Ireland Day 2: The Wonders of Killarney

Day 2 was a wee bit stressful. We arranged to meet my son and his wife at the airport, where we picked up our car. We had rented a Golf Polo, but we were upgraded to a Skoda. It would have been easier to figure out how to operate it if they had included the manual, but alas, no. So it was learning as you go about cruise control, climate control, and steering assist as we hurtled down the highway. Here’s the thing: the Irish roads, once you get off the highway, are two-lane, and there isn’t much in the way of a shoulder. The street I live on in Portsmouth is also two-lane, but considerably wider. The speed limit on my street and all the surrounding streets is 20 mph, which seems a bit slow. Here on the Emerald Isle, the speed limits range from 80 to 100 kph. That’s about 50 to 60 mph, and it seems a wee bit excessive for the conditions. A brief aside: what is it with you young people and your kilometers, milliliters, and QR codes? Back when I was a lad, we had normal inches and ounces; if that was good enough for Abraham and Moses, it’s good enough for me. Again, you kids get off my lawn!

We checked into the Hotel Killarney, which is a strange place. Have you ever stayed at a slightly down-at-the-heels hotel that doubles as a convention center? With hoards of families with small children carrying pool noodles? That’s what we have here. Then there is Killarney itself. It is centrally located, and we are just a short drive to the Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula. But the town is a real tourist trap, kind of like an Irish-themed Disneyland. But don’t take my word for it:

There is all the Guinness-themed memorabilia you could ever need and plenty of t-shirts and hats that say “póg mo thóin” which is “Kiss my ass” for you non-Gaelic speakers. I guess it’s not all Yeats and Joyce. It also seems they have discovered the delights of chicken wings and Texas barbecue. 

Today, after a truly lousy breakfast buffet, we met up with the machatunim and drove up to Kenmire and then to the various sights. Slight digression: I can’t help but think that this may be the first time a Peruvian couple has ever been referred to as the machatunim. For those of you who did not have Yiddish-speaking parents, machatunim can mean the in-laws of your child but can also refer to both sets of in-laws as a unit. The idea is that both families now form a quasi-kin relationship, not just the couple. 

First we stopped at Coss Beach.

I struck up a conversation with an actual shepherd. He explained that in some cases, they have lambs that have been rejected by their mothers and ewes that have lost their lambs. He explained that they skin the dead lamb, then tie it on the reject as a sweater. The ewe assumes it is her lamb because of the scent, and by the time the hide falls off, the ewe and lamb have bonded. He also told me that due to his close association with sheep, he detests lamb and can’t eat it.

The next stop was Lady’s View, which is part of the Ring of Kerry.  

The name “Ladies’ View” stems from the admiration of the view expressed by Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting during Victoria’s 1861 visit to Ireland. I mentioned to Kay that Wikipedia noted that in 2016, a tourist couple almost drove off over the edge while trying to park to take in the view. “Oh my God!” exclaimed my plucky spouse when I informed her of this, and she is not given to excited utterances. I told her I imagined that the couple may have said words to the same effect when it happened. 

Next on the agenda was Ross Castle. It’s a 15th-century stronghold that held out against Oliver Cromwell in the Irish Confederate Wars in the mid-1600s. Cromwell was, as far as I can tell, not what I’d call a bundle of laughs. When he came to the Burren (see below), he is quoted as saying, “It is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him.” Maybe so, but did he ever consider stoning? There seems to be no lack of raw material.

Kay and I are going to the Burren tomorrow. It’s a strange place, and it is easier to show you than to explain.

The Burren has the Poulabrone Dolman.

What is a dolman, I hear you ask? It is a single-chamber, Bronze Age megalithic tomb that was sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. Does everyone have that straight now? Try and keep up. Funny story, back in 1989 Kay and I were in the area and hiked across part of the Burren to see it up close. I leaned against it for a picture. Imagine my surprise when it fell over. Kay and I looked around, saw that no one was nearby, and ran for the car. They must have reassembled it. I hope they aren’t still angry.

In any case, here’s Ross Castle.

I have to say that after you have done a bit of traveling in Europe, one castle looks much like another. We didn’t go in, but the grounds are on the shores of a lake, and it’s a pleasant place to have a cup of tea.

Just to add some context to all this sightseeing, I should mention that the driving continues to be absolutely terrifying. My son Jon volunteered to drive Kay and me around today, even though my hands have stopped shaking for the most part and I can finally unclench my head (and I have a lot of head to unclench, buckeroo). Even with someone else doing the driving, it can get pretty tense, and Jon is a good driver after years of living in Boston. The signs and vegetation on the passenger side of the car seem mere centimeters away, probably because they are, and when a tour bus is coming from the other direction, it’s all I can do not to whimper and roll up in a ball.

Tomorrow, we are going to check out the Dingle Peninsula, then split up. Kay and I are headed to Ballyvaughan, a place we really enjoyed 35 years ago. Check back soon to see how that goes.