Ring of Kerry

A few days before our trip home, we went for a long bus ride. Part of this was the Ring of Kerry that we were taken on. The scenery is beautiful, but we had been travelling for six days, with stops at various tourist places. Mind you, we did appreciate seeing what Ireland is like and what their history entailed, but, I think that we were almost at the point of information overload, or scenery overload. I, personally, was definitely at that point as I don’t usually do tours. I usually determine where I want to visit, go there, maybe do a day tour or two, but I usually get to know a little about the place before continuing on. I do have a tendency to take a lot of pictures. Some people think that about a hundred pictures is a lot. I usually take in the neighbourhood of one to two thousand pictures so that I can go home, get rid of the blurry ones, choose the ones that show what I am trying to say when I do any sort of presentation.

Substitute driver so that Austin could have a day off.

Anyway, I don’t remember much about what we were told about the Ring of Kerry. I found that the Wikipedia tells it in a good way and I am finding it hard to paraphrase it. So, here goes:

“The Ring of Kerry (Irish: Mórchuaird Chiarraí) is a 179-km-long circular tourist route in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. Clockwise from Killarney it follows the N71 to Kenmare, then the N70 around the Iveragh Peninsula to Killorglin – passing through Sneem, Waterville,Cahersiveen, and Glenbeigh – before returning to Killarney via the N72.

Popular points include Muckross House (near Killarney), Staigue stone fort and Derrynane House, home of Daniel O'Connell. Just south of Killarney, Ross Castle, Lough Leane, and Ladies View (a panoramic viewpoint), all located within Killarney National Park, are major attractions located along the Ring. A more complete list of major attractions along the Ring of Kerry includes: Gap of Dunloe, Bog Village,Kerry Woollen Mills, Rossbeigh Beach, Cahersiveen Heritage Centre, Derrynane House, Skellig Experience, Staigue Fort, Kenmare Lace,Moll's Gap, Ladies View, Torc Waterfall, Muckross House, The Blue Pool, Ross Castle, Ogham Stones, St Mary’s Cathedral, Muckross Abbey, Franciscan Friary, Kellegy Church, O’Connell Memorial Church, Sneem Church and Cemetery, Skellig Michael, Beehive Cells and the Stone Pillars marking an important grave.^[1]

There is also an established walking path named The Kerry Way, which takes its own route, and a signposted Ring of Kerry cycling path which uses older quieter roads where possible. The Kerry Way roughly follows the scenic driving route of the Ring of Kerry.

There are numerous variations to the route taking in St. Finian's Bay and Valentia Island which the official driving ring misses (the official cycling route takes in Valentia Island). As well as beaches, it also offers the Gap of Dunloe, Bog Village, Derrynane House, the Skellig Experience Valentia Island, Molls Gap, Torc Waterfall, Muckross House, and Ross Castle.

"The Ring" is a popular day trip and numerous bus companies offer circuits during the summer months. As the narrow roads make it difficult for tour coaches to pass, all tour buses run in an anti-clockwise (or counter-clockwise) direction, traveling via Killorglin first. Some recommend that car owners travel in the opposite direction, going first to Kenmare to avoid delays caused by tour buses. Others advise traveling counter-clockwise to avoid having to pass the buses. In 2008 satellite navigation systems were blamed for directing bus drivers in a clockwise direction around the route.”

Ring of Kerry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Kerry

Here are a couple of pictures that I took at Ladies View.

Day Four – Field Trip, April 2016

It was nice to get to bed early last night. I think that I was asleep within 30 minutes. It could have been a bit longer than that. However, I did wake up a couple of times during the night and the second time I couldn’t get back to sleep. When this happens, I either work on my computer or I read until I can sleep. Last night I read.

The alarm went off early this morning. We both wanted to know how things were going to go and this morning was a good trial. Tomorrow, we will be sleeping in a bit more.

Breakfast was excellent. Our trip includes all of our breakfasts and about half of our dinners. We are to look after the remaining dinners and all of our lunches. It gives us a chance to be able to look for the local pubs and try the food there. There is one across the street from our hotel and the food there is good and is not expensive.

Shirley shared the breakfast table with us. I’m not sure what Shirley or my brother had but I had eggs over easy with back bacon, mushrooms, dark pudding, white pudding, fruit with yogurt, and a slice of toast.

Shirley has been working on her family history for quite a while and kind of took me under her wing today. She has been to Dublin before. We decided that we would go to the National Archives of Ireland today. I had printed off the family group sheets for only the families that immigrated to Canada from Ireland. I had finally come up with a good format that gives enough information to help the expert be able to guide me in the right direction.

We were on our way by 9:00 am. We used the Hop On, Hop Off bus pass to get the most of the way there and then walked the last 15 minutes. I still had to get my reader’s ticket and then we could get started. Shirley talked with her first and then I had my chance.

A friend of mine in the Pembroke area had asked me to find out where she could get the information for a marriage that she was looking for. That was sorted out first and I now have the information to pass onto her.

I then asked about how to find records for John Robert and Margaret. According to the information that I have, they were married in 1822 but the catch is that they were Methodist. I was given a set of documents to order and examine while the expert helped others. I was able to use my camera and have a copy to be able to refer to when I get back home. We also made the decision that I would wait until we’re in Belfast before trying to get more information on that line.

Once I finished with those records, I was able to speak with the specialist again. We discussed another branch of the family which had a very popular name. His wife, however, had a name that was not so popular. After some discussion, we decided to leave that branch alone for a while until I was able to check out a couple of things.

We then discussed John. John had left Ireland in 1820 and, about 1825, was able to purchase some land. He married a French Canadian girl a year or two later. His surname is not very popular here as well as his mother’s maiden name. The expert tried a couple of websites but couldn’t find very much and then steered me in the direction of the Tithe Applotment books and Griffiths’ Evaluation. I was then put to work, but I was able to photograph all the records that pertained to this particular search. I now have to make some digital adjustments to the records so that they can be read. With this, I may be able to find information more readily. By the time I finished pulling together this information, it was almost 5:00 pm. Shirley was finished what she was doing sometime between 3:00 and 4:00. She kept herself busy until I was ready to go and we made it out the door by two minutes to 5 o’clock. They close at 5:00 p.m.

We decided to take the Hop On, Hop Off as far as we could, preferably as close to the hotel that we could get. At about the nineteenth stop, the driver announced that we would be leaving the bus at the twenty-second stop. We were to find our own way back, either walking or using the city bus system. He told us what bus we would have to take. Because it was rush hour, we opted to take a taxi so that we would not have to deal with a crowded bus and be able to travel faster. We made a good choice. We were back to the hotel by 6:00 p.m.

My brother had done other things during the day and was not back from his adventures yet. Shirley and I both needed to eat so we went to the pub across the street from the hotel. We had an enjoyable time in each other’s company and eat some good food which was followed by an evening of getting ready for the next day and relaxing.