Killarney, Ireland

Killarney maintains a holiday mood throughout the year. Attractions remain open, there are festivals for every season, and nightlife is always upbeat. No matter what your age or taste, Killarney provides a plethora of options. Street entertainment, sporting events, theater, museums, art galleries, children's attractions and lively nightclubs cater for a wide variety of interests.

Festivals

A large number of street artists and buskers make their way to Killarney. Many stay a few days as they travel around the country, while others are long-term residents. This makes for a great mix at the Market Square as artists vie for the crowd's attention. During the summer, the town center is pedestrianized from 7p-8a. The quiet streets provide a perfect entertainment forum as onlookers spill out of pubs, restaurants, and ice cream parlors to enjoy the atmosphere. Street entertainment also plays a big part in the numerous festivals held in the Killarney region. The most popular include the Guinness Roaring 1920s Festival and Celtic Music Weekend. The oldest festival in Europe, Puck Fair, crowns a wild goat king and launches three days of merrymaking in his honor.

Those with an interest in equine affairs will enjoy the bi-annual horse racing at the Killarney Races. Even if you don't place a wager, it is worth going to savor the atmosphere. High fashion rules on Ladies Day when women with extraordinary hats compete for prizes. Just as exciting, but more down to earth, are the Rossbeigh Races. Maintaining an age-old tradition, horses race on the beach at low tide with the crowd scattering at their approach. If motorized transport is more to your liking, however, Killarney hosts a number of rallies. Each May, the town is alive with the sound of revving engines and squealing brakes as the Rally of the Lakes roars around the narrow mountain roads. More sedate are the various vintage rallies. The Olde Machinery Rally and Fancy Dress Classic Car Rally are held each Easter, while specialist car rallies are held throughout the year.

Killarney town is surrounded by lakes and rivers and water sports are naturally popular. The colorful Killarney Regatta offers the perfect combination of nail-biting excitement and relaxation. Natives and visitors alike pack a picnic, grab a square of grass, and cheer on their favorites from the lakeshore. Numerous fishing competitions are held in the region, including the Cahersiveen International Angling Competition. If you prefer to fish without pressure, you could always hire a boat complete with gillie for a Fishing Trip on the Lakes.

The Arts

If all this seems too taxing, a trip to the theatre may be just what you need. The Dochas Drama Group produces up to two fine plays each year, while the Killarney Musical Society concentrates on one full scale musical. Both are amateur, non-profit organizations. The National Events Centre at the Gleneagle Hotel hosts a professional music and dance production with a Celtic flavor during the summer months. Killarney Manor Banquet offers dinner theater with a difference. Held in a historic building, guests are served dinner and entertained by costumed actors in the Old Irish manor house tradition.

Museums and art galleries offer the opportunity for educational enrichment. The Museum of Irish Transport has a fascinating collection of vintage vehicles with an Irish connection. The Kerry Bog Village is a living museum that gives insight into times past, while Muckross House displays furniture and objects in a period setting. The Kenmare Heritage Centre provides detailed information with a local focus. There is a large community of artists in the region and several galleries display their work. The renowned Frank Lewis Gallery features local artists on a regular basis. Cunningham's Art Gallery provides a retail outlet for the Kerry School of Art. Dermot McCarthy and The Artist Gallery combine studios with commercial sales. In Sneem,The Way the Fairies Went leads the visitor through the village's interesting collection of sculpture.

Children

Children's interests are well catered for too. Cappanalea Outdoor Education Centre provides instruction in a wide variety of outdoor sports for all age groups. Gleninchaquin Park is a good place to appreciate nature while burning off some energy. Children can get up close and personal with numerous farm animals at Kennedy's Open Farm. Not as close perhaps, but just as thrilling are the wild seals and dolphins viewed on Seafari Cruises. The perfect answer to a rainy day is found at Killarney Model Railway. Here, Europe is displayed in miniature with tiny trains racing around famous sights. Killarney Cineplex is another option. Matinees are discounted throughout the week and the children's CineClub offers children's films at rock bottom admissions on Saturday and Sunday.

Nightclubs

Killarney becomes adult-only after 8p when the atmosphere changes to serious socializing. Although much of the town's nightlife centers around its vast array of pubs, clubs take over as the night wears on. During the summer, most clubs are open seven nights per week. The Danny Mann Pub features ballad singing and nights of dancing. The Grand Hotel has a popular club that features live bands catering for people in their mid-twenties. Admission is free before 10:30p. For those who like traditional dance steps, Darby O'Gills has set dancing several nights a week.

Prehistoric Killarney

Killarney's unique history began with the last Ice Age. A single ice sheet covered the entire region. As it melted, it sculpted Killarney's magnificent peaks Carrantoohill, Crohane, Tomies, Torc, and Mangerton. Pushing aside huge boulders and gravel, it created the winding passes of Moll's Gap and the Gap of Dunloe. The retreating ice also formed dark, mysterious loughs. The Long Range (Upper Lake, Muckross Lake, and Lough Leane), Lough Guitane, and the Devil's Punch Bowl are all glacial remnants.

Erosion over long periods has continued to form other beauty spots. The Upper Lake, Muckross Lake, and Lough Leane briefly combine at the Meeting of the Waters, creating a mass of small ripples before parting again. Water draining from the Devil's Punch Bowl is responsible for the spectacular Torc Waterfall, while mountain streams join and tumble down at O'Sullivan's Cascade.

