The Gap of Dunloe & Ladies View

Good lord, another stunning day on Tuesday. The weather has been so good, we finally planned a picnic lunch, our first, for today. No walks this morning. We headed out in Winnie the Peugeot at 9:30 headed toward Killarney once again.

First stop was at Kate Kearney’s Cottage located at the entrance of the Gap of Dunloe:

Kate was a well known beauty in Ireland in the years before the Great Famine (1845-1849). The legend of Kate has captured the imagination of people far and wide down through the years.It was at this síbín that Kate distilled her famous poitín, ‘Kate Kearney’s Mountain Dew’, which was “very fierce and wild, requiring not less than seven times its own quantity of water to tame and subdue it.” It was of course illicit. However, Kate flouted the law and invited the weary traveller to partake of her hospitality.” (We didn’t sip any!)

Normally you can drive the very narrow and hazardous road through the Gap of Dunloe, but today the road is closed to motor traffic for maintenance. I hadn’t planned on risking the drive anyway. Instead we took another jaunting car ride partway through the Gap. This time our driver was Paddy O’Donaghue and our horse was 10 year old Lily. It’s a stunningly beautiful area and we enjoyed our ride. Paddy was a great guide and Lily was great.

Click on the galleries below to bring up scrollable windows with full size pictures – the gallery previews show just thumbnails of the pictures

After returning to Winnie P. we drove past Killarney to Ladies View. It was here we enjoyed our sandwiches and chips sitting on the wall looking down on the Killarney lakes. Queen Victoria’s ladies-in-waiting visited here during the royal visit in 1861. They were so taken with the view that it was named after them. Lunch was great and followed by an ice cream cone in the shop/restaurant at the site.

Then it was back home for a nap. I went into town for a Guinness at the Dingle Pub before cocktails and appetizers (smoked salmon paté and cheese) on the patio. I fired up the barbecue and grilled some delicious sausages from Kennedy”s Butcher Shop for dinner while Elaine sauteed spinach and made a potato salad with the delicious Maharees Potatoes. Yum!

Rain predicted for tomorrow. We’ll see.

PS: Here’s a panorama Elaine took yesterday at Lake Anascual:

2 thoughts on “The Gap of Dunloe & Ladies View

  1. Wow, Some of the best photos ever- frameable, even. Looks like a wonderful day. We are enjoying it vicariously and I am tickled to have finally figured out the nickname for your car, Winnie the Poo (geot) ! 😂

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