Day 10: Ring of Kerry

Wed 24/7/19
Day 4 of  Irish trip.

Today was our second day in Killarney but we were quickly back into it, back on the horse so to speak or at least horse and cart.
We all went for a ride on a traditional horse drawn jaunting car through the beautiful national park just across the road from our hotel in Killarney.  There was a lake, deer, swan and very old trees.  The driver had a great Irish accent and regaled us with stories. I enjoyed this ride more than the one in Dublin, this one was much less smelly.

A heron

This is us in the jaunty car. it was very jaunty.

Also went past a beautiful church

More beautiful scenery from Killorglin and then a lookout at Dyngall Bay

 And look , another harp and piano accordian.
I had not realized that the harp is a national emblem of Ireland and is found on all their coins.










During the trip we found out about Daniel O'Connell as well as St Brendan  whose adventures inspired the Sinbad the Sailor stories.

This statue is sculpture for the Millenium coin depicting a boat journey of St Brendan who  got to America before Christopher Columbus according to Irish legend.

Would you believe that charlie Chaplin lived in the fishing village of Waterville and spent his holidays there for years. A statue remains

And then to Moll's Gap to view the lakes and these three islands. It was the windiest place i have ever been, much more windy than the cliffs of Moher. The three islands are named the Bull, the Cow and the Calf.  There is some meaning attached to this.

The one above is an old fort. Many of these are around the ring of Kerry .

And beach as well.

And more pretty scenery. Everything is so green.

We cant remember what this is of or for.

More pretty towns
And an interesting story about sheep. Apparently rams are painted different colours. Then if they happen to 'bump' into a ewe, the ewe will take on this colour and the farmer knows who 'bumped' into whom. And sometimes multiple bumps on the same ewe.  Friendly ewe.

And once back in Killarney, we paid to go see a man singing and talking in an Irish bar. He did more talking than singing which was a shame as he had a very good voice.

We also were shown how to pour our own Guinnessss.

And finally back on the bus to go to dinner on a farm where everything was handmade and cooked and grown.   This was all set in a beautiful B and B with rustic furniture and good toilets.

We had 3 starters each, three mains and 3 desserts with wine and coffee.
The food was incredible.