Monday we were supposed to take a boat trip to an island with monastic ruins, but the seas were too rough and they canceled the trip. Instead we decided to visit Killarney National Park. When we stopped at an overlook, we were surprised to find a doe and fawn below the overlook and got some good pictures, including some while the fawn was feeding (see gallery). Next we stopped at Ladies View, an overlook over the lakes of Killarney named from the admiration of the view from Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting on their 1861 visit. Next was Torc waterfall, a short hike from the road through moss-covered forests that made you expect to see faeries peeking from behind trees.

Our next stop was Ross Castle where we had a very good guided tour which included rooms filled with authentic furniture from the period (no photos were allowed inside). Next we took a horse and buggy ride (they call it pony and trap) to Muckross Abbey, ruins of a Franciscan friary founded in 1448. One of the neatest things about it was a large tree growing in a central courtyard. We finished our ride back with a picture together with our horse Tom, and Michelle realized when we got in the car that she had taken a gift from Tom on her shoe (pee yew).

We had a late lunch/early dinner at Kate Kearney’s Cottage Restaurant next to a fire while listening to locals talk in Irish. We went back to our B&B by way of Ballaghbeama Gap, a narrow one lane road over a mountain. We saw many, many, many, many sheep and very few people. It was very peaceful, except for the few times we met cars going the other way and had to figure out a way around each other. It was supposed to rain all day, but we only had some rain with plenty of periods of sun. The luck of the Irish has been with us so far, and we even found a rainbow waiting on us at our B&B when we returned (see gallery).