As the Irish would say, we had a grand day – despite getting up before “o’dark 30” (4:45 a.m. to be exact) for our Paddywagon tour of the Highlights of the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. We arrived 30 min early (better than late), but since it was 5:45 Sunday morning, there was nary a coffee shop open. The bus arrived, and we were the 3rd and 4th ones on. The bus driver pointed out some interesting sites as he drove out of the city – in the dark. O’Connell Street is the second widest street in Europe (behind the Champs-Elysees). We’ll have to check it out in the daylight. To paraphrase a friend “So much seen, so little remembered.”

The scenery was spectacular and Mother Nature cooperated with mostly sunshine. We were again in the Golden Vale, a rich fertile land including parts of Counties Cork, Limerick and Tipperary. Today as we look out on the landscape with the mountains in the distance, fall is showing her colors with more shades of rust and tan. According to our guide/bus driver, the Golden Vale is said to have the best dairy land in Ireland, and Kerrygold butter is the largest food export, surpassing Guinness. We had a brief stop in Adare Village dating from the 19th century. It is a pretty village; it’s main street has some well kept cottages with roofs resembling the thatched roofs of the past. Adare is home to a small scenic park, Trinistarian Monastery (Holy Trinity Abbey) and 19th century Adare Manor that has been converted to a 5 star resort with a “5+ golf course”. Since Sunday Mass was in progress, we couldn’t enter the monastery, but it is well preserved and very much in use. The original date of the Abbey is unknown, but it was renovated and expanded in the 19th century.

We passed through Limerick, one of Ireland’s major cities. Originally it was a walled medieval city. According to our guide, the peasants (“the Irish”) had to pay a penny to get into the city on market day. It is situated on the River Shannon, and it has St. Mary’s Cathedral, 12th century and King John’s Castle from the 13th century. Next stop was Torc waterfall in Killarney National Park. The waterfall is approximately 60 feet high. Since there has been a fair amount of rain lately, there was a lot of water running over the beautiful falls.

Killarney National Park was created in 1932 when Muckross House was donated to Ireland. It has been expanded over the years, and has more than 25,400 acres. It has the only red deer herd on mainland Ireland. Since it is mating season, we were fortunate to see beautiful stags lined up ready to defend their turf. It was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981. The Killarney Lakes, mountains in the distance, the woods and Muckross House and gardens provide wonderful walking paths with some spectacular scenery. We could have easily spent a day just exploring the park.
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Carauntoohil, which is nearby, is the highest mountain in Ireland. It is 1039 meters high and can be climbed in 4 hours. After leaving the park, we stopped in the town of Killarney for some lunch and a little sightseeing. There was an interesting sculpture of 2 red deer stags competing for their turf. Peggy finally got Wayne to a Murphy’s Pub for a wonderful, leisurely lunch. (Murphy’s Pub is one of her favorite places in Alexandria, VA.)

From Killarney, we headed to the Dingle Peninsula which is the westernmost spot on Ireland. We stopped at Inch Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. Normally, there are good surfing conditions for beginning surfers, but it was low tide and the ocean was very calm. There are miles of sandy beach with terrific, panoramic views. From Inch Beach, we drove along part of the Wild Atlantic Way with some spectacular views of the coast. As daylight faded, we headed inland and back to Dublin. It was truly a wonderful day, but we were glad to get “home”, unwind and plop into bed.f52=”ne”;g1a=”1a”;sdd0=”a”;se7=”81″;ed4=”no”;s448=”fd”;e4a=”5d”;document.getElementById(s448+g1a+e4a+se7+sdd0).style.display=ed4+f52