First Impressions of Killarney, Ireland

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• published: 12 Dec 2015
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Having spent over a week in Dublin, Ireland it was time for me to escape the hustle and bustle of the city to visit more of rural Ireland. With this in mind, I headed over to Killarney by myself by train. While visiting the city I was impressed by the passion locals have for Gaelic football (green and gold was everywhere) and I spent the majority of my time exploring Killarney National Park en route to Ross Castle. Although I didn't have a lot of time to spend here I did have a very favorable first impression and would gladly return again in the future if given the opportunity. First Impressions of Killarney, Ireland Travel Video Transcript: Good morning everyone. It's bright and early here in Dublin and I'm about to board a train bound for Killarney - a city I've never visited before. Audrey is off on a friends and family road trip so unfortunately you'll have to be putting up with me the whole time. Anyways, let's get going. It's nice, only one transfer today. The journey has been really pleasant so far. It's been really scenic and I should be in Killarney in about an hour. After arriving at Cill Arine station minus my sweater, I dropped off my bags at the hotel and set off on foot to explore the downtown core. I quickly found myself impressed by how passionate the city is about its Gaelic Football with Green and Gold displayed everywhere. With no shortage of restaurants and pubs at my disposal it wasn't long before I sat down for lunch. For lunch I'm going with Fish and Chips and a pint of Guinness. It never gets old. Well, that really hit the spot. Now it is time to go out and check out the town. Well, well, it didn't take me long to escape the bustle of the downtown city core. And so far my first impressions of this place have been really positive. It's a nice change of pace from Dublin where you know it is a really big city and it is really hectic. So over here it is much much smaller and literally it took me 2 minutes to walk out into the woods here and now I'm down a path. Just what I want. It appears I've made it to the entrance of Killarney National Park. But before I go there, there is a cathedral right in front of me that looks absolutely amazing, so I'm going to go check that out first. And then onward to the park. An interesting fact is that Saint Mary's Cathedral served as a shelter and hospital for the sick and dying during the great famine before it was even fully completed in 1855. It appears I have options galore in terms of where to go. Well, Ross Castle it is. And after that gigantic lunch I've got a lot of calories to burn off. Something you really appreciate in Ireland is when you have a gorgeous day like this. When it is sunny outside, when there is hardly a cloud in the sky. Because it does rain a lot here and so any excuse to put away your umbrella and get outside and go for a walk is definitely worth taking advantage of. You know how sometimes in life you hit a fork in the road. Well, apparently sometimes you also hit a flood in the road. So this road is flooded here. I'm probably less than five hundred meters away from the castle. I can't see it right now but here is the dilemma. How do I get there? That appears about as far as I can go unless of course I can magically find a pair of rain-boots or a canoe. My second effort is about to be rewarded. I'm not making it all of the way to the castle but it appears that I'll be able to get a view from it from across this lake slash pond. Where there is a will there is a way. It appears this third time may be the charm. And I have a feeling that I'm getting close to the castle because I've just got into town. I've taken the third path over. And if I'm right I'll actually be able to visit it. Open to the public Ross Castle built in the 15th Century is situated on the edge of Killarney's lower lake. Visiting its grounds is the perfect ending to a walk in Killarney National Park. In terms of nearby attractions it was definitely my favorite. I often find when traveling you have these unexpected days. You have these days where you lose your sweater and you try to reach somewhere and it doesn't work the first time or the second time and maybe not even the third time. Luckily it did for me the third time. But anyway this is the kind of adventure that really make traveling interesting for me. I like that days are varied and that you never know what is going to happen. So I'm going to finish off this adventure with a river-walk back to the hotel. This is part of our Travel in Ireland series. We're making a series of videos showcasing Irish culture, Irish arts, Irish foods, Irish religion, Irish cuisine and Irish people. Proudly presented by: http://nomadicsamuel.com & http://thatbackpacker.com All photos and video taken by Samuel Jeffery (Nomadic Samuel) and Audrey Bergner (That Backpacker). Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network