Beara Way : Lauragh - Kenmare
Day 10 : Thursday, 16th August.
The final walk from Lauragh to Kenmare, distance 26kms and a maximum ascent of 400 meters. Sheila O’Sullivan drives us out of Lauragh and drops us at Drombohilly to start our final walk. From here we start to walk towards the Jewel in the Ring of Kerry, the city of Kenmare.
The track leads us up the hill to climb the first mountain saddle. From the crest of this saddle our efforts get rewarded by beautiful views below to the upper and middle Cloonee Loughs, known for their good trout fishing. Next the route begins to descend and leads us along a real wet and muddy section downhill towards Lough Inchiquin. On the south shore of this lake a dense oakwood rises above the lake as one of the few remains of the ancient forests that covered Ireland up to the middle ages. We walk along the lake, enjoying the great cascade of Ishaghuderlick plunging down in the distance. The weather is sunny, sometimes we get refreshed by a shower.
A surfaced road takes us past the lake and along the northern side of the glen and climbs eastwards, leaving the road behind and going up over open grounds towards a mountain pass. Again lovely sceneries can be admired while climbing to the pass. As I look back (and I did this quite some times during the Beara Way walk), I can see Lough Inchiquin lying majestically below. Going through the saddle the track leads us through mud and water down into the beautiful valley of Dromoghty. The terrain is rough and damp and I think everyone of us has kissed the Irish grounds while descending to the valley. We felt literally attracted to the Irish soil. The track is real muddy and the boggy underground is soaked with water due to the heavy rain, which has been falling down the last couple of days. A lush green valley is lying in front of us and in the distance Kenmare is lying and Cummer Lake off to our right. It really is a slippery road to Kenmare.
We take a rest at a stone circle with a central sort of "altar" stone, I think is was Dromroe stone circle. Looking back again terrific views are revealed. Now we’re only a couple of kilometres away from Kenmare. At a junction the route goes right to a sort of promenade, overlooking the Kenmare River with the many peaks of the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, providing a dramatic, waving horizon. Unfortunately I don’t know exactly the way we walked, but we did reach a new looking pub alongside of the main road, (R571) where we took care of ourselves. Afterwards I called a taxi to take us to our guesthouse in Kenmare, since we didn’t feel like walking anymore after quenching our thirst. In Kenmare we stayed overnight at Riverville House at Gortamullen, hosted by Margaret Moore.
After completing the Beara Way we still have a whole week to spend in Ireland, since I booked a return passage from Rosslare to Pembroke by Irish Ferries for the 24th August. So we stay for about a week at B&B Derreen Tighue in Tralee, hosted by "our" Mary Varley. From here we roam across the southwest of Ireland by car, enjoying this country as much as we can for a whole week. Visiting the Cliffs of Moher was one of the most beautiful experiences, next to that strenuous walk across the Beara peninsula.
I won’t tell more about it, but if you would like to get to know more about active leisure activities in Ireland, just contact SouthWest Walks Ireland to help you to "get in touch with nature", you surely won’t be disappointed.
Original Source : Shamrock Memories
