Ring of Kerry
May 21, 2025
Today we are going to tackle the Ring of Kerry (or a major part of it), an all-day drive. Advice given to those self-driving is to drive clockwise because tour busses are required to drive in the counter-clockwise direction. This worked well, as we encountered no tour busses at all. We left Killarney and drove south past Muckross Lake. Our first stop was Ladies View above the Upper Lake, the third of the Killarney lakes. It was still a little cloudy, but we had a nice view back towards Killarney. Here is a photo.
We continued on to Moll’s Gap, where we had stopped a few days ago, and, since we had already been to Kenmare, turned off the Ring of Kerry Road to take a shortcut to our first stop. After driving three or four miles on a road that could more properly be called a track, we arrived at the pre–Christian era stone Staigue Fort. This is one of the best preserved stone monuments in Ireland. The signage was unclear on the date this fort was built and occupied, but the internet told us it was from the late Iron Age, about 300 B.C.-400 A.D. The walls were up to six meters high and four meters thick. There were apparently homes located inside the fort, but none of those survive. There were no other visitors, so we enjoyed walking around this amazing stone monument.
The above photo was taken near Molls Gap. The next two show the Staigue Stone Fort.
From there, we drove to the town of Sneem for a coffee break, and then continued on the Ring of Kerry. We drove along the scenic south coast of the Iveragh Peninsula. We continued on just past the town of Waterville and turned farther west on the Skellig Ring, an extension of the Ring of Kerry.
Four photos from this stretch of the coast.
We went past St. Finian’s Bay and stopped at a view point where we had good views of Puffin Island and the two Skellig Islands beyond. The view was closer and better today, as the sun was shining.
This stone fort was visible from the Skellig viewpoint.
There was another island visible, referred to as Puffin Island, below.
We then drove a few minutes to the highlight of the day, the Kerry Cliffs.
We parked the car and walked about 500 meters out to the cliffside which has five different viewpoints of the spectacular 1,000 foot high cliffs. We spent about an hour enjoying the view and watching the birds (we hoped to get a picture of a Puffin, but didn’t). The cliffs were incredibly complicated with crags and sea caves. Really a wonderful place.
Here are four photos from the coast in this area, the lower right showing the cliffs from afar, and Valentia Island in the distance.
This photos shows the path among the several viewpoints. Cliffs photos
follow below.
Here is a panorama shot of the cliffs.
We then drove to the nearby town of Portmagee, which is the launching point for boats to Skellig Michael. We had watched a film at home about the very steep stair step path on Skelling Michael Island, a UNESCO site, and realized we could not possibly use those very scary looking stairs (up maybe, but down, no), so we passed up the boat ride there! Here is a link to the video.It would have been possible to take a boat out to just look at the islands, but we thought the 2.5 hour journey would be too much, given how long the day would be even without it.
We had lunch at a café in Portmagee and then drove over a bridge and across the Portmagee Channel to Valentina Island. First, we visited the Skellig Experience Visitor Center. The safety video that was linked above was played on loop, and there were exhibits about the building of the monastery as well as information about the birds and geology of the islands. We watched a short film that was the closest we will get to the Skellig Islands. We learned that the monks, after having built the incredible stone paths and huts, vacated the island in the 13th Century.
From there we drove up a toll road to the Geokaun Mountain and Cliffs. Our first stop was a walk of a few hundred meters to a viewing deck of the Fogher Cliffs. Our second stop was at the top of the Geokaun Mountain, with a nearly 360 degree view, including the Valentia lighthouse, and beyond, a view of the Dingle Peninsula we visited yesterday. From there, we drove back across the bridge to the mainland and along the northern shore of the Iveragh Peninsula, back to Killarney where we are staying one final night.
This photo shows Valentia
Island from afar. Below,
Fogher Cliffs
Next are two views from the top of the island, with the Dingle Peninsuala in the distance (top photo).
Here is the map from before, showing the Ring of Kerry route along with Killarney.
Tomorrow, we head to County Clare. Today was another beautiful day, and we are hoping for more of the same tomorrow. Rain is certainly coming…
Post-script: Much is written about Ring of Kerry (ROK) vs. Dingle Peninsula. A certain travel writer prefers Dingle, and we think he may have made it quite popular, because we certainly encountered more tour buses and crowds there, as well as experiences and shops aimed at tourists. Dingle town was certainly crowded and “touristy.” We made time to visit both, and are glad to have done so, as each had highlights. However, we probably enjoyed ROK more, although some of that may have been the better weather. Each had stone ruins (Staigue and Gallarus) and nice beach and coast views. The Blasket Centre was certainly a better museum than the Skellig Experience, but the Kerry Cliffs were spectacular, giving ROK the edge, plus it had fewer tourists. However, if you have time for only one coastal trip, we would advise going to Mizen Head which had the most amazing scenery of the three peninsula drives we made.
