cindyj

Headed to Ireland for the second time in May 2024. Spending time in Dublin with friends after exploring a new area - last time was Dublin and Galway. We prefer a home base for several days rather than moving around, and likely will not rent a car. So we've settled on Killarney and will take the train from Dublin when we arrive from the States and will stay 5 nights. Sunday through Friday. Questions:

• If we arrive on a Sunday, will the trains be very restricted? The schedule isn't available for next May yet so its hard for me to tell.
• Suggestions on where to stay? Given that we won't have a car, being in town is likely best. The Killarney Lodge looks nice and is in our price range.
• Help with tours to the Dingle peninsula and/or Ring of Kerry appreciated.
• Hiking and other things to do in the national park?
• Anything else we're missing?

Thank you so much in advance.

janisj

Just very quick -- to answer your first question. The Irish Rail site does have the May schedule loaded. You just can't book tickets yet. For that you have to wait til 90 days out . . . But even if it wasn't, looking at the outer limit of the current booking period would give you a decent idea - the schedule in May should be quite similar

greytop13

Killarney Lodge is a great choice. You'll not find a more helpful and congenial host than Kate Treacy. We still talk about her full Irish breakfast. The location of the Lodge is within easy walking distance of the heart of Killarney and almost across the street from the entrance to the formal gardens at Killarney National Park. It's also an easy walk from the train station.

We did not have a car on our visit and decided to hike the Gap of Dunloe rather than tour the Ring of Kerry. It's a healthy hike on paved road with gorgeous scenery. However, my wife (who is not an experienced hiker) did have difficulty with the climb and the pace. If you choose not to hike it, you can hire a driver with horse and cart at the start.

After Killarney we spent a week in Dingle. Here is the link to my trip report: England and Ireland - 3.5 weeks without a rental car
Skip down to post #9 for Killarney. Dingle follows that.

Good luck with your planning and have a great trip!

AlessandraZoe

We were in Killarney last June. We didn't rent a car and depended on private drivers and our feet to tour. We had a nice VRBO just outside of town, but quite walkable to it, on Muckross Rd (the main drag). It was near a 7/11 type store and a brewery pub. We didn't use the train link from there to our next destination, Cork, but we were going to do so. I agree with Greytop13 that the Killarney Lodge has a good location. Although weather can be iffy in May (well, even July in Ireland can be iffy), you'll miss a lot of the tourist traffic. When we were there, we felt surrounded by more Americans than Irish!

There are all types of tours available, from bus tours, to small tours, to private tours. Just look up "Ring of Kerry Tours" and you can get started with pricing. The town's website has a lot of information.

The tour company/private drivers included:

• Begley's Dingle Shuttle Bus for the Dingle area. Dolores books the drivers. Her ex-husband Diarmuid was our driver/guide from Galway to Dingle. Their employee Michelle was our guide from Dingle over to Killarney.
• Dingle Slea Head Tours Employee Colm gave us our Slea Head tour.
• Guided Tours with Mary G Mary G drove us through Killarney, over to Valentia Island, Ring of Kerry, etc.

For a better description of what these folks did for us, you can read more at my trip report: Always in Search of “Our Local”: 3 Days in Liverpool and 18 Days in Ireland
Post #40 and later deal with our Dingle to Killarney trip portion.

Mary G.s friend Dave drove us from Killarney to Cork, and I know he gives tours. But darn it, I don't have written down the company with which he is associated. Our booking was last-minute through Mary G.

Unfortunately, my exploration of in-town Killarney is nil. My husband and I got quite ill, and while he pushed through exploring the town as long as he took long naps, I just stayed in bed for much of our stay. I was happy we had our VRBO, but your proposed location will do the trick, for sure.

Happy Planning,
AZ

cindyj

Thank you both so much for the suggestions! Planning details to start after the holidays!

sassy27

Thank you for starting this.

I have a friend who badly wants me to take her to Ireland but I will only go if I do something different from my prior trips. This sounds like something I would entertain so interested in the information being posted here.

Bette

I can also recommend Killarney Lodge. Walking distance to restaurants, pubs and shopping. We did the Gap of Dunloe tour from there (we did the walk & boat combo). They pick you up and return you to the Lodge. We've been to Ireland 12 times and we always say our "Gap" day is one of our favorites.

cindyj

AlessandraZoe: I'm going to post this here as well as on your amazing trip report if I don't hear back. I really enjoyed your report and just had a couple of quick questions. "Trad" music/sessions? Traditional? I've never heard that term, is it an Irish thing? How do you find out about sessions in advance? You mention having maps of pubs etc. that you prepared. You must do a lot of detailed planning! We also like IPAs (we're from New England, where the craft beer craze is at its hoppiest!)

Second, since we will be making our home base Killarney for 5 nights we will be doing day trips, Ring of Kerry and maybe the Dingle Peninsula. We're going this May. I looked at the tour operators you used and I have one question that is a little embarrassing, but I just don't know the answer. If the site says something like 500 E for a tour of 4 people, is that the total price whether you have 2 or 4 people? We love meeting other travelers when we travel and hope to maybe pair up with another couple for one of these tours to save money and have more fun! So I just wanted to ask about pricing.

