Once we left County Carlow on the east coast of Ireland, we stayed for two nights in Killarney, on our way to Lahinch in County Clare. County Kerry is a very popular area of Ireland and the Dingle Peninsula is mentioned a lot on Irish travel itineraries.
It’s a stunning, windswept corner of Ireland that is rich in history and jaw dropping scenery. However, on the day that we had planned to drive down to the Slea Head Loop of the Dingle Peninsula, is was very rainy and misty.
Our first stop was at Inch Beach, a beautiful stretch of sand with the mountains of Dingle to the right and the mountains of the Ring of Kerry to the left. We saw a number of people taking their surfboards out to try their luck on the waves and Braino and I had a lovely chat with the local lifeguard about the surf culture of this area while the kids climbed on the rocks.
After taking in the views, we were back on the road, headed for Dingle Town. We arrived in to the rather crowded little port of Dingle, surrounded by misty low clouds and very poor visibilty. From the town of Dingle, many people continue on down to the Slea Head Loop, with views out over the jagged shoreline and cliffs, across to the Blasket Island and ancient structures and monastic beehive huts along the hillsides
However, we decided to forgo the Slea Head Loop and escape the rain by settling to a coffee shop in Dingle where we meet an older couple from Adelaide who were traveling with their walking club. We actually ran into them a few days later in Lahinch, their tour group was staying overnight at the big hotel next to our accommodation.
We departed the town of Dingle and drove back over The Connor Pass, a high mountain road that provides a stunning view over the peninsula. But we unfortunately drove through the cloud cover and were surrounded by mist. It was actually the first time we found driving on the narrow windy roads to be very nerve wracking!
While in Killarney we stayed at the Hotel Killarney and were really happy with the family friendly amenities - great indoor pool, playground, restaurant and bar, breakfast buffet and family size rooms.
