Killarney National Park

We had one full day in Killarney (Monday). After arriving to the mayhem of the remains of the football game on Sunday evening, we were pleased to see that the town was restored to order the next morning. On our way out to Muckross House, Gene stopped off at Fitzgerald Stadium to show us what it looked like. The aftermath in there was crazy...bottles and trash everywhere...those cleaning crews had their work cut out for them! Gaelic football is huge in Ireland, it's like our soccer or football. Kids grow up playing and every town (and sometimes village) has their own club. Interestingly enough, this sport was developed right after the famine in the 1850s and it helped Ireland rise back from the horrors that had befallen the country.

Our first stop was Muckross House and Traditional Farms, set in Killarney National Park. When we arrived, we found out that the only way to see the house was on a guided tour and we were hesitant...but we all ended up enjoying it. The tour guide was fabulous, Breda was her name. I loved her accent and the way she rattled off the history of the house and the details on the furniture, artwork, rugs, etc. in each room. She was also repetitive - so that by the end of the tour you definitely knew that the house was owned by an Irish man, Arthur Vincent who married an American lady, Maude and its history dates back to the 1830s and 1840s, until it was donated to the country with all of its land and it became the cornerstone of Killarney National Park. Breda would rattle off the details of each room, and end her little spiel with 'and now we're off to the drawing room' (or whatever room was next, and you need to say that with a nice Irish accent). Quinn especially liked the 'stuffed' animals from all of the 1800s hunts, and Keely wanted to live in that house. They asked to take the elevator up to the 2nd floor for the remainder of our tour, and after that Breda let them sit in special chairs and be her little helpers throughout the rest of the tour (they were the only kids, so that probably helped). At the end of the house tour was a shop called Muckross Weavers, where Quinn and Keely each chose a souvenir - Quinn his own Irish cap, and Keely an Irish clutch purse.

After the House, we headed over to the farm. This was interesting, taking you from station to station that started with a small farm all the way to a large farm. In each farmhouse was a guide, who was making fresh bread in the fire burning in the hearth. There was also plenty of animals to see, as it is still a working farm. This is where Papa earned his 'Goat Whisperer' title, trying to make friends with the goat outside one of the farms for quite some time. I think the kids' favorite part was the large farm and its small animals section, where there were baby pigs, cows, kittens, lamb, and two Border Collie pups that we wanted to take home with us, well at least me and the kids did. They were 5 months old, and called William and Kate (for obvious reasons...and I guess the Irish have the same fascination with the Royal Wedding as Americans).

Continuing on with our time in the National Park, we drove the short distance to the trailhead for Torc Waterfall. It takes about 5 minutes to walk up to this beautiful waterfall, but then we hiked above and around it for about an hour (probably 2 miles). We even walked down to Lough Leane (Lower Lake) and played by the water. The hike was nice, reminiscent of the hikes we did in the mountains of Utah. Quinn even wondered why people were having trouble because we did much harder hikes in Utah :) The elevation was obviously not the same, but it was a steep climb up above the waterfall. Even I was huffing and puffing, while trying to coax Keely along.

While we were on the hike, Gene met up with a jaunting car ride driver who agreed to give some of us a ride through the park for a different experience. A jaunting car ride is a horse and buggy, and there are many roads through the park that can not be accessed by cars so it's either bike, walk or this method. I didn't have any interest (plus as with everything, it was more Euros) so Nana and Papa took the kids on the 30-40 minute ride. They had a fun time and their driver was very knowledgeable and a nice fellow (John, I think). While they were there, I inquired if there was a pub to stop in for a drink - and of course there was one on the way :) We stopped at Molly Darcy's for a drink and I had my first black and tan. In Ireland they are made with Guinness and Smithwick's (not Harp, like in the US). We relaxed and chatted with Gene and then it was time to pick up the others. This was a nice change...another perk of having a driver, because we could choose to do different things. Nana wanted the car ride, she got it and those of us that didn't had a fun time elsewhere.

We were thinking of adding Ross Castle to the end of the day, but we were all tuckered out. We headed back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner. This time, we tried an Irish pub called Murphy's. It was fabulous - most of us had Shepherd's Pie (excellent choice) and their Mushroom Soup was out of this world. Killarney is also notable for me because I got sick, starting a cold while I was there. The soup was a welcome relief and I also started my regimen of drinking screwdrivers (though you have to order it as OJ and Vodka because they don't know it as an American screwdriver, plus they don't mix the drink for you...another interesting tidbit about Ireland). I continued to be ill for the time in Galway, and was feverish for the first night there. This cold set in and lasted the remainder of the trip, plus the first week we were back. It didn't affect my good time for the most part, but it was a bit of an annoyance for me. It was the first time I have been sick since my immune system crashed in March/April and luckily, I got over it quicker this time.



That pretty much concluded our time in Killarney. The next day, we left early so that we could see the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren on our way to Galway where we spent our next two nights.