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Killarney
Tourist information - Killarney
Killarney is one of the world’s best-loved tourist spots. Killarney (Cill Airne - The Church of Sloes) became a magnificent town about 1750 when the local magnate, Lord Kenmare, developed the tourist business and four major roads were built to the outside world. The area still bears the marks of a group of houses huddled outside the demesne walls. The present population is about 9,000 and the main economic base is tourism.
Situated in the south-western corner of Ireland, with its three famous lakes reflecting the ever changing skies above the great mountain ranges, Killarney has been the inspiration of poets and painters for many centuries, and now it is also a thriving commercial and tourist centre.
Killarney offers a wide and varied range of hotels from the large and luxurious to the small and intimate. There are some excellent guesthouses, cosy farmhouses, friendly town and country homes, with self-catering accommodation in the most attractive locations with a total capacity to cater for almost 7,000 visitors. It is the ideal playground for the sporting enthusiast - you can fish, swim, golf, play tennis, ride a pony, paddle a canoe, or climb a mountain. For those who are interested in history and archaeology there are many outstanding items of interest to be seen.
The three main lakes of Killarney occupy a broad valley stretching south between the mountains. The three lakes and the mountains that surround them are all within the Killarney National Park. Nearest the town is the Lower Lake (Lough Leane) studded with islands and having on its eastern shore the historic Muckross Abbey and Ross Castle. The wooded peninsula of Muckross separates the Lower from the Middle Lake sometimes called Muckross Lake. At the tip of the Muckross Peninsula is the quaint Brickeen Bridge and Dinis Island further on with its sub-tropical vegetation and views of the 'Meeting of the Waters’.
A narrow straight called the Long Range leads to the island-studded Upper Lake. Around these islands are luxuriant woods of oak, arbutus, holly and mountain ash, while beneath grows a profusion of fern and other plants. Added to the beauty of the three main lakes are many other lakes in the folds of the mountains, and the numerous picturesque cascades such as Torc Waterfall. Rising to the west of the Killarney valley are the peaks of MacGillicuddy’s Reeks. These mountains beloved of the climber, including Carrauntuohill 3414 feet (1,040 metres), the highest peak in Ireland.
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