July 15, 2024

July 15, 2024

From Kinsale, Ireland, we drove northwest back to the highway. Apple Maps may not be the best navigation app for Ireland. It is constantly finding the narrowest one lane roads so it can save me a half second of driving time.

A few miles short of the highway, we drove by the Michael Collins Ambush Memorial. I learned about this event three years ago watching the Liam Neesom movie named for him. Michael Collins was a leader of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence and helped to negotiate the treaty with Britain that allowed the formation of the Irish Free State. Unfortunately Ireland descended into a bitter civil war with those who thought the treaty wasn’t good enough. He was assassinated here in August 1922 by anti-treaty men.

Back on the highway we drove west into County Kerry arriving in Killarney. Our next stop is just south at Muckross House. This Victorian Mansion is one of the many estates enjoyed by the English aristocrats of that era. In 1932, the owner gifted the house and 11,000 acre estate to the Irish nation. The estate grounds became Killarney National Park, the first in the country.

We gave ourselves the self-guided house tour. It is finely appointed but not as lavish as TV makes Downton Abbey look. Perhaps because it was in the isolated West of Ireland. Or based on the abundance of mounted deer antlers, maybe it was more of a luxurious hunting cabin instead of societal nexus. It is clear looking at all the facilities that running a mansion is like operating a large hotel. This means a large kitchen, laundry and lots of servants. I liked seeing the extensive row of manual signal bells in the basement. When somebody “upstairs” wanted something, the servants downstaris had to see who was ringing them up.

We walked around the exterior of the house admiring the setting on a lake surrounded by green mountains. We had a soup lunch in their cafe.

We then drove to nearby Ross Castle for a guided tour. Ross is one of many Fortified Tower Houses that were abundant in medieval Ireland. Ireland was a pretty rough place for a Norman or English lord trying to live amongst a hostile indigenous population. They all had to build themselves an impregnable stone house to survive. Very few Tower Houses have survived intact. Ross is an example of one that was restored by the state and furnished with period antiques.

After gaining entry through two heavy oaken doors, you have access to several floors joined by a single spiral staircase. Compared to the peasants living in thatch huts it was luxurious, but it was still tough. Many people were crammed together in tight spaces. With only arrow-slit windows and candle light, the interiors were always dark. To enter a room, we crossed a raised threshold. It is called that because it held-in the thresh (straw) that covered the floor.

From Ross, we drove south through Killarney National Park. Killarney is heavily wooded and is supposed to be like Ireland was in the olden days. Shockingly, today Ireland has the least amount of forest of any European country. Our first stop was a short hike to Torc Waterfall. Not surprisingly the trees and rocks are covered in moss.

We continued on stopping at several viewpoints to admire the dramatic scenery. This park consists of a glacier-carved valley filled with a series of Loughs (lakes).

We finished our drive on the Kerry coast in the town of Kenmare. After checking-in to our accommodations we walked just outside town to see an ancient Stone Circle. These prehistoric rock assemblies are all over the British Isles.