Must-see attractions in County Kerry

  • View of Little Skellig from Skellig Michael

    Skellig Michael

    Skellig Ring

    The jagged, 217m-high rock of Skellig Michael (Michael's Rock; like St Michael's Mount in Cornwall and Mont St Michel in Normandy) is the larger of the…

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    Killarney National Park

    County Kerry

    Sprawling over 10,236 hectares, this sublime park is an idyllic place to explore. Ross Castle and Muckross House draw big crowds, but it's possible to…

  • Kells Bay House & Gardens

    Ring of Kerry

    Opened in 1837 as a hunting lodge, this magnificent estate sprawls over 17 hectares incorporating a waterfall, beach and six different gardens, ranging…

  • Ross Castle, Killarney,

    Ross Castle

    Killarney National Park

    Lakeside Ross Castle dates to the 15th century, when it was a residence of the O'Donoghue family. The entertaining 45-minute guided tour combines an…

  • Derrynane National Historic Park

    Ring of Kerry

    Derrynane House was the home of Maurice 'Hunting Cap' O'Connell, a notorious local smuggler who grew rich on trade with France and Spain. He was the uncle…

  • Gallarus Oratory

    Dingle Peninsula

    Gallarus Oratory is one of Ireland's most beautiful ancient buildings, its smoothly constructed dry-stone walls in the shape of an upturned boat. It has…

  • Banna Strand

    Tralee

    A favourite weekend getaway for Tralee residents, Banna is one of the biggest and best Blue Flag beaches in Ireland, a 6km stretch of fine golden sand…

  • Kilmalkedar Church

    Dingle Peninsula

    The Dingle Peninsula's most important Christian site, Kilmalkedar has a beautiful setting with sweeping views over Smerwick Harbour. Built in the 12th…

  • Sunrise over Tralee wetlands.

    Tralee Bay Wetlands Centre

    Tralee

    A 15-minute nature-safari boat ride is the highlight of a visit to Tralee's wetlands centre. You can also get a good overview of the reserve's 3000…

  • Muckross House

    Killarney National Park

    This impressive Victorian mansion is crammed with fascinating objects (70% of the contents are original). Portraits by John Singer Sargent adorn the walls…

  • Killarney House & Gardens

    Killarney National Park

    Dating from the early 18th century, Killarney House was once part of a much larger residence that was later demolished; it was restored in 2016 and now…

  • Muckross Abbey

    Killarney National Park

    Signposted 1.5km northeast of Muckross House, this well-preserved ruin (actually a friary, though everyone calls it an abbey) was founded in 1448 and…

  • Kerry County Museum

    Tralee

    An absolute treat, Kerry's county museum has excellent interpretive displays on Irish historical events and trends, with an emphasis on County Kerry. The…

  • Ring Forts

    Ring of Kerry

    Some 3km northwest of Cahersiveen, two extraordinary stone ring forts situated 600m apart are reached from a shared parking area. Cahergal, the larger and…

  • Gap of Dunloe

    County Kerry

    The Gap of Dunloe is a scenic valley squeezed between Purple Mountain and the eastern summits of MacGillicuddy's Reeks. In summer it can be a bottleneck…

  • Blasket Islands

    Dingle Peninsula

    The Blasket Islands (Na Blascaodaí), 5km offshore, are the most westerly part of Ireland. At 6km by 1.2km, Great Blasket (An Blascaod Mór) is the largest…

  • Inisfallen

    Killarney National Park

    The first monastery on Inisfallen (the largest of the islands in Lough Leane) was founded by St Finian the Leper in the 7th century. The extensive ruins…

  • Blasket Centre

    Dingle Peninsula

    This wonderful interpretative centre celebrates the rich cultural life of the now-abandoned Blasket Islands. It is housed in a striking modern building…

  • Old Barracks Heritage Centre

    Ring of Kerry

    Established in response to the Fenian Rising of 1867, the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at Cahersiveen were built in an eccentric Bavarian-Schloss…

