Southwest Ireland

January 19, 2005 7:27 AM

Southwest Ireland (Tralee, Co. Kerry) this May. With a toddler and a 73 year old in tow. We'd like to find a cottage to rent and stuff to do. Also, basic logistics and any other travel tips would be appreciated. Can anyone help? [MI]

It was a Christmas gift for my mom, to take her back to where she grew up. I haven't been to Ireland since I was two and she hasn't been back in years. My wife has never been.

Ideally we'd like to rent a cottage where we can set up a base and do our own cooking. Has anyone done this in that area? We'd need at least three bedrooms (Grandma, Wife and I, son)

Any tips for Ireland that time of year (late May) would be appreciated.

We're planning on flying into Shannon (from Boston) and renting a car. We plan on staying in the Tralee area and have no plans to go to Dublin.

Things to do that a three year old would dig? We'll have our kid-backpack so short walks in pretty areas will be one of our major activities.

Other than Canada I've never been out my country so any general European travel tips for this American would be welcome. I already plan on apologizing to everyone I meet.

posted by bondcliff to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

Hi - I'm from dublin, but I've spent spent a few summers in the area as a kid and more recently, so I'll chime in.

Weather: In May its likely to be quite fine, but some showers are definitely to be expected, so bring some rain gear.

Tralee: I'm honestly not a big fan of the place, but as a base it'll be fine. You definitely wouldn't regret staying in Dingle, which is about 30 minutes drive from Tralee. I'll ask a few friends about places to stay in Tralee and will get back to you on that bit.

Things to Do: Around Kerry you're largely restricted to outdoorsy kind of things, but you'll definitely like it. The dingle peninsula has lots of beautiful tourist spots, and plenty of nice short walks that you can bring your toddler along to. The dingle peninsula in particular has some outstanding beaches. Also, further south, the Ring of Kerry is more mountainous, but really has some spectacular scenery, you could spend days driving about and just admiring the scenery.
Take some time to drop into some small pubs in the evenings. This may sound clichéd but impromptu irish music sessions often spring up, and I've some of the best nights of my life in the pubs down there.

Lastly, take time to talk to the people, there are genuinely very friendly folks down in the south of ireland.

These are all just general ideas, I'll post some more concrete suggestions in a while (nothing to do in work here), and feel free to email me if you like.
posted by kev23f at 8:33 AM on January 19, 2005

Thanks! I should say I don't need to stay in Tralee. Dingle would be fine. As long as I'm a short drive from the area. My mom's old thatched roof house has long since been bulldozed to make way for a development so memories of the city itself will be few and far between.
posted by bondcliff at 8:45 AM on January 19, 2005

It's kind of touristy, but right by Shannon airport is the Bunratty Castle and folk park, which has a decent size castle that's been restored along with some buildings around it from other periods. Arts & craft exhibitions are going on all the time as well.

In County Kerry, you can go to the Gap of Dunloe (Donloe?). It's just a valley with a lake in it, and it's very pretty, but the real attraction for the toddler would be getting to ride in a horse-drawn cart. Although the guy on the Irish Spring commercial has other ideas, the lake there is where St. Patrick supposedly drove all the snakes in Ireland.

Other than that, drive the Ring of Kerry. If you're feeling really adventurous and the weather allows it, you can take a boat to the Skelligs, where some crazy monks lived on rocks out in the ocean. Killarney is a good spot for a home base, since it serves a lot of tourist traffic.
posted by LionIndex at 9:08 AM on January 19, 2005

Things to do: (sorry for the length)

Climb Mount Brandon, fantastic views into bay. I think you can drive to a touristy viewing point half way up if granny's legs are tired.

Drive or Walk through the Gap of Dunloe, really special scenery here, amazing echoes from off the walls of the valley, your kid will like it.

As I mentioned before, follow the signs for driving around the ring of kerry, if you just follow your nose around here you'll have a good time.

If you're staying in Dingle, keep it for a rainy day, its nice to stroll around but its quite a small village / town. It has lots of Irish-y craft type shops for browsing about in. Some nice restaurants too now that I mention it.

Dingle has a dolphin resident in its harbour, and there are regular boat trips out to see it - your kid would enjoy that I'm sure.

Further on from dingle it’s a great short drive to Ventry and on to Dun Chaoin. Ventry is nice for its beautiful beach, driving on from there over Mount Eagle you get fantastic views to the blasket islands, dun chaoin, and the atlantic ocean.

You should take a full day to visit Killarney, it’s a lovely town, with stunning lakes you can stroll around. Also has a large castle with nice grounds.

For your kid, there's a few things mentioned in this link that are geared towards the younger folks, water parks, et: http://www.rollercoaster.ie/lifestyle/Out_About/Kerry3.asp

This is also one of the best links I could find for general tourist information on Kerry, lots of good stuff there. http://www.stayinkerry.com/map.htm

Oh, I forgot to mention that our own y6y6y6 wrote a good diary of his time in ireland, it’s a good read, and maybe you'll find sometravel tips that you were looking for.
posted by kev23f at 9:26 AM on January 19, 2005

Galway City is wonderful (and near Shannon Airport). Also the Burren Mountains, Cliffs of Morher and Aran Islands (though the ferry ride is cold/wet) are all worth going a bit out of your way for.
posted by evilelf at 12:03 PM on January 19, 2005

Will you be going down toward Cork? If so, and you are interested in gardens/art, I recommend the Liss Ard Experience... there are other nice gardens down there but I will need to dig a little if I am to ever find the names. (In the three-generational-traveling I've done, I've always found gardens to be something that works for everyone.)
posted by Dick Paris at 2:21 PM on January 19, 2005