Tidbits From Tera: skellig islands

27 April 2016

Ring of Kerry

We spent a full day driving the Ring of Kerry. We began in Killarney with a stop at the Ladies' View. I don't know why it's called the Ladies' View, but we stopped and looked for leprechauns. David was particularly excited when he saw the leprechaun crossing sign:

We saw miles and miles of beautiful coastline along the route. I really wish the weather had been warm enough to jump into that crystal clear water:

Our drive got a little bit longer when we decided to include Skellig Ring Drive into our agenda. The kids were determined to get a glimpse of the now famous Skellig Islands. It ended up being the highlight of our whole day. The larger island was used in the most recent Star Wars movie. **SPOILER ALERT** It's where Rey finds Luke Skywalker at the end of the film. TJ was totally geeking out about it:

The other views on this detour were equally enchanting:

Back to the Ring of Kerry... According to the official sign in front of this site, Staigue Fort is one of the largest stone forts in Ireland. It was most likely built before Christianity came to Ireland. The walls are 18 feet high and12 feet thick. They are built without any mortar. The walls would have surrounded houses, out-buildings, and possibly tents:

Ballycarberry Castle was such a fun adventure. It sits in ruins in a cow field, but it is open to the public at our own risk. This castle was built in the 1590's (which doesn't seem very old when compared with the ruins from the 12th century, but seems super old when you think about the fact that it would still be another 180-ish years before we adopted the Declaration of Independence in America.)

The kids climbed all over the castle ruins while I tried to take pictures of the cows. At the end of the visit, I also started to climb the ruins. It was terrifying with holes in the floors and broken staircases and doorways to drop-offs. I'm so glad I didn't know it was like that at the beginning, or I wouldn't have been able to relax while the kids played. The fact that they are all alive with no injuries is one of the many tender mercies from this trip.