May 16-17, 2025
We started our stay in Listowel with a day trip to Dingle, and when we left Listowel we would be driving part of the Ring of Kerry. If you’re not familiar with the Ring of Kerry, it is a 111-mile circular tourist route in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. Basically circling around a peninsula. Clockwise from Killarney to Glenbeigh, but we would be traveling counter-clockwise, ending up in Kenmare for a few nights.
In general, these two peninsulas are very rocky and rugged, and it was probably the most challenging driving I had to do during the whole trip. I remember one road on the way to Dingle, our first day trip, was called “Corkscrew Road”, and it certainly lived up to the name, sharp and steep 180 degree switchbacks really had me working that manual transmission.
Then our GPS decided to save us a couple of minutes by directing us straight to Dingle over the Conor Pass. The last two kilometers or so of the road is one lane wide with rock wall on the left and a sharp drop on the right. It is also a two-way road, so there were period pulloffs carved out of the mountain to let the uphill drivers pull over to leave almost enough room for the downhill drivers.
Fortunately, we only had to pull over twice, and made it to the top of the pass unscathed. High pucker-factor though.
I have to say though, when we got out at the parking area the view from the top was fantastic. Looking to the east was a breathtaking valley dotted with lakes, and to the west we could see Dingle and Dingle Bay in the distance.
As for Dingle itself, yes a lovely town and wonderful views of the seas and the mountains in the distance, but a bit touristy.
The first part of the Ring of Kerry was really kind of wasted on us, as fog and low clouds obscured our views for the first hour or so. Things did clear up enough by Cahersiveen, where we got out and walked around a bit, checking out a place called The Barracks, a lovely river and stone bridge, and yet another St. Marys – although they were doing renovations, so we did not see the inside.
We stopped in Waterville and enjoyed the beach area for a while on Ballinskelligs Bay, and a nice little waterfront walkway.
All in all though, I think the Ring of Kerry was kind of wasted on us. Rita has vertigo, so she did not want to look out at the scenery from the heights, and the roads were so twisty and narrow I couldn’t take my eyes off the road long enough to see much, so by the time we arrived in Sneem to stop for lunch, I think we were pretty much done.
Sneem was a picturesque little town, with the Sneem River running through a rocky crevice in the center of town. We ate at The Bridge Café and Bistro, right by the water, and although the waitress seemed to forget about us from time to time, it was still pleasant.
Fortunately after Sneem the roads settled down a bit. Still pretty narrow with some hills, but nothing like the mountains we had left behind. Lots of farm land and small villages, marked by “traffic calming zones” and the ubiquitous round abouts.
