Self-Guided Tours - Kerry & Beara (10 nights)

• Bahaghs Workhouse, Cahersiveen
  originally a lodge owned by the local McCarthy family this building has first been a workhouse for the destitute before being converted to a barracks during the Civil War.
  
  
• Ballinskelligs Monastery
  This monastery was founded for monks who came to the mainland here from the offshore island of Skellig Michael in the 12th or 13th century. The buildings have been partially eroded by the sea.
  
  
• Ballycarbery Castle
  This is the ruin of what was once a magnificent 15th century Castle, and it still retains some of its grand old features.
  
  
• Bamboo Park, Glengarriff
  Unique in Ireland, this gardens has 30 different species of Bamboo, 12 different species of Palm trees, huge tree ferns, eucalypts, etc.
  
  
• Bantry House and Gardens
  Built around 1740, the house has a collection of tapestries, furniture and art treasures which were mainly collected by the Earl. The beautiful gardens have been restored and are home to sub-tropical plants and shrubs.
  
  
• Castletownberehaven - Call of the Sea
  The centre tells the story of copper mining in the area, the naval history of Bantry Bay and the development of the fishing industry.
  
  
• Cahergal Stone Fort
  Situated close to Ballycarbery Castel, this ancient Stone Fort also dates back to the 8th or 9th century. The interior walls have stone stairs and there is a rectangular house within the fort.
  
  
• Derreen Gardens
  The creation of the garden at Derreen began in 1870 after the fifth Marquis of Landsdowne inherited the house and demesne. It is a paradise of exotic species, especially for rhododendrons.
  
  
• Derreenataggert Stone Circle
  a stone circle with easy access and plenty of field space to allow you to stand back and consider how impressive it once must have been.
  
  
• Derrynane House
  Derrynane House was the ancestral home of Daniel O'Connell, the Irish statesman who played an important role in gaining Catholic Emancipation in 1829.
  
  
• Derrynane National Historic Park
  Today some 120 hectares of the lands of Derrynane, together with Derrynane House, make up Derrynane National Historic Park. Plantations and garden walks were laid out in the 18th and 19th centuries, principally north and west of the house.
  
  
• Dunboy Castle
  In ruins it was a stronghold of the O'Sullivan Bere, a Gaelic clan leader was built to guard and defend the harbour of Berehaven.
  
  
• Dursey Island
  The most westerly of West Cork’s inhabited islands, Dursey lies across a narrow sound and is accessed via Ireland’s only cable-car, which runs about 250m above the sea and takes six people or one large animal at a time!
  
  
• French Armada Centre, Bantry
  This centre recalls the epic story of an ill-fated French Armada led by Theobald Wolfe Tone to invade Ireland in 1796.
  
  
• Garinish Island
  Located in the sheltered harbour of Glengarriff this island of 15 hectares is known to horticulturists and lovers of trees and shrubs all around the world as an island garden of rare beauty.
  
  
• Geokaun Mountain & Fogher Cliffs
  Geokaun is the highest mountain on Valentia Island at 888 feet. Fogher Cliffs form the edge between this mountain and the Atlantic Ocean, offering spectacular viewing areas. Along the way are 36 information plaques covering 22 topics of social / historical interest relevant to Valentia Island and its surroundings.
  
  
• Glanleam Gardens
  Glanleam is famous for Southern Hemisphere & Asian plants thriving in the mild climate of Valentia Island.
  
  
• Glengarriff Woods
  The Nature Reserve of about 300ha has some of Ireland's oldest and largest oaks.
  
  
• Inishfallen Island
  On this island is Innisfallen Abbey erected in the 7th century, remained until the 17th century. The ruins of a twelfth - century oratory with a Romanesque doorway still stands on the island.
  
  
• Kenmare Heritage Centre
  Kenmare was designated a Heritage Town by Fáilte Ireland, and various aspects of Kenmare’s history and historical sites and more are part of the exhibits.
  
  
• Kenmare Druid Circle
  Dating back to the Bronze Age, this is the only monument of its kind found so close to a town. Many superstitions are attached to it, which may explain why it has remained undisturbed.
  
