The Ring of Kerry — 2023
While touring Ireland by car in 2022, we spent a night in the middle of the Kerry Peninsula at the Climber's Inn, a hotel, restaurant, and hostel for climbers in McGillicudy's Reeks and walkers along the Kerry Way. Intrigued by the landscape, and after spending a day hiking into the Reeks, we determined to return and tackle the complete Kerry Way.
This collection gathers descriptions and images from the resulting expedition. We did not rent a car but relied on public transport, bicycles and our feet during twenty days in southwest Ireland. And we started with three days to acculturate before taking off on a walk the tour organizers at Hillwalk Tours categorized as "Challenging" and which we completed in 10 days rather than the 11 days allowed in 2026 brochures.
We ended our trip with time in Cork and the harbor town of Cobh before bussing up to Waterford where we rode both ways on the Waterford Greenway with an overnight stay in Dungarvan. This gave me a chance to revisit Waterford County where I spent my in absentia senior year of high school with my family in 1964 and 1965. Our final days gave us time to visit Kilkenny, which provided a fascinating historical display, and then a short time in Dublin before we boarded our Aer Lingus flight back to San Francisco.
Exploring Killarney City
Ring of Kerry — Walking Stages
Each link below opens a description of one or two days of our nine day walk on the Kerry Way.
- Segment 1 — The Lakes of Killarney and the Gap of Dunloe
- Segment 2 — The Gap of Dunloe and on to Glenbeigh via Glencar and the Climber's Inn
- Segment 3 — Glenbeigh to Waterville via Caherciveen
- Segment 4 — Waterville to Sneem via Caherdaniel
- Segment 5 — Sneem back to Killarney via Kenmare