Driving Through Killarney National Park

Our next stop was the Beara Peninsula. Getting there was a little bit of an adventure; CH would probably call it "nerve-racking"! We had 2 options leaving Killarney: drive part of the Ring of Kerry or head east and then west. We I chose the Ring of Kerry since that took us through the Killarney National Park. It was definitely more scenic and since I was the navigator, I chose it. 

I can't imagine the tour buses actually drive on this road; parts of it were pretty narrow and curvy. I just know I was glad that we didn't meet one when we were there! One of the reasons I opted for this route was because of the recommendation of a lady I met at the Killarney campground. We couldn't believe the view from Ladies View:

Ladies View on the Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Park

There is a gift shop and cafe/restaurant with rooftop seating. I didn't go in, but CH said the view from the top was beautiful. 

A little further down the road, we came across Molly Gallivan's Cottage and Traditional Farm. Well, actually, what caused us to stop with this guy across the road:

Druid carving across from Molly Gallivan's Cottage and Traditional Farm

The Druid is looking over the valley to the highest peak of Barra-Bui, which is where an ancient chieftain's final resting place is located. 

We stretched our legs a bit and walked over to this field:

Oh.My.WORD! I was in heaven seeing all of these mama sheep with their new babies! I could have sat and watched them all day. 

Back to Molly: She was a single mom with 7 mouths to feed so she did what any good mama would do: She sold her farm produce at the local market and also sold some "poitin" in her illegal pub. Poitin is "Irish moonshine". Galway Girl told me to make sure we at least tried it, which we forgot until we were already at our next campsite. 

Molly Gallivan's Cottage and Traditional Farm

Poitin Still

A descendant of Molly's lived here until 1997, then it was turned into a visitor's center. They have live music, theater, craft shop, tea rooms and a restaurant, and historical walks. It would be interesting to be able to spend more time walking around the farm, taking part in the historical walk, and experiencing the traditional entertainment. What I found really interesting was the toilet:

Seriously. Using the toilet in Ireland can be an adventure: You don't know what kind of toilet you'll get! 

The rest of the trip to the Beara Peninsula was uneventful...mostly.

One of Turners Tunnels showing the entry to County Cork

We found our campsite without any trouble. I think CH was feeling pretty comfortable at this point. Especially since we drove through the mountain roads in County Killarney! As you can tell so far, getting there is an adventure in itself. We would stop when we saw something we wanted to see which made it really nice to not be on too much of a time schedule. We didn't know what we were going to see on the Beara Peninsula. What we saw just blew us away.