so i thought i would take a chance on just driving in a short way to give them just a little taste of what this wonderful place is like.The roads through this Gap are extremely narrow and very dangerous, and the main traffic here consists of the buggies and the cars of the local farmers in this area. My advice to anybody considering doing this is, do not even think about it and take the buggie ride.

The two photos above are of an old roadside station where travellers could rest up and also rest their horses. On reaching this point on our entry into the Gap, it was really quiet so i decided to try to get a little further into the Gap.

Here you see Andy standing beside our car as we climbed right into the mouth of the Gap. You can see here just how dangerous the roads are, and how difficult it would be to pass anything going either way.

This is a stretch of the road at the top of the Gap, and once again you can clearly see how dangerous the road is. If you go over the side here it will be the end of your holiday.

Here we are looking down into the Black valley from on high. The church below was built by a priest who felt that the locals who travelled miles to go to mass outside the Gap, deserved their own church.

The church is known as the church of Our Lady of the Valley.

Having made it all the way through the Gap, and down into the Black Valley, we came on these two goats.

What a beautiful picture these red berries by the roadside made. The ferns in the foreground added to its beauty.

More animals resting by the roadside. These two black sheep were not too troubled by our presence.

The climb out of the Black Valley, to Moll's Gap at the top of the mountain, is a steep one. In the top picture you have Moll's Gap. The road straight through this Gap takes you down the mountain on the far side into Kenmare.

The picture above shows Andy and Alison at Ladies View

So my tour with Andy and Alison ended later on Friday when i left them off at Bunratty where they were to spend their final night before flying out for the USA on Saturday morning. 
It had been a difficult time for both of them as they were suffering from a flu type virus, but they soldiered well and we had a lot of success in our ancestral searches. They never complained, and they were generous in the praise of our time together. 
Thank you Andy and Alison. Lets stay in touch.