7-12-01, Thursday: Traveling from County Clare, we passed through Killarney National Park We paused at Ladies View to admire the scenery.

 7-13-01, Friday: We did a "rise and shine" at around 4:30 am, anxious to start exploring the area. We awoke to a spectacular sunrise. This is the view from the breakfast room at our B&B. Our host, Michelle O'Gera was very accommodating - rising early to make fantastic crepes which we ate while watching the light change over the bay and the Beara Peninsula.

We followed Michelle's suggestion and explored the Ring of Beara instead of trying to drive the Ring of Kerry. It was a great trip with no gigantic tour buses claiming the narrow roadway as theirs by right of size. The scenery on the Ring of Berea was fantastic and varied: steep hillside pastures; stark ocean cliffs: colorful villages; serene bays; ancient ruins. We went across Healy Pass. Sheep were everywhere. Authorities have taken the Foot and Mouth threat very seriously in Ireland and have put many precautionary measures in place. The restrictions are an inconvenience to tourists, but if they avoid the potential slaughter of thousands of sheep and other farm animals, they are certainly worth the price.

  We were able to stop at the ruins of Dunboy Castle. It was a 19th century "castle" in quite a state of disrepair.

In fact, it was literally falling down. Dunboy, incorporated a mixture architectural styles from French chateaux to Italian villa along with remnants of the older O'Sullivan Bere Castle, destroyed by siege in 1602. The ruins were picturesque and looked out over a still lagoon with an old boat wreck.

The Castle is on private pasture, and for 2 punts, we gained complete access to the area and could wander freely around the ruins; stepping carefully to avoid droppings from cattle, which seemed to be the ruins' most frequent visitors.

 We stopped many times around the Ring of Beara on our way to the Dursey Island cable car. We went all the way to the tip of the Beara peninsula and started back up North side, passing through a number of small towns, one of our favorites was the colorful village of Eyeries overlooking the Atlantic. The village had beautifully bright painted buildings, with flower displays in nearly every window.

We spent several enjoyable hours wandering the streets of Eyeries.

Eventually, the road became another "white knuckle" highway. It was a very narrow, twisty and steep road. Actually, it was a lot of fun.

The weather changed continually on this drive, but we were very lucky that, although windy, the day was mostly dry. Looking across Kenmare Bay at the Kerry Peninsula, we could see that region was engulfed in rain. So, we were extremely glad to have chosen a trip around the "Ring of Beara" today.

7-14-01, Saturday: We planned go up to Killarney National Park and to visit Ross Castle in the city of Killarney, but it became so windy and rainy that we had to give up on that plan. We did stand in the rain long enough to take a couple of pictures of the many rainbows we saw. Luckily, as we headed out the Kerry peninsula, the weather cleared. There was a great beach at Garrish. The water was clear and the view just beautiful. Another great day under our belt.

7-15-01, Sunday: Left Kenmare to go to Annestown near Waterford. On the way, we stopped at Glengarriff harbor.