We started our second day in Ireland at a fun area near Killarney that surrounds an old fancy estate house. Muckross House sits on a lake by the same name and there is a path that runs all the way around the lake.
All the paths are paved for biking or for riding in jaunty cars (horse drawn carriages) if you don’t want to walk the whole way around. It’s about ten miles total.
We explored the area nearest the house before taking off around the lake. My favorite part of the walk was seeing the old ruined abbey. We arrived early in the morning so we had it all to ourselves. There are two floors, so we found old dark stairwells to terraces around a courtyard. It was a perfect spot for hide and seek.
On the other side of the lake you reach a place called the Meeting of the Waters where three different bodies of water come together. The Muckross Lake is joined to the bigger lake near Killarney, Lough Leane. This bridge marks the where these waters are all coming together, so of course we had to stop and play Pooh Sticks.
There is a place to turn off the walk from the lake to go up to Torc Waterfall and Torc Mountain. We hopped up to the waterfall, which was gorgeous and then the kids came back and climbed Torc Mountain with Taido on another morning while I went to watch an Irish dancing competition with his mama. We never even toured Muckross House and Gardens, so you could easily make several trips to this part of Killarney National Park and do something different every time.
Loads more photos of the Muckross House Walk and especially the abbey in the Google+ album.
We LOVED walking in Ireland. I have a couple more Ireland walks to share this month but at the moment I am still walking with my sister on St. Cuthbert’s Way. Where are you walking in May?
Oh, beautiful Ireland! How I love thee!