Each year we head to the Emerald Isle for a 5 night walking holiday that is timed to ensure we get to experience St Patrick’s Day, here are just some snaps from our 2023 adventure.

Dingle Peninsula.

The Dingle Peninsula is truly spectacular. We visited the town of Dingle to sit out a storm and have coffee. On the way to our lunch spot we stopped off at some Beehive huts (as featured in StarWars Last Jedi) and an ancient stone fort. We then walked up to Dunmore Head the most westerly point on mainland Europe. Next we travelled to the end of the Peninsula to walk on the cliffs at  Ballydavid Head, amazing views across to the Blasket Islands and 3 Sisters. Finally we visited the Maharees Peninsular a tombolo. Its a beautiful peaceful place and although we didn’t see the otter this time we saw lots of Stonechats, Brent Geese, Herons and cormorants.

Muckross Lake and Torc Waterfall

The forecast was for heavy rain all day. We decided to tour Muckross lake because it was largely in the cover of woodland. We followed the beautiful craggy shoreline to the Meeting of the Waters where 3 lakes join. The good thing about lots of rain is it makes for spectacular waterfalls. Torc Waterfall was an amazing force of nature. So impressive. On the way back we stopped off at Ross Castle

Muckross Garden and Abbey.

It had rained all day as we travelled from Dublin to Killarney.  We had time to visit the Muckross Gardens to stretch our legs after the journey. The clouds parted and the evening light was beautiful. We stopped off at the Abbey on the way back which is an amazing building and was very peaceful in the Evening Birdsong. 

Iveragh Peninsula.

The road around the beautiful Iveragh Peninsula is called the Ring of Kerry. We stopped off at Rossbeigh Beach and were treated to a rainbow, We visited the ruins of Ballycarberry Castle and the magnificent Cahergall Stone fort.

Our main walk of the day was to the look out on Bray Head on Valentia Island. On the skyline we could see the Skellig islands. We followed the coastline around to spectacular views and the atmospheric Blind Piper Pub. This meant we arrived at Ladies View in time for the wonderful evening light. 

Tomies Woods & St Patricks day. 

Tomies woods was a beautiful forest walk with view over the lakes and some pretty cascades. It was just long enough for us to complete before we went to Killarney for the St Patricks Day Parade. After the parade, some of us went for a ride in the horse drawn jaunting cars whilst some others went up to Ladies Viewpoint where we got really close to some deer.