Overnight the MS. Endeavour made its way through heavy seas to our first of three stops in Ireland, Kerry. This county is known as the ‘Kingdom’, and boasts some of the most dramatic landscape vistas on the entire island, including awe inspiring coastal scenery centered on three peninsulas. We dropped anchor in Kenmare River and were taken ashore by Zodiac to meet the coaches, which took us to the thriving town of Killarney. On the outskirts of Killarney is the magnificent Muckross House. This estate and its Victorian period house are part of the Killarney National Park, which covers some 11,000 acres. Muckross House was built by Henry Arthur Herbert in 1843 and with its wonderful gardens is now maintained on behalf of the State by Duchas, the Government heritage service. Those who chose not to visit the house itself went on a nature-spotting walk in the surrounding grounds. The nearby forests and lakes abound in a myriad of wildlife. On our way to the park we stopped briefly to visit Torc waterfall, swollen on account of the heavy overnight rains. This is located on the side of the impressive glacial scoured valley at the end of which is situated Killarney town. We saw the towering bulk of the sandstone MacGillycuddy Reeks and its tallest peak Carrauntuohill, standing at 1038 metres, Irelands highest mountain.
The peninsulas of the south-west of the island contain some of the densest concentrations of prehistoric field monuments in Europe. It was here that successive waves of early settlers made their landfalls and Bronze Age peoples in particular impacted on the landscape. Their habitation, ritual and burial centers are numerous.
Before leaving for the ship we made a brief visit to the picturesque Georgian style town of Kenmare on the banks of the Finnihy River.
The photograph is of Torc Waterfall, one of the most dramatic in the Kerry uplands.