We're staying at Killarney Lodge based on recommendations, and hopefully it will be less busy than Muckross Rd, but I expect it to be packed with tourists. The last time we were in Ireland (Late Aug 2023) we were in Dublin coincident with a Northwestern v. Nebraska football game. OMG. it was the worst experience!

AlessandraZoe

Thank you for the compliment, cindy j.

Re "Trad" definition--I could write a book on it. People HAVE written books on it. This article from Irish Central did a pretty good capsule summary: Irish traditional music remains Ireland's most enduring, defining products (irishcentral.com).

Everyone has his/her own interpretation of what is indeed Irish Traditional music. There's the pure instrumental element of it, shared with England and Scotland--reels, jigs, hornpipes, etc--that is the backbone of any Trad "fiddle" mastery. Any good Irish violinist should know how to start the bow on say, "Drowsy Maggie" or "The Lilting Banshee" or "Hanley's Reel."
Then there are ancient Irish songs that did not tend to be passed down in written form but instead by generational performance--e.g., "The Wild Rover", a song that dates from the 1500s.
Many times a current Top 40 song becomes stylized by Irish musicians and then becomes part of the Trad culture--I remember hearing "On the Banks of the Ohio", made popular by Olivia Newton John, being played by Trad musicians non-stop in the mid-70s in Irish pubs. "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", a song written by Scottish-born Aussie Eric Bogle about ANZACs in Gallipoli, is another example. Groups that resurrected lyrical Irish Trad such as The Dubliners loved to perform that song.

American Bluegrass, which originated from Irish and Scotch-Irish musical tradition anyway, easily becomes incorporated into Irish pub repertoire--I've often heard "Rocky Top"--as does a lot of American Folk and American Country music.

And even though it's the furthest style from Irish Trad, a good pub crowd always loves a good rendition of Northern Ireland's Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl" (in fact I should add a postscript to Always in Search of... because just on this year's St Patrick's Day, I realized "Brown-Eyed Girl" was the very song to which The Obvious Americans in Post #60 were deaf, dumb and blind).

And I want to make it clear--as soon as any group starts playing "When Irish Eyes are Smiling", we leave. We know for sure some excruciating, cringe-worthy rendition of "Danny Boy" will be next on the playlist. Tourist Trad.

Re: Trip research for IPAs and Trad Music. I always start with a Google of "Traditional Music Sessions in...." to get the ball rolling and then refine it from there. I then enter the locations on a Google Map I create for each town and look up each pub's session times. It makes scouting for the sound we like once we enter town easier.
And I for sure look up local beers. I can drink Smithwick's, but I'd rather have something with strong hops and little malt.
Yep, NE IPA styles are great--we swear we taste-tested every one of the NE IPA brews while spending four days in Portland, Maine. Divine trip!

Re: Tour Prices. If it's a private tour and they say it costs 500 Euros for up to four people, that total is for your group, not per person.

Re: Tourists Let's face it, the beauty of Killarney National Park makes it a magnet for tourists and bus tours, just as the Grand Canyon and Yosemite do in the States. At least you should have an easier time of it in May.

Have fun on your trip!
AZ

Dohlice

I love Killarney and it's a perfect spot to spend several nights. Ross Castle and the grounds were a real highlight for us on our trip. We've seen many castles in Ireland and Germany and this is one of our favorites. Ross Castle

cindyj

Thanks for your detailed reports and answers! I'm really excited for this trip and for hearing some Trad music! Glad you enjoyed our Maine craft beer scene; its very popular. We live just outside of Portland and there are too many choices of places to go! And yes, we are used to tourists! The last time we were in Ireland coincided with an American football game in Dublin between Nebraska and Northwestern. There were something like 30,000 American fans in town for the game. No offense to the beautiful midwest, but all those cornhuskers in Temple Bar really ruined it. That said, this trip coincides with a Bruce Springsteen concert in Dublin, which we will attend with our Dublin friends. So I know there will be a lot of concert goers in town, but at least they will be "our people." Last May we attended concerts in Barcelona and Paris and met fans from all over the world. It was wonderful!

cindyj

Thanks for the recommendation! We are definitely doing the Gap of Dunloe hike/boat ride so will see it but I also found what looks like some nice walks in that area of the park!

Scotlandmac

Depending on what level of hike you are thinking about , we enjoyed the excellent little hill walk up Torc Mountain.It’s on a very good, well built path with duck boarding over the boggy bits.Beautiful views at the top.Not sure if there is a bus to the starting point, I suspect not and that a taxi would be best.
If of interest, I wrote up the walk in the link below, with photos:

https://annestravelsandhikes.com/201...ring-of-kerry/

It took us (in our 60s) about an hour to the top though we do quite a bit of hill walking at home.

cindyj

Thank you! looks beautiful and definitely within our limits. We have 3 full days in Killarney and plan to do Gap of Dunloe one day, do a tour of either Dingle or Ring of Kerry another (yet to be decided. Planning a private tour and have several suggestions for tour companies, but thoughts on choice?), so that leaves us one other day. We will have several hours upon arrival to explore the town. Likely our choice will depend on weather-hike if it is clear and dry; a second tour and indoor sites if wet.