Killarney- Ireland Trip 9/2019

On our way out of Doolin on 9/3, before our drive to Killarney, we went to Burren National Park which is famous for its moonscape views.
We stopped in a cute town on the way to Kilkarney, called Ennis and ate at a really good pub called Brogans that may have been the best pub of the entire trip. After lunch, we finished the drive to Killarney. We arrived at our hotel where we stayed right downtown at Foleys Townhouse which was in the heart of everything in Killarney. After the hike, we went to visit Anna's family as Sush's family rented an Airbnb about a mile away from the town where we had dinner and some drinks at their Airbnb. On 9/4, we left early for a hike up Carrauntoohil which is the highest peak in Ireland and about 12.7 km hike. We hiked the devil's ladder trail and got some wet weather for the occasion. Noah, Sunny, Anna and I were not dressed for the elements of this hike and could have been better prepared. Sunny did the entire hike with running shoes, which I highly discourage anyone from attempting. If I was going to do this hike again I would definitely bring better waterproof pants along with gloves as it can get quite chilly at the top of the peak even during the warmer periods of the year. Our guide, Kevin, after the hike told us that he wouldn't have been surprised if we turned back during at the start of the Devils Ladder as it was quite windy and wet. He was a really cool dude and recommended doing some surfing in Dingle if I was able to get back to Ireland. He also noted that this hike is quite beautiful during the winter, especially with the snow.
We found out that there are four families that have farmland around Carrauntoohil at the park and they let their sheep graze all around. We found out that during the warmer summer months they spray the coats of the sheep for insects and they spray paint the sheep as an indicator that the sheep have already been sprayed.
We finally made it to the top where there was a huge cross at the top. We didn't stay long at the top as the wind was really picking up and it was quite chilly at the top.
After the hike, we had a huge dinner down the street from the hotel at Murphy Brownes which had amazing reviews on trip advisor and didn't disappoint. We also had ice cream at Murphys and highly recommend the butterscotch or honeycomb caramel. On 9/5, we did some shopping downtown in Killarney the entire morning and then had lunch at Khao Asian Street Food which was a good change of pace from all of the pub food. After lunch, we left for Cork with our first stop at Blarneys Castle and Garden.

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