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.

Ballintubber Abbey

There is one thing that Ireland is know for that sets it apart from England, Scotland, and Wales in my mind. It is the faithfulness of the people of the Roman Catholic faith. They went through a lot, especially in the last couple of hundred years, to maintain their faith, their traditions, and, indeed, their way of life. If you visit Ireland now, you will find that many young people do not attend church, and this is not just those of the Catholic faith, but of the other churches in Ireland. The younger generation have demanded that Ireland be brought into the twenty-first century, even if it is kicking and screaming. This includes bringing peace to the island, especially in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has many more people of Protestant faiths, but, to me it seems that they don’t have the same number of ancient or medieval ruins as reminders of how ancient the land is and the people who were first there. That being said, the Republic is home to a great number of abbeys that are no longer used and haven’t been for hundreds of years. However, there are some that have been renovated to use as tourist destinations and some for use by the surrounding neighbourhood. Ballintubber Abbey is one of the abbeys that combine the two purposes.

Ballintubber Abbey has been there in one form or another since 1216. Prior to that, there was a tradition that St Patrick baptised people in the small river at the back of where the Abbey now stands. There is also a trail leading from there to the top of Croagh Patrick where St Patrick is reputed to have fasted for forty days in the mid 400s AD. This mountain is the third tallest mountain in County Mayo. The trail was used in the past for a pilgrimage to the top of the mountain when pilgrimages to Jerusalem were discontinue when the Saracens recaptured the Holy Land. Eventually, even these pilgrimages petered out.

The Abbey is surrounded by a magnificent cemetery. There are very old headstones as well as modern ones. The Abbey also has a Way of the Cross which faithful Catholics follow, especially in time for Easter. There is a Rosary Way, an underground crib, and a small museum. I did not get a chance to visit the museum as our schedule had to be kept.

The Abbey was severely damaged during the Cromwellian years, but the people still continued to meet on the grounds throughout the years. Just prior to 1966, a new roof was put on the roofless building in time for the 750^th anniversary. Recently, there have been renovations on the building and its interior in time for the 800^th anniversary which was or is being held this year (2016).

This building costs a lot of money to restore and maintain. In order to raise funds, the Abbey is open to tourists who are given a tour of the cemetery, along with the Way of the Cross and the Rosary Way, and inside the building itself. Pilgrimages are held at six times a year, Easter, and then once in May, June, July, August, and December. These pilgrimages are the same as is described above. Ballintubber Abbey is a popular choice of location for weddings of both local people and celebrities. Once celebrity wedding in 2001 was for Irish actor Pierce Brosnan and his wife, American journalist Keely Shay Smith. For those of you who don’t know who Pierce Brosnan is, he had the title role of Remington Steele in the American TV series of the same name, and he also played James Bond in a number of James Bond movies.

I enjoyed visiting Ballintubber Abbey as I do have an interest in history and in religious history. I would like to go back to study the Abbey and the surrounding area more and to collect the stories that abound about St Patrick.