Touring the Ring of Kerry: Stone-Skippers!

This stop is the Village of Waterville.  There is a hotel here, The Butler Arms Hotel, that is owned by the Huggard Family.  If you recall, that is the same family that owns the Lake Hotel where we stayed while in Killarney.  The Huggard family bought the Butler Arms Hotel in 1915.  Charlie Chaplin was a frequent guest at the hotel and a friend of the Huggard Family.  There is a statue of him along the beach path.  The beach is along Ballinskelligs Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.  On the other side of the road is Lough Currane.

Touring the Ring of Kerry: Sheepies!!!

We took a bus tour around the Ring of Kerry.  Essentially, this "Ring" simply refers to a circular route around County Kerry.  It is beautiful to see.  Some of the roads seem a bit tight, but not too bad, and if a bus can do it, well....  Steve and I think we would come back and drive it ourselves, only stopping and staying over in some of the small towns along the way.  There were lots of festivals in the various towns we drove through, and of course, lots of tourists like this motley crew below!

The first stop on the bus was this Red Fox Inn where one could use the toilets and have coffee, Irish coffee, tea or a pint, or...We did not have time to tour the Bog Village.

Back on the bus we saw more beautiful scenery and then stopped for a sheep-herding demo.

What was rather amazing was how the sheep knew when it was their turn to come forward.  They trotted down and circled the yard like they were on a catwalk!

The sheep below had such amazing horns.  Please note that the herder did not hit them with that stick - he only used it as a pointer.  They all seemed quite comfortable around him.  Many of the sheep were breathing heavily - he pointed out that they sweat like dogs, and the rapid breath allows them to cool down, and it was a rather warm day.

The dogs were anxious to get started.

 

The sheep are way high up in the field, up by the shrub-line.  Farmers can let their sheep go above that and onto the upper parts that are available for everyone's use.  The dogs are important in herding them since they can cover such wide territory.

The dogs worked alone and together at times.  They each had their own whistles and calls.  They followed what he said even when they seemed too far away to hear his whistle.  When he did a sound that sounded like something falling, they would drop and stay.  It was very cool!

The Lake Hotel in Killarney

This was our hotel in Killarney.  It was huge with a terrific view of the lake and a paved walking path around the grounds.  It was absolutely wonderful.  The food and service were fabulous.  Everyone was so friendly and we even got to chat with one of the owners.  It has been run by the Huggard family since 1940, and open as a hotel since 1820.  The Huggards take a personal interest in running the hotels and in meeting with their guests.  It was a grand experience!  The hotel web site has some spectacular pictures of the hotel, the lake, and the wildlife that is there. 

The view out the back of the hotel is Lough Lein and the mountains in the distance are part of Macgillycuddy's Reeks.  This totally intrigued me because there is a song by that title in Warren Zevon's final album.  I love that final album!!

As with just about everywhere in Ireland, there is a castle ruin on the hotel grounds!  The Castle is McCarthy Mor Castle.  It is thought to have been built in the 12th Century as part of the Norman Invasion by the Roche clan.  Cormac McCarthy waged war in 1262 to take back lands from Norman Invaders in South Kerry.  They killed Gerald Roche and took over Castlelough (The Castle on the Lake) and two other castles to rule South Kerry.  Cormac was also killed and McCarthy Mor was the Chief of the McCarthy Clan.  The castle changed hands many times, though for the most part staying connected to the McCarthy Clan.   At one point a manor house was built near the castle and it was eventually turned into the hotel.

Oh and Colonel Klink was here!!  Okay, maybe not...  This is a Rolls Royce owned by a Swedish family that comes and stays at the hotel for extended periods of time.

These deer we saw as we were driving towards the Killarney Forest Preserve.  We didn't mean to drive this way, but SOMEONE got lost!  (No, it wasn't me...)

The top photo was from Steve's camera.  Every time I tried to get a picture, the one deer was obliterated by raindrops!

Flora at Blarney

These were some amazing pictures Steve took with his spectacular camera.  There are so many flowers and plants and trees on the grounds that even walking through the gardens alone is truly worth it.   Just wanted to share these because they are so pretty.