Ireland again - Day 5: Clare -> Limerick -> Kerry

Day five commenced in County Clare with breakfast at the Old Ground Hotel, followed by a quick ride down the dual carriageway to Bunratty Castle. Siobhan (previously identified as "Terrizzi family friend") met us there, and provided her services as semi-pro tour guide for the event.

Bunratty includes a "folk village" of a few dozen preserved buildings that have been brought to the site. It reminded me a little bit of King's Landing in New Brunswick, but much older, or maybe a little bit like Sturbridge Village, but not as much "living museum" as either of those.

We toured around the folk village and the castle for several hours, and got some nice shots from the top of the castle towers.

I took somewhere around 100 photos at Bunratty and the folk village.

The tour concluded with the manor house and accompanying gardens, and a stroll through the extensive gift shop, after which we parted ways with Siobhan and County Clare.

Next up was County Limerick, when we stopped in Adare to grab a quick lunch at a pub.

After lunch, we had a very short walk up and down the main street in the center of town before piling back into the MPV.

Having made our only stop in County Limerick, we continued down N21 towards Tralee/Killarney, while trying to decide what to do for the afternoon.

Some of my family who had toured the area before had suggested skipping the Ring of Kerry and driving around the Dingle Pensinsula instead, so I persuaded everyone that we had enough time to do that, and we started following sings to Tralee and Dingle, well into County Kerry.

We actually cruised through Tralee without stopping, but made a coffee/tea stop in Blennersville once I realized all four of my copilots were literally asleep.

We took the northern route across the peninsula, towards the town of Dingle, stopping randomly to see the scenery at an overlook, and then at a beach somewhere near Fermoyle.

Shortly after that, things got a bit crazy. We started approaching Connor Pass, but pulled over to take a break when we saw cars lining up in single file, waiting for a turn to make a run at it. 

There was a waterfall/stream at the spot where we pulled over, so we decided to get out and look around a bit while we were there.

After climbing around on the rocks for awhile, we decided to brave the pass. My words will probably be inadequate, and the pictures don't do it justice, but this road is insane. It reminded me of the parts of the road around Maui that you're not supposed to take the rental car on, but steeper and shorter, yet somehow worse. Driving on the left certainly doesn't help, nor does the reckless disregard that everyone else seems to have behind the wheel.

I wish I'd had my dashcam, but instead you'll have to settle for this random guy's youtube video.

Right around the same place he almost ran into someone, we nearly collided with a car that was barreling down the 1.5-lane road. We began to back down the hill in an attempt to make it wide enough to pass, but quickly gave up and started gesturing to them that they would have to back up the hill to a wider spot. During this exchange, a spandex-clad cyclist slipped through the gap between our cars. The other driver seemed reluctant to back up the hill, but the phalanx of cars that was starting to build up behind us did the convincing on our behalf. I'm a pretty enthusiastic driver under almost all circumstances, but I proceeded gingerly up the hill, and around several blind single-lane corners, after that.

Once we reached the top, we were rewarded with another scenic overlook, this time including a small parking lot.

On the way down the other side, there were sheep grazing along the side of the narrow road, but the descent went without incident. We continued down into the town of Dingle, and then back along the coast towards Killarney. The only other stop we made was another small overlook parking lot, overlooking a beach just east of Annascaul. There were people surfing, which seemed very out of place to me, but nobody else thought it was unusual.

By that time, we really had to get to Killarney and find the hotel. We made it to Killarney without any trouble, but got stuck in traffic going through the center of town; apparently there was some sort of race event that had just let out, and the central roundabout was jammed with cars and Garda (police) trying to direct traffic.

When we finally made it to the hotel, there was some confusion regarding one of the rooms. I missed the exact details, as I was parking the car, but the summary was something like "you (or someone) already checked in for that room". Once that was resolved, we settled in, grabbed a light dinner at the "bistro" (pub), and then went for a short walk to enjoy the sunset (circa 10 PM).

Tomorrow's plan is roughly: spend the day in-or-around Killarney, possibly involving the national park (weather permitting?). There are also a few points of interest within walking distance of the Lake Hotel that might merit a visit.