Luxury Hotels
Kerry
They've taken the skeleton Of the Great Irish Elk Out of the peat, set it up An astounding crate full of air. - Seamus Heaney, Bogland
Still a jewel in the Irish crown of places to visit and stay at any time of year. Lots to see and do in Killarney and around the scenic Ring of Kerry from carriage rides through Muckross Estate, stopping off for a magical boat trip and around the lakes, taking in Torc Waterfall, Muckross House and on through the Killarney National Park to quaint Kenmare or down into Sneem stopping off at Parknasilla for high tea and a dip in the hot tub.
If it's a more lively engagement you are seeking, head to Killorglin for Pick Fiar, one of the longest running in the country or to Listowel with its choice of Listowel Writers Week (a Keane legacy) or watching the gee gees gallop during the racing festival. And for that most Irish of pageants, book your seat at the Dome to watch all the lovely girls in their nice frocks do a twirl for their place in history as a Rose.
Take a more remote route through Waterville (a faourite haunt of Charlie Chaplain who conversed regularly with the natives) and cast a cold eye at the remote beehive huts on the Skelligs, now home to thousands of nesting pairs of gannets (property prices o the mainland being out of their reach) and dip your toes in the clearest of waters at Derrynane where O'Connell once resided.
And if you fancy following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton to chase balls down the fairways, out with the irons and tee off at Ballybunion situated along the mouth of the estuary where if you are lucky enough you can spot some of the shoal of wild bottle nosed dolphins that take shelter there Alas Fungi has now retired to that a more waery grave but remains fondly remembered in Dingle.
Dingle itself is packed with gastronomic, musical, cultural and maritime treats from the tip of its harbor to the road out around Slea head and the Blasket centre
As you might expect of one of Ireland's premier destinations, there are no shortage of hotels along the way with the Aghadoe Height Hotel, Ballygarry House Hotel , Dingle Benners, Dingle Skellig , Hotel Dunloe Castle, Killarney Park Hotel, Parknasilla Resort, Ross Hotel Killarney and Sheen Falls Hotel or The Shores Country House