After being in small villages for the past few days, I enjoyed my time in Killarney, in County Kerry. Although it still only had 14,000 people, it had some neat attractions: St. Mary’s church (19th century), Killarney National Park (25,000 acres), and a lively nightlife (it has the most hotel beds in Ireland after Dublin).
Ross Castle
The town has a beautiful national park with lakes and the only wild red deer herd left in Ireland. One day I walked the many trails and the other I jogged for 6 miles. So happy I was able to keep running while on vacation. All thanks to the long summer days (although it felt more like winter since it was always so cold). Killarney National Park also has castle in the middle of it: Ross castle, from the 15th century. The tower house is impressive, but unfortunately you can only go into the rooms with guided tours.
Killarney National Park was the first national park of Ireland and has many more attractions, some of them only accessible by boat. There is also Muckross House (again… guided tour, so I didn’t have time to go in) and Torc Waterfall, which is a pretty landmark in the national park’s many trails.
Downtown feels very international with all the flags on main street, but the pubs are very Irish – live music was everywhere and people were partying and having fun. “The Grand” was the pub of choice for our group every night.
Run, eat, travel, and more 