The Ring of Kerry

I went on a school trip this past weekend to the Ring of Kerry in County Kerry on the south-west coast of Ireland. The Ring of Kerry is a 170 km circular road all along the coast starting and ending in Killarney. Marion, one of the professors who teaches Irish organized the trip as she is from the area. She had a whole set schedule for us packed full of events. The trip was a decent price and included food, transportation, events, sightseeing, admissions and the hotel.

We left on Friday around 3:00. There were about fifty kids on the trip, all international students. It was an hour and a half to Killarney, where we stopped at a bus stop and picked up a few more students then we traveled another hour or so to the Ring of Kerry Hotel in a town called Cahersiveen. We stopped for our first photo op seeing a beautiful rainbow. It was a bit foggy out, but a beautiful view of the mountains and ocean. It is so strange of me to see the mountains here, as they are all rock and grass. I am used to the Appalachian covered in trees, so when I see the ones here they look more like hills to me.

The hotel was nice; I shared a room with my travel buddies, Kristina, Julia and Brianne. It was definitely a step up from the hostels we are used to! Dinner was delicious! We had a whole room to ourselves for our three course dinner. There were about five options to choose from, I opted for a Turkey/ham dish complete with mash and veggies. After the meal along with salad and rolls I was stuffed when they brought out pastries for desert! After dinner we had a speaker native to Cahersiveen tell us about his life living out in Kerry. He had some interesting stories. After the speaker the whole group met up downstairs in the hall for a traditional Irish Ceili; where we learned Irish dancing. Marion had a little band play including a guitar, drum and accordion and used the mike to call out the steps to us all. We learned the Siege of Ennis, Stack of Barley, and Waltz of Limerick to name a few. It was a blast, and after a few wrong steps everyone caught on.

On Saturday we were up early for a buffet breakfast that we all filled up on. Then we hopped on the bus heading to Valentia Island right off the coast linked by a bridge to the mainland. Over 600 people live on the island. Our first stop was on Foilhommerum Cliff which is the site of the first transatlantic cable from Newfoundland to Valentia in 1857. The view was absolutely amazing from here; be sure to take a look at the photos I have up. Next we went to the Skellig Experience, a heritage center that opened just for us. Marion arranged quite a few stops that are usually closed until tourist season starts in April. The center was about the Skellig Rocks, two islands out off the coast which are sea bird colonies (home of the Puffins!) and the site of Christian Monastic architecture. You can take boats out to them but only in good weather in the summer. We made an unplanned stop next, to hike up Geokaun Mountain and Fogher Cliffs, the highest mountain on the Island that goes right up through a farm. We saw hundreds of sheep on our way up, and many lambs, some only an hour old! The top was another amazing view of the ocean and islands. The next stop was Valentia Slate Quarry where slate has been sent out all over the world. It has been used for the British Houses of Parliament and Paris’s Opera House to name a few. The whole time Marion gave us her catchy narratives about the land and views. She would always ask Tommy, our bus driver for his input. He was an amazing driver, taking the coach bus all over the island down windy one lane roads with Marion going “hmm we probably shouldn’t be going down here.”

Marion is from Bellinskellig, so on our bus tour over in that area she pointed out all her families houses next to the sea. We went to Ballinskellig Beach and walked out to McCarthy castle, well what was left of it. We had to walk across a stream from the tide so it was lots of rock hopping to avoid being soaked. We went back to the hotel for soup, and sandwiches then had the afternoon free. A few of us walked down through the town of Cahersiveen looking at all the shops and found a pub to watch the Rugby match. Ireland was playing Scotland in their second to last Six Nations Game, and continued to be undefeated as they won 22-15. Dinner was another delicious meal, where I had tortellini and cheesecake. After Marion set up a table quiz for us, which are very popular in pubs over here. You have a group of five or so and there are a few rounds of ten random questions. Some questions included were; What is the capital of Pakistan? What is the hardest substance of the human body? What is a baby turkey called? How many pieces are on a chess board? My group thought we did so great, and were really excited for the final score to see who won the prize. Marion gave the first place team, and second and we urged her to continue for the third and then fourth. It turns out we came in second to last! The only reason we did that well was because the last place team didn’t complete the game and left half way through! Ha. And we thought we did so well! That night in the hotel was a big function as the Junior Gaelic football team had won the finals. So the whole town had up Red and green flags for Cahersiveen and Kerry’s colors of gold and green too. So the hotel was full of activity.

On Sunday, the group did a walking tour of Cahersiveen and wondered up around the coast to the Stone Forts. The forts were circular with hundreds of steps all over to the top which was grass. Beautiful sights on the top and we had a blast climbing all over. After we headed back for a quick lunch we packed up and continued on the rest of the Ring of Kerry. We went to Derrynane House, the home of Daniel O’Connell, an Irish political leader who gained the Catholics the right to vote. We were back on the bus forever, with a quick stop at Cahar Daniel, a scenic outlook. It was a bit windy but an amazing view. We also drove into Killarney National Park which was absolutely amazing. Be sure to check out the photos I put up on flickr, although they don’t do the Park justice. We finished up the Ring of Kerry back in Killarney and then headed back to Cork.

The Ring of Kerry is one of Ireland’s most popular spots; the view of the Atlantic is beautiful as you follow the coast along. The trip was great, and it was nice not to plan something for a change! Pictures are up!    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjhastie/sets/72157615377402120/