Ireland: Day 5 – Ring of Kerry, Feenagh, Murroe

Day Five of our journey was a new day of travel, heading to our third and final two-night destination in Murroe. But we weren’t going to take the short way, so would took a very round-about route that took us around the popular scenic drive called The Ring of Kerry. We started in Killarney and set out on our drive around the Kerry peninsula. We could sense the sea as we got closer too it, and enjoyed the opportunity to stop for a scenic view. The opportunities are sometimes at distant spreads.

Driving on the left side of the road was not too difficult to me, but driving on shoulder-less one-lane roads that are serving two-way traffic mixed with tractors and tour busses can get a bit edgy. Sometimes you have a slow poke ahead of you, and you need to find the opportunity to bust a passing move, and other times you are the slow poke looking to find some room to pull over and facilitate your own passing by the speed demons behind you. There were several points along the Ring where we’d have liked to pull over and stop to take in the view or snap a photo, but frequently driving on is the only option unless you don’t mind stopping in the middle of a road.

We went as far as Waterville at the end of the peninsula, passing on going out to Valencia Island in consideration of time. We found a nice cafe in Sneem on the return side of the loop for a nice bite of lunch. Since it’s Good Friday, pubs are closed, reducing our options, and a bit down the road when we passed another Casey’s in Kenmare we had console our regret at not stopping with the knowledge that they would be closed anyway.

The last part of the Ring goes through Killarney National Park, which had some dry brown rocky scenery that I didn’t expect to find in Ireland, covered by some bold grazing goats that would climb any rock. It was here also that we stopped at Ladie’s View stop where you could gaze on the Lakes of Killarney.

After finishing the Ring, we could have stuck to the main roads to make good time to Murroe, but I wanted to pass through the village of Feenagh, the home town of my Great Great Grandmother Mary Geary Casey. I know very little about Mary other than that she came from Feenagh, married Michael Casey and lived with him in Chicago where only one of at least four children they had lived to adulthood. Mary died in 1885 at age 29 of ‘consumption’. In Feenagh, we stopped at the Post Office where I was told there are still many Geary’s in the area and got directions to the nearest cemetery, St. Ita’s Graveyard in Kilmeedy, where I thought we might find some (we did, although I don’t know if they have any family connection to my Mary Geary). Across the street in a local convenience store, Geary’s Garage was pointed out as an example of the name’s continuing presence in the area.

We continued onto Murroe, the village closest to where my Casey’s ancestor’s came from, and found our way to our final destination in Ireland, the Rinnaknock B&B. Mary and Tom Seaver gave us a warm welcome and we got settled into our room. Our dining options were still limited due to it being Good Friday, so we got some cheese and crackers in a grocery store and after a quick snack we attended the Good Friday service at the Murroe Catholic Church. The choir sang beautifully. After the service, we introduced ourselves to Father Ryan, who had a few years earlier responded to my request for baptismal records of my GG Grandfather Michael Casey and his siblings. He welcomed us into his house and generously offered to lead us to the Annagh graveyard the next day, where I hoped we might locate Michael. And here this day came to an end as we returned to our B&B for the night.