WHAT'S HEATHER UP TO?: Around the Ring of Kerry

So this weekend I found myself off on another adventure! I had almost forgotten, but back during the first week of school my roommates & I decided to sign up for the Ring of Kerry Heritage trip put on by the school. It wasn't the cheapest trip, but for where we were staying and the food we were eating and the places we were seeing I'd say it was worth it. It's rather funny because I remember when we were signing up I thought that the weekend we picked to go seemed so far away, yet here it's already come and gone. Time is going by too fast!

Anywho, on Friday afternoon a big group of us (international students) loaded up a bus and set out on our way to Kerry. It was about a 3 hour drive from Cork and there were many windy roads, so I was so relieved when we finally reached our hotel in the little town of Cahersiveen. When I tell you that I found myself in rural Ireland, I mean extremely rural. Cahersiveen's nearest hospital is almost an hour away, as well as the cinema. This might have been one of the smallest towns I've ever been in. What I loved about it though was the huge sense of community it had -- granted it wouldn't be hard when the population is so low.

The Ring of Kerry is on the southwest coast of Ireland and has some of the most beautiful sights to see. It makes a literal ring through Killarney, Portmagee, Ballinskelligs, and Kells to name a few.

We stayed in a hotel the whole weekend which provided us with breakfast, lunch, and dinner during our whole stay. The food was amazing too -- they let you actually choose from like 3 options for every meal. The first night we arrived we headed straight to dinner and after we had a speaker from the community come in to talk to us about the small town and afterwards taught us some traditional Irish dances. It was quite funny! The whole time I just kept counting in my head "point, kick, 1 2 3 4". The moves were easy but putting it all together was pretty funny. It was really really fun though. I wish i had some pictures or video of it, but I was too busy trying to get the moves down to snap any pictures.

On Saturday, we traveled around Kerry learning about Ireland's history by visiting a bog village and looking at some farm animals. Then we headed to Telegraph Field where the Trans-Atlantic Cable was first set up to connect the US to the rest of Europe -- making it possible for telegraphs to be transferred instantly versus taking weeks. There was such a beautiful view from the Field. We next moved on to the Fogher Cliffs to hear from a local farmer who explained how farming has changed in Ireland over the centuries. This visit included more farm animal sightings! The farmer had a lot of calfs -- some of which had just been born that morning. They had the biggest eyes and were probably really confused by everyone taking pictures of them. But boy, did they have quite a stench! We ended the night with a trivia quiz at a local pub where we had another speaker talk to us about the sport of Gaelic Football. Was really interesting! It's such a weird sport -- mixes everything from basketball, football, to soccer.

My roommates & I on Telegraph Field

rainboots are a definite must here!

Irish wolfhounds -- theses dogs are gignatic! They are slowly being introduced back into Ireland and are used for hunting. They can apparently run for a whole day before going tired.

18th Century Cottage Replicas in the Bog Village

baby cows! so cute :)

Fogher Cliffs

seriously in love with the landscape here -- it's breathtaking.

Our last day, Sunday, was spent finishing up the Ring. We visited lots of scenic outlooks, a beach, a slate mine, Daniel O'Connell's house (a famous 19th cent politician), Skelling Experience, Killarney's National Park, and I even got to hold a baby lamb! Visiting the beach and holding the lamb were probably my favorite parts of the trip. The beach made me miss home a bit -- i missed that smell of the ocean breeze. Daniel O'Connell was a very well known and rich lawyer in the 19th century that helped bring parliament back into Ireland when it was still under British rule. Although he was seen as "the people's person", he was rather wealthy for the time period -- making 9,000 lbs a year when everyone else was make 9 -- and he didn't really give any financial support to the people so he kind of seemed stuck up to me, but we visited his mansion anyways and the lovely gardens surrounding it.

The Skelling Experience was a museum we visited that told all about Skelling Michael which is an island about 14 km (9 miles) off the coast where monks set up residence in the 7th century. It is quite edgy, with no real flat grounds to it yet the monks built their own stone churches and houses where they could worship in isolation. As well as building several stone stairs all the way up the hills. Since it's on the island it has been preserved very well and many of the houses and stairs are still in good condition. Hopefully I'll have a chance to go out and visit the island when tours open up in April.

Here are some more pictures from the rest of the trip: