Dub23 day 4

LUAS tram on Harcourt

Georgian style buildings near Merrion Square

Merrion Square

fanciful chair

a little out of focus..

nice to see Black Eyed Susan blooms so far north

Grand Canal again

goodbye to a great hotel

Ireland 2023 - Day 4 & 5 - Dublin to Killarney

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On Monday after breakfast, I got organized & re-packed, and had time for an hour's fast-paced walk through Merrion Square, then beyond the spot I'd reached before on the Grand Canal, and then back to the hotel, in time for a cab to Heuston Station for an 11 am departure.

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again (with some exceptions).

On larnod Eireann (Irish Rail) the train headed south towards Cork for two hours and after a 10-minute train switch at Mallow, the next train heads west for 50 minutes to Killarney. As you approach Killarney the scenery keeps improving.

Killarney is in a gorgeous setting, large lakes surrounded by steep mountains, and tourists have been 'flocking here' for 200 years. Both Walter Scott and Queen Victoria brought this area to the attention of wealthy Europeans travelers, promoted as being similar to England's Lake District.

Killarney National Park has miles of walking trails, mostly paved, for the sake of the horse-drawn lorries & their passengers.

I stayed two nights at Killarney Randle's Hotel, a classy place & a 10-minute walk to town.

	Randle's w/restaurant to the left		the only pelicans in Killarney		view of mtns. from my room
		Monday afternoon on one of the main streets

It was a quiet afternoon in Killarney and I purchased some great quality hiking socks at an outdoor equipment store. There are a lot of restaurants and a few traditional pubs.

I enjoyed dinner at Randle's, situated on a bluff, with a view looking above rooftops, to the surrounding mountains.

On Tuesday, I was up early again, enjoying Barry's tea while reading the Judge's book, prior to an 8 am breakfast. An inch of rain was predicted that day.

Torq Waterfall - I was the only one on the 9 am bus to the waterfall car park & walked up the moderate (blue) trail. It was a little rainy, but not cold or windy. I saw 2 joggers and 2 other hikers out, and the falls loop was 4+ miles with at least 500 ft. of gain.

start of the walk		an extremely popular trail		Torq Waterfall
	the start of 5 minutes of stair climbing
old road to Kenmare (abandoned)		Mangerton Mtn. at 3,000 ft.		old Kenmare road again
	a modest creek, above the falls !				gradual walk downhill
western hemlock		Lakes of Killarney in a hard rain
	creek coming from Muckross property		Mangerton mountain again		trees on Muckross Lake

Muckross House - Descending steadily from the Torq car park, I somehow walked past the Muckross estate for about a half a mile before realizing I'd missed a turn. It was windy, the rain driven sideways, so I was soon wet & cold when I arrived at Muckross House.

Inside it was warm & dry and I enjoyed a relaxed stroll through the place. There are 65 rooms here but tourists only see 15 of them. Docents were in some of them.

A wealthy American family from Philadelphia - Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, watercolorist Mary Balfour Herbert - built the house in a Tudor style and moved into the place in 1843.

From second floor window, I noticed that the parking lots were nearly full, so a lot of people were visiting Muckross House. One of the main attractions here is the Garden Cafe, a large & impressive hot food layout, highly regarded & mentioned in guide books. I only had a scone & Americano, content to dry out & observe.

The majority of people in the Cafe appeared to me to be Irish, my age & older, nicely dressed, and I guessed that they wre having a "grand day out", enjoying a fall lunch feast, after touring a fancy old House. Perhaps it is an indication that the tourist season is over?

Being the last passenger on the bus back to town, the driver kindly let me off across the street from Randle's. It was a good time for dry socks & Barry's tea and more reading.

Later in the day, the rain stopped & I walked into town again. I read posted menus at a few places but settled for Randle's for dinner, once more.

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Postscript - The Herbert family eventually sold Muckross House to the Guinness family, who used it for some time and later sold it to the Bourn family, wealthy Californians. In 1932, after residing in the home for two generations, the family presented the house & 11,000 acres to the Irish Nation, and it soon became the first National Park in the Republic of Ireland, and, formed the basis of the more modern (and much larger) Killarney National Park. (ref. - Wikipedia)

Go to next page - Knights Town & Portmagee