The area's first human residents were Bronze Age Beaker Folk, from around 2000 BC. They mined copper on Ross Island and also left the open-air temple at Lissyvigeen. Beginning in 500 BC, successive waves of invaders culturally changed the area. Pictish tribes from the north of Ireland were the first invaders. According to legend, the ruling tribe in Killarney was descended from Queen Mebh's son Cair and was known as the Ciarraige. It is from this name that "Kerry" is derived.

In approximately 400 BC, the next wave came with the Fir Bolg or Iverni. The name Fir Bolg means "bag men." One explanation often given for this name is that they exported Irish earth to the Greeks to protect their cities from snakes. Expert stonemasons, the Fir Bolg created the stone forts Staigue, Cahergall, and Leacanabuaile centuries later. They also developed Ogham script, fine examples of which can be found near Killarney. A Celtic people, they gave Ireland some of its richest legends. The tales of Cuchulainn, Deirdre, and Curoi are all attributed to them; it is thought that the great Irish saga 'Tain' tells of the Fir Bolg's battles with the next invasion group, the Gaels.

The Gaels who later called themselves the Milesians arrived in 100 BCE. Although a fierce, warring race, it still took them 500 years to dominate the other two groups and eventually settle their power base around Killarney.

The Arrival of Christianity

Until 400 CE, Killarney remained under Gael rule with the Ciarraige and Fir Bolg paying tributes. The first Christian communities were established around this time with St. Abban building a cell at Aghadoe. Christianity was accepted quite readily in Kerry, with pagan festivals and rites readily assimilated. By 633 CE, Gael, Faithliu, established the monestary on Innisfallen Island. Although the Geraldines came as far as Aghadoe and built a castle on the site of Parkavonear, the Gaels ruled undisturbed for 200 years until they were overthrown by the O'Donoghue/MacCarthys. From 1200 onwards, the Anglo-Normans, based at Ballymalis Castle, launched successive attacks on the O'Donoghue/MacCarthy chieftains and were defeated in 1261. During the relatively peaceful centuries that followed, the O'Donoghue/MacCarthy family built Ross Castle and Muckross Abbey. Then in 1583, the English defeated the O'Donoghue/MacCarthys, and most of their lands were awarded to Sir Vincent Browne.

The Plantation

The Brownes became Earls of Kenmare and had the single biggest influence on Killarney. In the 15th century, English Protestant settlers were given land and a Cromwellian military post was set-up at Ross Castle. These soldiers then sought out and hung Irish Catholic "revolutionaries." The poet Piaras Ferriter was one victim and the Speir Bhean Monument commemorates him. The priest Thaddeus Moriarty was another, arrested for saying mass at Killaclohane Mass Rock. Remarkably, the Brownes remained Catholic throughout this period and never lost power.

'Destination: Killarney'

Killarney continued as a small market town until 1750. Viscount Kenmare, seeing a great promotional opportunity, decided to capitalize on nature's bounty. He invested in roads, boat facilities, and gave out long leases for new inns beginning the town's tourist industry. During this same period, the lands around Muckross transferred to the Herbert family. The Herbert's amassed a considerable fortune by mining copper along the Muckross peninsula. In 1793 Rudolf Erich Raspe, the author of The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen, was employed as estate geological adviser. He died from a fever in November 1794 and is buried in nearby Killegy Churchyard.

With the continued encouragement of the Brownes, St. Mary's Cathedral, St. Mary's Church of Ireland, the Presentation Convent, and a new Franciscan Friary were all built in the early 19th century. Both the Herberts and Brownes also built grand, new estate houses at Muckross and Knockreer. This prosperity was halted in the autumn of 1845 when the potato blight struck. Partially built, St. Mary's Cathedral was used as a fever hospital. The population of the large workhouse, built in 1845 to house 800, had swelled to 1200 by 1847. The Herberts and Brownes were active in Famine relief, cutting personal expenditures to supply soup and agricultural expertise for their tenants.

By 1850, the ravages of the Famine had faded and Killarney's role as a tourist center returned. In 1861, with an entourage of over 100, Queen Victoria arrived. A panorama on the Muckross estate, enjoyed by her ladies-in-waiting, was dubbed Ladies View, a name it has retained.

The Muckross estate was sold in 1899 to Lord Ardilaun, a member of the Guinness family. Then in 1910 it was sold to a wealthy Californian, William Bowers Bourn, who gave it to his daughter as a wedding gift. Maud Bowers Bourn married Irishman Arthur Rose Vincent and made the estate their home. After Maud's tragic death in 1929, Arthur Rose Vincent decided to give the estate to the Irish nation. This was finalised in 1932, making Muckross the first Irish National Park. The National Park has continued to grow over the years and it now includes approximately 26,000 acres.

Killarney Today

Killarney's tourism role has changed very little in the present day. The 1990s saw development of accommodation and tourist facilities on an immense scale. The homey charm of family-run bed and breakfasts gave way to large, purpose built guesthouses and international hotel chains. New golf, leisure, and entertainment venues were given the green light from planning authorities with remarkable speed. In 1993 the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club proposed adding a third 18-hole golf course to their grounds. The development included several acres of the National Park, on "loan." A groundswell of local opposition forced the Club to eventually abandon the plan and purchase land elsewhere. During the same period, the rise in tourist traffic benefited many of the historical sites with millions poured into restoration projects. Some argue that many new developments have brought revenue at the expense of Killarney's old-fashioned country appeal. To the fleeting visitor this may seem to be the case, but those willing to step off the beaten track find the same warmth and genuine hospitality that helped make Killarney famous.