Vacation Guide

Ireland golf vacation guide : To do and see

KERRY

Blasket Islands Heritage Centre – located in the small fishing village of Dún Chaoin, the setting for the film, "Ryan’s Daughter", the heritage centre displays material connected with the wonderful literary tradition of the islands and the farming techniques and transport methods employed throughout the ages.

Celtic and Prehistoric Museum – situated between Ventry and Slea Head on the Dingle Peninsula, this small museum boasts a collection of artifacts from the Stone Age through Viking times, together with fossilized dinosaur eggs.

Crag Cave – situated close to the town of Castleisland, is Crag Cave, a limestone cave system with brilliant clusters of stalagmites and stalactites, running for over four miles. A thirty-minute guided tour is time well spent.


Derrynane House – set on a 300-acre wooded estate, Derrynane House was home to Ireland’s Liberator, Daniel O’Connell. The well-preserved house is now a museum filled with O’Connell’s personal possessions and furniture, as well as a chapel-room, complete with altar.

Dingle Peninsula – located west of Tralee, the Dingle Peninsula, speckled with an array of small villages where Gaelic traditions, language, crafts and the art of storytelling still survive, is one of the most scenic areas in Ireland. The Dingle Library, located in Dingle Town, displays a fascinating collection of printed material relating to local history.

Dunbeg Fort – located near Ventry on the Dingle Peninsula, this striking Iron Age construction is set on a 60-foot cliff and comprises four defensive walls and an inside stone wall sealing off the promontory. An underground escape passage, situated at the entrance connects with the interior of the fort, where people and livestock were placed when the fort was under threat from local tribes.

Gallarus Oratory – located a mile from Smerwick Harbour, just north of Ballyferriter, is one of the best-preserved early Christian church buildings in Ireland. Built between the 9th and 12th centuries, its form resembles that of an upturned boat. The structure measures about 9 by 15 feet, with a small window in the east wall and a narrow door on its west side.

Kate Kearney’s Cottage – situated in the picturesque Gap of Dunloe, a tourist institution in itself, Kate Kearney’s Cottage was originally an old coaching inn but is now an ideal halting place for jaunting cars, motorists, cyclists and walkers before continuing to the other side of the Black Valley.

Kerry Bog Village Museum – located east of the village of Glenbeigh, the Kerry Bog Village Museum features traditional 19th century thatched cottages and a blacksmith’s forge.

Killarney National Park – situated to the south of Killarney Town, Killarney National Park is a nature-lover’s dream. The National Park comprises over 25,000 acres (40 square miles) of mountains, woodland, waterways and gardens and is home to Ireland’s only surviving wild herd of native Red Deer. The Lakes of Killarney are the main attractions, with the highest range of mountains in Ireland, Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, providing the magnificent background.

Killorglin – located west of Killarney, Killorglin’s status as a tourist destination has much to do with the annual "Puck Fair", a three-day festival that takes place each August. A ritual event involving the enthroning of a goat, dressed in ribbons and rosettes is the main drawing card of the event. Two reasons for this strange custom have been put forward; the first points to a pagan origin, while the second sees it as commemorating an occasion when the stampeding of animals warned of the approaching Cromwellian forces.

Ladies View – located on the Ring of Kerry, Ladies View is one of the finest panoramic viewing points of the entire Killarney valley. The viewing point derived its name when Queen Victoria and her lady companions stopped here to admire the view during a visit to the area in 1861.

Lakes of Killarney – situated in the National Park, the world-famous Lakes of Killarney comprises three individual lakes. Lough Leane, measuring some five miles long and with over 30 small islands, is the largest; Muckross Lake lies in the middle; while the Upper Lake is also peppered with magical islands, each filled with a pleasing variety of trees and shrubbery.

Muckross Abbey – occupied by the Franciscans in 1448, the abbey was suppressed during penal times. The surviving ruins include a 15th century nave, a magnificent window, a belfry tower and south transept. The striking cloisters, which have 22 arches set about an open court, are rendered more dramatic by a giant yew tree reputedly dating from the abbey’s beginning over 500 years ago.

Muckross House, Gardens and Traditional Farms – central to the National Park, Muckross House was built in 1843 and is one of Ireland’s leading Victorian mansions. Today, the house serves as the Kerry Folk Museum and offers a series of craft workshops. The gardens are truly magnificent, while the traditional farms, comprising a labourer’s cottage, blacksmith’s forge and carpenter’s workshop, provide a vivid representation of rural life in Kerry in the 1930’s.

Rattoo Heritage Museum – located in the village of Ballyduff, the museum contains local archaeological finds and houses exhibits covering the history of the area throughout the ages. The displays include a Bronze Age ferry boat carved from a split oak trunk. On the other side of Ballyduff is the Rattoo Round Tower, a well-preserved tower dating from the 10th or 11th century.

Ring of Kerry – this coastal route from Killarney to Kenmare is one of the most famous areas in the entire island of Ireland. Taking you along winding coastal roads through the towns of Killorglin, Cahirciveen, Waterville and Sneem, the route provides some of the most stunning scenery imaginable.

Ross Castle – situated on the Muckross Estate, the 15th century Ross Castle was built by the O’Donoghue Ross chieftains and was the last castle to surrender to the Cromwellian forces. Legend maintains that the uneasy spirit of the castle’s founding chieftain rises on a white horse from the lower lake every May.

Skellig Heritage Centre – situated on the coast at Portmagee, this heritage centre is a popular attraction. The background to the monastic occupation of the island is explained through an audiovisual presentation, while the centre also illustrates the lives of lighthouse-keepers, who worked there between 1820 and 1987.

Skellig Rocks – lying some nine miles beyond Valencia Island, this is one of the outposts credited with helping Christian monastic civilisation survive the Dark Ages. The Great Skellig, an enormous mass of rock rising some 650 feet from the Atlantic, contains the ruins of an early Christian settlement with a small church, a larger church and several burial enclosures.

Staigue Fort – situated just outside the village of Caherdaniel, is the site of one of Ireland’s finest archaeological remains. A 2,000-year-old dry-stone fort built in the form of a circle and enclosing a space 30 yards wide, the structure has massive walls and was apparently built for defensive purposes.

Torc Waterfall – situated just outside the town of Killarney, where the Owengariff River cascades through the wooded Friar’s Glen and into the Muckross Lake, this is one of the finest natural attractions in the Killarney region