Staigue Fort and Kenmare

Back to Ireland! We drove down more to the southwest for our next “base camp”, which was Kenmare.  Many people stay in Kilarney, but that was a little touristy for us, so we chose Kenmare instead.  Our plan was to go around the Ring of Kerry. We had a bad weather day for that and only made it about half way around and headed back. We found a real gem, though, the Staigue Fort.  But first, we had to go up a 4K super narrow road:

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John kept saying “This better be worth it” LOL.  It was.

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This was our worst weather day of the week and I think it really leant itself to the atmosphere.

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This was all built without mortar.

Won’t you come in??

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Inside was very cool. It was all open and you can see the stairs that criss cross the walls.

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They were a bit narrow, but you could climb up them to get to the top of the wall.

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My thought on climbing these – Whatever happens, save the camera.

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It’s quite the view from here:

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Very broody.

View down into the fort from the top of the wall:

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That was a neat find. All of the ruins were fun to see, though.

Then it was back to Kenmare to get warm and dry.

I have to say that Kenmare was my favorite city in Ireland. It was big enough to have lots of shops and restaurants, but small enough to still be quaint.  This was our B&B

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We were right in the heart of the town, which was great because we just parked our car and walked everywhere. This looks out from our place:

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And around that corner to the right:

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We walked a bunch of miles around this town. Kenmare is also home to the biggest stone circle in southwest Ireland.  This was erected probably in the Bronze Age:

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Stone circles always have an odd number to them.  The middle stone is called a burial stone or something like that. It’s amazing that these have stood here for thousands of years.

The houses in Kenmare are fun, too.

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The gardener in me was really itching to get in there and clean that up LOL!  This place was for rent if I remember right.

Same parking on the sidewalk as all the other cities.

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I honestly don’t know how the wheelchair bound get around in this country.

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Many, many shops and pubs.

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Just super quaint. I loved it here and would stay again for sure.  There was live traditional music in most places at night, so we went out and listened to some along with the beer!

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I blocked out the lady’s face there behind John. 😀  That is his new Irish knit sweater, too.  We each got a sweater, although mine is more of a cardigan.

Night view in Kenmare:

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Kenmare highly recommended if you plan on going for a Ring of Kerry drive (or take a tour bus).  It’s close to Kilarney National Park as well, which we blipped through on our way there – scary roads LOL!

20 thoughts on “Staigue Fort and Kenmare

  1. Kim

    Ring of Kerry as in Kerry Dance? My 2nd year method book will have so much more meaning. I need to do some “professional development” in Ireland!

      1. Kim

        Yep, Standard of Excellence calls it an Irish Folk Song. Guinness sounds pretty good right about now!

  2. Helen

    Now this is the kind of weather I think of when I think of Ireland lol! You should put all these Ireland posts in a separate tab on your blog. I’m sure as people plan trips they will get many hits because you surely are writing about places I’ve never heard of!

    1. Lori Post author

      This was the weather I was expecting for our whole trip. We actually had great weather, lucky us. I should do a tab with these posts.

  3. Lori's Better Half

    All the pictures are awesome! However you kept writing “southeast” when I think you meant “southwest”.

  4. Debby

    Super cool to see! I’m amazed that people are allowed to climb those stairs in the fort. Love the view of downtown Kenmore–it reminds me of Sutter Creek, a cute town in my area, except they use more stone over there. This kind of thing always interests me, because of course, we are a nation of immigrants, and my area, being the”gold country” was founded by immigrants looking for a better life. Anyway, back to your blog, love that house with blue trim, love that even the house has a stone wall, and especially love the plants growing in the cracks in the top of the wall. Thanks for sharing all this!

    1. Lori Post author

      It’s surprising to me how accessible a lot of these ruins are. I think in the US they would get “ruined” by people tromping all over them.

  5. Shelley B

    Fun fact: The first house we bought was on Kenmare Drive (in southern California). And we lived right next to the Killarney Farm subdivision where I grew up. Ireland permeated California in a big way, LOL!

    My knitter’s eye caught John’s Irish sweater right away – that is really lovely. Show us a picture of yours!

    As usual, I’m loving the stone walls. 🙂

    1. Lori Post author

      The neat thing about the sweaters is that all the knit patterns have different meanings. I know you would appreciate that!

  6. Fran

    The fort is very pretty. It may not have been the best weather but it makes it very mystic. Love it.

    And what a lovely town, I can totally see why this was one of your favourites.

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