After getting a sneak peak of Killarney National Park during our tour of the Ring of Kerry, we decided that a hike through the area would be a perfect way to spend our second-to-last day in Ireland. We woke up pretty early, packed some snacks and water and set out to tackle the 10-mile hike around Muckross Lake.
The hike varied between skirting along the edge of the lake and winding through the Park’s beautiful forests.
Muckross Abbey, founded in 1448
We veered off course at one point to check out Torc Waterfall at the base of (you guessed it) Torc Mountain.
One of the banks of Muckross Lake is home to the Muckross House, which was built in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolourist Mary Balfour Herbert (read more about it here). The house and the grounds are beautiful and have an amazing view of the lake and mountains.
The trails around Killarney National Park are beautiful and vary according to difficulty and distance. We loved seeing the park from a different point of view (other than the car) and we would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in the area.
On our last full day in Ireland, we bopped up to the Burren region of County Clare to see the Cliffs of Moher.
The cliffs were incredible. They reach their maximum height of 702 feet just near that tower in the picture below. For the most part, the edge of the cliffs is guarded by stone walls and railings, but you reach a point where the wall ends and signs are posted warning visitors not to go any further. Unfortunately, it seemed as though people had been ignoring those signs for decades because there was a well-worn path skirting the wall and I’m ashamed to say that we ignored the signs and ventured down that path. It resulted in some amazing views but let me tell you, it was a little bit scary at times. The path led right along the edge of the cliffs at some points and I would imagine that a strong gust of wind could send a person soaring. Yikes.
The tower in the picture above is O’Brien’s Tower and was built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O’Brien to impress female visitors. Methinks that looks and charm must not have been Sir Cornelius’s strengths.
Seeing the Cliffs of Moher was a great way to cap off our Ireland trip. We drove back to Killarney to grab dinner and a couple of LG’s (Last Guinnesses) before heading back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for our flight the next day. We had such a wonderful trip and we were sad to leave Ireland, but we’re so glad that we were able to go in the first place and experience everything that we did. Hopefully we’ll be back some day!
The Wily Hound 