Ireland.com

County Kerry - The Kingdom

The county also boasts one of Ireland's biggest Gaeltacht areas and the country's most successful football team.

As novelist John B Keane said: "A Kerry footballer with an inferiority complex is one who thinks he's just as good as everybody else".

Artists also flock to the county – the Cill Rialig Artist's Retreat in Ballinskelligs set up by a prominent Dublin publisher, Noelle Campbell-Sharpe, has turned a pre-famine village on the remote Bolus Head into an international landmark with some than 1,500 artists, writers and poets welcomed there since 1993.

Points of Interest

Ring of Kerry
The 120 mile Ring of Kerry which encircles the middle peninsula – Iveragh - should be savoured slowly. The drive encompasses spectacular coastal route taking in (from north to south) seaside village of Glenbeigh, the market town of Caherciveen, Waterville (great beach and fish restaurants), Derrynane House (the ancestral home of Irish liberator Daniel O’Connell) and its spectacular gardens lush in the summer with the most exotic plants. Mountain walks here are spectacular too with the pretty market town of Kenmare with its broad streets and beautiful coast, forests and stately homes offering a contrast to a day or two of coastal scenery.

Gap of Dunloe and Lakes of Killarney
Three main lakes – Lough Leane, Muckross, and Upper Lake occupy a broad valley within the Killarney National Park on the Iveragh Peninsula. The mountain range that rings the lakes is known as the MacGillicuddy Reeks and include Ireland's highest mountain Carrauntoohill at 1,038m. Bear in mind it is very popular with coach tours in the summer when timing your visit.

Blasket Islands
Accessible by ferry from Dingle or Dunquin where there is a visitor centre. The boat trip from Dingle reveals the unusual sea cliffs on the peninsula. The drive around Slea Head offers the best vantage point for the largest of the islands and is also the location of the Visitor Centre. A visit to the island does not come with a tour guide, so best research the history of the islanders before the trip. The smaller islands, which can only be reached with the help of a local, are bird sanctuaries.

Connor Pass
Take the spectacular and altitudinous Connor Pass in either direction and you're in for a treat. It starts off gently, but turns into a pretty hairy drive, to be avoided in low cloud. To the south of the drive lies Dingle while the northbound drive wends its way over the Brandon mountain into Brandon Bay and the picturesque village of Castlegregory and the nearby beaches in the Magheree Islands – very popular with surfers and for caravan holidays. Drive from Dingle to Slea Head is unmissable.