  
• Kenmare Lace & Design Centre
  Antique lace exhibition, lacemaking demonstrations, lace for sale, lacemaking materials, and demonstrations of Kenmare, Limerick, Carrickmacross crochet and lace making.
  
  
• Kerry Bog Village Museum
  The Kerry Bog Village Museum, located between Glenbeigh and Killorglin, gives people an insight into how people lived and worked in Ireland in the 18th Century.
  
  
• Killarney Fransciscan Church/Friary
  The Franciscan Order came in the 1440s to Killarney and built Muckross Friary, the ruins still stand in the grounds of Muckross House. The present Friary was built between 1864 and 1867.
  
  
• Killarney Model Railway
  Scores of trains running on over a mile of track transport you through the landmarks of Europe.
  
  
• Killarney Museum of Irish Transport
  The automobile exhibition has 32 motors including the first and last cars assembled in Ireland The 1904 Germain is a truly magnificent car still capable of 75mph. The cycle collection shows one of the first cycles ever manufactured - the pedal-less hobby horse, or "manumotive machine" of 1820 and the earliest "safety" cycle in existence - the 1885 "Starley" Rover. The entire history of cycling is depicted, with exhibits ranging from the 1825 Hobby Horse, Pennyfarthings and a Starley Rover to Stephen Roche's racing bicycle.
  
  
• Killarney National Park
  The National Park comprises of 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) of beautiful lake and mountain scenery. The Park is famous for its' native natural habitats and species including oak and holly woods, yew woods and red deer.
  
  
• Killarney St. Mary’s Cathedral
  Established between 1846 and 1855, the cathedral was used as a hospital and shelter during the famine and is considered as the finest example of revised Gothic Revival in Ireland.
  
  
• O’Connell Memorial Church, Cahersiveen
  Designed by G.C Ashling of Dublin, and built of Newry Granite and local black limestone in 1888. It is one of the few Catholic Churches in the world dedicated to a layman.
  
  
• Leacanabuaile Fort
  The interior of the fort is one of the best examples of its kind in Ireland. This is a round stone fort, with walls of about 10ft thick and has been reconstructed to a height of about 4ft.
  
  
• Muckross Abbey
  Founded in 1440 on the site of an earlier monastery, Muckross Abbey has very extensive late Gothic remains. Three of Kerry's four great Gaelic poets are buried inside the Abbey and the fourth in the graveyard
  
  
• Muckross House
  Muckross House is a magnificent Victorian mansion and one of Ireland’s leading stately homes. Other parts to the house are the Muckross traditional farms, an authentic outdoor interpretation of rural life in Kerry in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
  
  
• Ross Castle
  Ross Castle is a 15th century towerhouse and is a typical example of the stronghold of an Irish chieftain in the Middle Ages.
  
  
• Skellig Michael
  This island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the monastery dating to the 6th or 7th century is the world’s finest example of an early Christian monastic settlement. Apart from being a sacred site, the island is also home to breeding colonies of sea-birds, and during the breeding season a spectacular site to watch them, especially the comical puffins.
  
  
• Staigue Fort
  Staigue Fort is one of the largest and finest ring forts in Ireland. The walls are up to 5.5 metres high and 4 metres thick and it is thought that it was built in the first century B.C.
  
  
• The Old Barracks
  The Old Barracks Heritage Centre exhibition is situated in a former Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks overlooking the river and Cahersiveen Marina. The exhibition features items of local history, archaeology, flora and fauna.
  
  
• The Skellig Experience
  This heritage centre tells the amazing story of the Skellig rocks.
  
  
• Valentia Island
  One of the largest islands off the South West coast of Kerry, it is joined to the mainland by bridge via the Portmagee Channel. Just one of the many interesting sites on the island are Tetra pod footprints. These magnificent imprints of history are thought to date from Devonian times between some 350 to 370 million years ago.
  
  
• Wynn’s Folly
  a castellated mansion built by Lord Wynn in 1867. The folly is the only building remaining as the Castle were burned to the ground in 1921 and never rebuilt.

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