Killarney and the Ring of Kerry with Dave Hogan Chauffeurdriven vacations

Today was our trip to the Ring of Kerry, a journey around the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry. Our first stop was at Waterville. The picture above was taken on the waterfront there. This town was Charlie Chaplin's favourite holiday destination. The Ring of Kerry circuit is a most popular destination on most organised bus tours, and of course many tourists will also drive the route themselves. The roads have improved greatly over the years, and if you are a competent driver you should be fine. Otherwise, give me a call.

Pat, pictured today near the tip of the peninsula, with the offshore islands in the background, and the lovely red fuscia growing wild on the side of the road beside her. The western side of our country has an abundance of beautiful and colourful flowers all along the coast, as the warm waters from the Gulf stream encourage many tropical plants to thrive here.Many of our visitors from the USA are amazed when they see all the healthy palm trees in these western regions.

What a nice picture of Bruce and Pat as we made our way down to Ladies view .

The above picture of Bruce and Pat was taken at Moll's Gap high in the mountains. In the background to the left of Pat left shoulder. you can see the Gap of Dunloe in between the mountains. This was the Gap that they came through yesterday on their buggy ride as they made their way from the far side of the hills and down to the lakes of Killarney in the valley below.

Here, below, you are looking down the length of the lakes of Killarney at Ladies View. Of course you are looking at a very happy Bruce and Pat also .....and how about that for sunshine? The next time someone tells you that it always rains in Ireland, please refer them to my Blog. They have no idea what they are talking about.

As you near Killarney at the end of your tour of the Ring of Kerry, you can visit Muckross House, and the magnificent estate, and enjoy the tour of the traditional farms at the estate. This we did today. Bruce and Pat had been here the other day but just took in the tour of Muckross house, the stately home where Queen Victoria stayed during her visit to Killarney. The tour of the farms takes at least an hour, and you can even spend longer here as it is a most interesting place. There are four restored farmhouses, the labourers cottage, the small farmers cottage, the medium sized farmers cottage, and the large farmers cottage. The country women in the cottages will relate to you, their way of life, as they bake their bread, make their butter, milk their cows, and carry out their normal everyday tasks. All the normal farm animals are to be seen here, the ducks and geese and chickens, the cows and pigs, the huge farm horses (plough horses ) and my own favourite, the Irish Wolfhounds. All the old farm machinery is on view here, and also the turf for the fires and the timber logs.This is a tour i would recommend highly.

We met this farmer with his donkey and cart as we made our way around.

Pat, on the left, with the woman of the house, in the middle, and a visiting lady, with Bruce on the right. This picture was taken inside the medium farmers cottage. Note the old dresser in the background with all the dishes. The table on the left had plates with samples of the fresh home made soda bread that this woman had just baked on the open fire.

This small cottage is the labourers cottage.

The heat was getting to these two gorgeous Irish Wolfhounds, but they were not really in the mood to entertain us today. They are normally such friendly dogs, but i was sad to hear that they actually have quiet a short life expectancy rate of only eight years.

Here we have two of the tiny piglets in their sty behind the labourers cottage. There were more of them in this pig sty, but Mom was missing today.

This photo does not do justice to this magnificent work horse. He was huge, and standing beside him you cannot be but amazed at the power that this horse exudes. What a wonderful animal.

Pat and Bruce, seated in front of the old fireplace in the small farmers cottage.There was a turf and log fire smouldering in the fireplace behind Pat, where the bread we sampled had been baked in a big iron pot. 

This picture of Bruce and Pat was taken in the medium farmers cottage where once again a fire was smouldering. Note the stone flagged floor.

This old farmer was enjoying the company of one of the  Wolfhounds. Looks like he must have had a way with animals. Maybe its because they had the same coloured hair.

This was a great day today, and we also enjoyed a lovely bowl of spicey tomato soup at the Avoca shop and restaurant at Moll's Gap. This is a lovely place, with a great restaurant upstairs where you can enjoy really nice food. All of their food is prepared and cooked on the premises, and i would highly recommend this place. Their desserts are just out of this world, and i did have my lemon meringue pie..... a big helping, and a delicious one at that. Who cares about the midriff, i am still beautiful.

Tomorrow we head for my personal favourite place, the Dingle peninsula. 
Let me know if you need me.

Dave

P.S.
 if anybody tries to tell you that that is me with the dog, then ignore them. The tummy just makes it look like me.