Redwood Country House

Gallarus Oratory - one of the highlights of Dingle

by globetrott

Gallarus Oratory is without doubt one of the highlights of any excursion to Dingle Peninsula. This tiny church dates back to the 6th century and it was built like a boat standing upside down. There is no seperate roof, but only the walls are meeting on top and all of the stones were perfectely set togeather without any kind of a cement. There is just an open door at one side and a tiny round window at the other side of the building.
Get inside of that tiny church, and you will see that wind and rain have to chance at all to get inside these perfectly built walls - it might even be a good idea to find shelter there in case of a sudden rainfall, like it might happen quite often in Ireland.
_______________________________________Next to Gallarus Oratory you may park your car only at a small car-park, and you have to pay a small fee for the parking, when-ever the parking-guide is there to collect the money.
The entry to Gallarus Oratory and the tiny cemetery around of it is free of charge and also possible any time of the day.
Gallarus Oratory is north of Dingle-town,take the road R559 or drive the ring-road that is called Dingle-drive!

day in a park

by mustardgirl

two best known places in national park are probably mucross house and ross castle. don't just leave it to that...

if you don't have much time in killarney and want to see the most of the national park - rent a bike...

if you get to the ross castle, don't think that this is the end of it - its only the beginning... ride even further to the park and you will find great palaces by the lake (lough leane) that are not crowded as castle area. and the views are even better... if you have more time bring a book or a friend and good time is guaranteed...

Driving the Ring of Kerry

by Dabs

The Ring of Kerry is a scenic 175 km (110 mile) road that circles the Iveragh Peninsula, a very popular draw for tourists who visit Ireland. You can visit via a self driving tour if you are willing to rent a car and drive on the "wrong" side of the road (if you are from the US like us) or join one of the multitude of bus tours that follow along one after another going counterclockwise. 110 miles doesn't sound like a lot of driving but you aren't driving 60 miles an hour, you wouldn't enjoy the scenery and the roads are not designed for high speeds.

We decided to go the self drive route since we had a car, we started off around lunchtime as we spent the morning seeing the sights around Killarney. Our first stop was Cahersiveen, the first "big" village that you come across, for lunch and a quick walk around town; drove to Valentia Island where we watched the crazy locals actually swimming in the cold, cold water; drove the Ring of Skellig (or at least I think we did), and visited Staigue Fort near Caherdaniel before heading to Kenmare where we spent the night.

We had a beautiful day for the drive, the sun was out for most of the day and we had great visibility. The next day when we drove around the Beara Peninsula to the south we looked over to the Ring of Kerry and noticed that it was fogged in, this is when it would be nice to have an extra cushion day in the area as it's much more enjoyable to do the drive with sunny skies. Lots of visitors with less ambitious plans than us spend several days in the area enjoying a leisurely drive and delving more into the nooks and crannies of the peninsula.

Dancing in Killarney

by wise23girl

"Dancing at the Glen Eagle Hotel"

We have been to Killarney a number of times in the last few years ,four of them to join in with the Gleneagle ballroom dancing week.(2009) .The hotel has a number of special "get aways" usually twice a year in the "shoulder period" so you get a really good price.

We were told about the Ballroom Dancing by an Irish friend who lives here in Australia and has been going to Killarney for this particular event for many years. Our Australian contingent has become quite famous and we were even on national TV.

Every day there are ballroom dancing lessons from beginner to advanced all included in the price. At night there is dancing and one night is a real gala event with all the dancers dressed up in black ties and glamorous gowns.By the way there is live music...stuff that makes you want to dance.

There is no sequence dancing so anyone can get up and just do a "cuddle" dance as well.

We have marvellous dancing teachers...George and Kay Devlin from Bray. They lend both class and excitement to the event.

This year David (Wisedancer) was Mr Quickstep, winning the event with friend Lyn(Bridget21). Where was I? Well I had my moment of glory demonstrating tango with a competition dancer a couple of days later.

Do you see who is also there? Go to top of the class if you have spied the VAs.

"Getting There"

The first year we hired a people mover and travelled across country from Dublin. Since then we have travelled by train from Dublin to Killarney. You leave from Heuston station and change at Mallow.
The train is often quite full and next time we are going to book first class if the money holds out .
The hotel bus awaits our arrival to transport us to the hotel.And there are taxis.

Of course Shannon airport and hire cars are not far away.

"Other things to do"

There are lots of things to do. First there are the jaunting car rides. I love the clip clop of the horses hooves as they go by.You will always find them waiting for you on the edge of town.
The Ring of Kerry is well worth your time...just pick a fine day to enjoy the views.Arrange your tour at the Gleneagle.

Pop into town and you will find quaint shops and good Irish fare.

You can always while away the time sipping an Irish coffee.

We enjoy walking into town, meeting the locals . There are many tours available