Killarney and The Ring of Kerry, Ireland October 3, 2026

The weather gods are smiling on us again today as we have beautiful sunshine with temperatures in the mid 60s.

We began our day with an optional excursion called the Jaunting Car Ride, a horse drawn buggy ride through part of Killarney National Park. 

The park is Ireland's first national park established in 1934. We saw red deer, native to Ireland; and Japanese deer, which were brought from England in the 1800s for hunting. 

Kerry cows supposedly produce the best cream, used in the creamiest of ice creams. I can attest that ice cream made with this cream is delicious!

This cottage from the 1830s is the only remaining thatched roof building in Killarney. 

Ross Castle, 15th century, overlooks the beautiful Lough Leane and mountains. 

Our driver, Mike, and horse, 12 year old Jessica, did a great job guiding us through traffic.

Killarney cathedral 

Highest mountains in Ireland, about 3,300 feet

Killarney Distillery and Brewery

The Ring of Kerry is a scenic drive with many spectacular views. It's across the water from our drive yesterday, where we couldn't see much of anything. 

Tim with his donkey, Paddy, and dog, Skye, was entertaining tourists at one of the pullouts.

We stopped at this place called Glen Beigh, which is known as a famous "thin place". Our guide has mentioned these thin places before. They are legendary areas where it is thin between this world and the other. Fairies are known to inhabit these areas. I didn't see any unless they were disguised as sheep. 😒

Across the water is the peninsula we were on yesterday 

Waterville is a small village Charlie Chaplin used to visit every year with his family. 

More scenery 

Our scenic route today