Killarney and Muckross House

We ate a quick breakfast today after sleeping in and headed into Killarney proper to meet our carriage driver Michael and his horse Jimmy for our ride around Killarney and in the 27,000 acre national park near Castle Ross.  Jimmy was cool and Michael was funny and quick with the usual tourist jokes, but very friendly.

We went briefly through Killarney before entering the park, spending most of our time taking in the natural sights.  "Jaunting Carriages" as they are called over here, is a huge business because of the tourism, and Michael has been doing it for 20 years, although my initial guess at his age was about 35.

The park was incredible.  So far, everything around Killarney seems to fit what my initial image of Ireland was like: peaceful,  green, blue skies.  There are a number of deer, foxes, badgers, cattle, and other animals that roam around the park. The oak trees are protected.  And if any trees fall in the park, they are allowed to remain where they fall to return to nature.  The only thing that would change would be if any tree lay across a path, road or fence, in which case it is cut up and moved aside, but even the cut bits remain nearby the original tree to decay along with the rest.  Or as Mom quite quaintly put it, "dissolve into the earth."  :)

Michael dropped us off briefly at Castle Ross, a small castle ruin (thanks to Cromwell back in the 1600's) in the park. In fact, quite a few of the ruins around Ireland are thanks to Cromwell and his army.  Personally, I did not like Castle Ross at all.  It looks cool from afar, but up close it seemed as if it were restored just for the tourist trade.  And by that I mean it seemed like the Branson, Missouri of the castles.  Showy, lots of carriages, boats, buses and tourists about, a lot of them elderly.  It definitely felt Americanized.  I took a few pictures, but not many.

Since the next few days were fairly open, Michael was able to suggest a few other things to visit that weren't as touristy, but still had appeal for those looking to discover more of Ireland.  Muckross House was nearby, as was its abbey and gardens.  He also mentioned the Ring of Kerry,  a circuitious day trip by car to visit many sites in the immediate area.  Reminiscent of the Blue Ridge if I had to guess.

We returned to Killarney proper and got food at Hannigan's at Michael's suggestion.  The food was good, the service sucked, a first for us here.  Even though they suggest in many travel guides that tipping is not expected or necessary,  this was the first time that we left absolutely nothing.

We headed to Muckross House, and decided the first visit would be to the abbey on the grounds.  It was awesome.   The was an attached graveyard with all sorts of stones, crypts, mounds, crosses and whatnot.  The abbey itself was impressive, and inside the center of the abbey surrounded in an inner plot was a very large and old Yew tree.  There were lots of nooks and crannies to explore, no artificial lights, and only enough restoration to make it safe.  No tour guide, no tour markers, no brochures,  no bathrooms, just an ancient abbey, a half - neglected graveyard,  and that was it.  I much preferred that as I could roam about at my leisure with no time table.   I took a lot of photos.

In addition,  as we walked around the grounds of the estate of the house, I took many more photos of the trees and surrounding landscape.  The house and its estate lay across the lake from where our hotel was, so it was fairly close.  Another good reason to stay at The Lake Hotel if you visit Killarney.  Great sites literally within minutes.

The house and immediate grounds were also impressive, and reminded us immediately of the Biltmore House, although Muckross is slightly older but smaller.  Queen Victoria visited the house in the late 1800's, but eventually the house proved too expensive and was foreclosed in 1898.  After being purchased and gifted a few more times, it was donated to Ireland in 1932, becoming Ireland's first national park.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckross_House

We decided to call it a day, and returned to the hotel to rest early and prepare for The Ring of Kerry, a day trip around the area by car.

Funny moment:  Michael had a few funny but cheesy jokes to share.  Keep in mind that Michael's accent was very Irish.

"Didja know that in marriage there are three rings: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffer-ring!"

"The other day I accidentally ran over a Leprechaun. I got off the carriage to check it out, and I see him on the ground, butt in the air.  And do you know what I saw? 'Made in Taiwan!' "

"John Wayne made part of the film here called The Quiet Man.  They were going to film a sequel called The Quiet Woman, but they couldn't find one!"