In our continued quest to explore the beauty of Ireland, we took the occasion of the August Bank Holiday and Jeff’s birthday to head west toward County Kerry. Kerry includes the famous Ring of Kerry, as well as the Dingle Peninsula (which we didn’t make it to this time, but definitely plan to visit at a later time, as it’s supposed to be gorgeous).

We decided to make our base in Kenmare, a super cute town situated on the Ring of Kerry. We knew we most likely wouldn’t drive the whole “Ring” (it’s more than 120 miles of winding road and the boys can only sit in the car for so long!), but we wanted to have easy access so we could explore some of it, as well as drive through Killarney National Park, another spectacular spot in Kerry.

Thanks to advice from my friend Natalie, we found the amazing Sheen Falls Lodge to stay at in Kenmare. It’s a lovely hotel with a cozy old-style feel, yet with an air of sophistication too, and it was actually voted Conde Nast Readers’ Choice for best resort in Europe in 2014! There are lots of rooms on the main floor with chairs and couches on which to lounge in front of a fireplace and while away the hours.

The lodge is also on beautiful grounds overlooking a bay and is next to a picturesque roaring waterfall. There were loads of activities to do — tennis, horseback riding, walks, a spa — and more. We didn’t actually partake in any, but we did really enjoy the indoor swimming pool, especially on one of the days where it poured all day. It was also just nice relaxing in our room, which was incredibly large with a huge bed and a sitting area. It’s usually fairly cramped when all four of us hang out in a standard hotel room, but this was a massive room (and included a Nespresso machine) so we enjoyed just lounging in the room sipping coffee, reading the newspaper, and playing with the boys.

Our room included delicious breakfast every morning, as well as dinner on 2 of the 3 nights we were there. The dinners were really yummy too, though we felt a bit like the “Beverly Hillbillies” with our munchkins in the formal dining room (picture toy cars being zoomed around the table, ice cream and ketchup stains on the linens, etc). But the staff were all really friendly and accommodating, and even brought crayons and coloring pages over to the boys. I would definitely recommend Sheen Falls Lodge for a cozy yet luxurious family holiday! The town of Kenmare, where it’s located, is also worth a visit for a stroll down its street of colorful facades, typical Irish pubs, and cute cafes and shops.

From Kenmare, we headed south on the Ring of Kerry, one of the most famous scenic drives in Ireland. It’s a loop drive around a peninsula, with dramatic ocean and beach views, soaring mountains, and rolling green hills dotted with sheep.

Our first stop was at a Fairy Trail, which was basically a gentle walk through the woods to search for “fairy houses” (little houses built into the trees and decorated with small shells, stones, buttons, etc). Irish folklore/myths have a strong tradition of fairies, and I’ve even heard of certain “fairy trees” (where fairies are believed to reside) that have been prohibited from being cut down during construction projects. The fairy houses we saw were clearly human-made 🙂 but the boys had so much fun looking for them in the forest and wondering if, by chance, real fairies lived there. I would definitely recommend the fairy trail (this one was at Parknasilla Resort) if travelling in this area with kiddos!

After the fairy trail, the boys were exhausted and quickly fell asleep in the car, so we continued driving a bit on the Ring of Kerry while they dozed. We stopped at the ancient Staigue ring fort, an archaeological site where it’s believed people resided, kept their precious cattle, and used for defense during the early Christian/early Medieval period.

Other highlights of the Ring included stunning views of the sea (though it was a bit cloudy), and, on a different day, mountain and lake views in Killarney National Park. It’s a spectacular area of the country — quintessentially Irish in scenery and feel — and one we could definitely spend more time exploring!

The other really fun activity we did while in Kerry was visiting Blueberry Hill Farm. It’s a small farm run by a husband and wife with the goal of exposing and educating kids and families to farms, animals, and nature. You have to call ahead to book a place, as it’s a guided hands-on tour. The kids got to touch/hold and feed all the animals, learn how to milk a cow, lead the goats out to pasture, collect eggs from the chickens, and churn milk into butter to make scones (we didn’t actually do this part, as they only had space for us for the animal part of the tour). It was an awesome experience though! And really cool to see Isaac get into it — at the beginning of the morning he was hesitant to go near the animals, and by the end he couldn’t get enough!

Here are some of our favorite photos from our time in Kenmare and exploring Kerry!