As we were leaving the hotel, it started raining. I had Lisa wait in the lobby while I went to pull the car around. I was about 30 feet down the walk, and the rain stopped. It was looking like today was going to work out well.
Lisa got in the car, we put our first location, Muckross Abbey, into the GPS, and we started driving. Along the way, we were passing a very large, very old looking, very well taken care of stone church. I mentioned that I thought that might be St. Mary's which is on our itinerary for the day. Since we were right there, it seemed prudent to just stop and see it rather than come back later. The parking lot was packed tight, but we managed to find one spot. With a bit of guidance from Lisa, I managed to squeeze the car into the spot without hitting anything. Like I said, it was looking like today was going to work out well. Lisa took a LOT of photos of St. Mary's. Here are just a few of them.
Leaving St. Mary's the rain started again, and it was pouring. I ran to the car, and then pulled it around for Lisa again. I recalled that there was another location that we were planning on visiting that was very close to St. Mary's, so I entered Ross Castle into the GPS (had I taken the time to look at the itinerary that Lisa had written up, I'd have realized that the location I was thinking of was Knockreer House). We drove a few minutes, and the rain faded out as we found a place to park. We walked around the publicly accessible grounds a bit, but the rain was moving in again and we decided not to pay for the guided tour. Before we could get back to the car, it started raining yet again, and this time we both got caught in it. Our jackets were quite wet as we got into the car.
Leaving Ross Castle, we got back on our way to our original destination (Muckross Abbey), hoping the rain would let up again before we go there. When we finally arrived it was not only still raining rather hard, but we also discovered that it was going to be a bit of a hike over gravel and uneven ground to get there and back to the car. We were a bit disappointed, but decided to skip this site. It was right about now that we realized that the only location left in Killarney that was on our itinerary was Knockreer house, and that it was back next to St. Mary's. I suggested that, since it was still early, we take a drive down to Kenmare and see the sites there that we were going to see tomorrow. That would allow us to be a bit less rushed tomorrow trying to fit everything in. Lisa agreed, and we headed to Holy Cross Church. The rain came and went as we made our way up the hills/mountains of Killarney National Park and through Moll's Gap. We passed several sites (Derrycunihy Church, Castle Ruins, Ladie's View, Moll's Gap, etc) that we both fondly recalled from our trip through here 5 years ago. It was quite surprising how familiar it all felt.
We got a bit lost in Kenmare, but a quick look at Google Maps got us back on track. We arrived at Holy Cross, and there was a florist removing decorations from a recent wedding. We asked if it would be okay for us to step in and take some photos, and they said "certainly". I think we must've just missed the wedding by minutes. Nearly all the decorations were still up, and candles were still lit. As we took photos, they blew out candles, and packed everything up. We left at the same time they did.
The other site we planned to visit in Kenmare was the Kenmare Stone Circle. Visually, it isn't that interesting, but historically it is quite curious. It is dated as being approximately 3000 years old. The stones that were used would need to have been transported several miles from the nearest location to have that type of rock. There is no record of why it was built, or how it was used by it's creators. It started raining hard again as we captured some photos, and we were both drenched when we got back to the car.
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