  • Skellig Experience

    Skellig Ring

    Immediately across the bridge from Portmagee, this distinctive building with a turf-covered roof contains exhibitions on the life of the Skellig Michael…

  • Muckross Traditional Farms

    Killarney National Park

    These recreations of 1930s farms evoke authentic sights, sounds and smells – cow dung, hay, wet earth and peat smoke, and a cacophony of chickens, ducks,…

  • Glanteenassig Forest Recreation Area

    Dingle Peninsula

    Southeast of Castlegregory, these 450 hectares of forest, mountain, lake and bog are a magical, off-the-tourist-trail treasure. There are two lakes; you…

  • Reask Monastic Site

    Dingle Peninsula

    The remains of this 5th- or 6th-century monastic settlement are one of the peninsula's more evocative archaeological sites, with low stone walls among…

  • Tetrapod Trackway

    Skellig Ring

    This string of small depressions in an exposed sandstone bedding surface next to the sea may not be as spectacular as dinosaur footprints, but these…

  • Cill Rialaig Arts Centre

    Skellig Ring

    At the northern end of Ballinskelligs on the site of a village abandoned during the Famine, this contemporary art gallery with a circular, thatched roof…

  • Knockreer House & Gardens

    Killarney National Park

    The original Knockreer House, built for the Earl of Kenmare in the 1870s, burned down in 1913; the present house was built on the same site in 1958 and is…

  • Kerry Bog Village Museum

    Ring of Kerry

    This museum recreates a 19th-century bog village, typical of the small communities that carved out a precarious living in the harsh environment of Ireland…

  • Blennerville Windmill & Visitor Centre

    Tralee

    Blennerville, 3.4km southwest of Tralee's centre on the N86 to Dingle, used to be the city's chief port, though the harbour has long since silted up. A…

  • Crag Cave

    Tralee

    This cave was discovered in 1983, when problems with water pollution led to a search for the source of the local river. In 1989, 300m of the 4km-long cave…

  • Ardfert Cathedral

    Tralee

    The impressive remains of 13th-century Ardfert Cathedral are notable for the beautiful and delicate stone carvings on its Romanesque door and window…

  • Glanleam House & Gardens

    Skellig Ring

    Built as a linen mill in the 1770s, this estate was transformed from 1808 when its owner established its 16-hectare gardens with exotic plants from around…

  • Kerry Writers' Museum

    County Kerry

    The Writers' Exhibition in this Georgian building celebrates Listowel's heritage of literary observers of Irish life. Rooms are devoted to local greats…

  • Small Skellig

    Skellig Ring

    Small Skellig is long, low and craggy: from a distance it looks as if it's shrouded in a swirling snowstorm. Close up you realise you're looking at a…

  • Derrynane Beach

    Ring of Kerry

    Derrynane's Blue Flag beach is one of the most beautiful in Kerry, with scalloped coves of golden sand set between grassy dunes and whaleback outcrops of…

  • Valentia Island Heritage Centre

    Skellig Ring

    Inside the old school on the road towards Geokaun Mountain, this intriguing local museum has a treasure trove of artefacts that tell the tale of the…

  • Kerry's Most Spectacular Cliffs

    Skellig Ring

    Its hyperbolic name – and recreated dry-stone clochán with fake birds perched on top – aside, the view is indeed spectacular from this privately owned…

  • Staigue Fort

    Ring of Kerry

    This Iron Age structure, built around AD 300 to 400, is one of the biggest and best-preserved ring forts in Ireland, with near-intact walls some 4m thick…

  • Fahan Beehive Huts

    Dingle Peninsula

    Fahan, on the roadside 7.5km southwest of Ventry, once had some 48 drystone clochán beehive huts dating from AD 500, although the exact dates are unknown…

  • Listowel Castle

    County Kerry

    Standing between the town square and the river, this 12th-century castle was once the stronghold of the Fitzmaurices, the Anglo-Norman lords of Kerry. It…