Discover Alone
“Check the water before entering.”
Ross Castle sits on the edge of Lough Leane, guarding the water like a grumpy old uncle. It is a 15th-century tower house, originally the ancestral home of the O'Donoghue chiefs before passing to the MacCarthys and then the Brownes. You can walk the grounds for free, but the state heritage service runs guided tours inside seasonally, which is where the history gets properly detailed. The castle held out against Cromwell’s forces until guns arrived by boat, fulfilling a local prophecy that it would only fall when a warship sailed the lake. That is the sort of twist that sounds ridiculous until it happens. Legend also claims an O'Donoghue hid a library and a horse in a palace beneath the water. You might not believe that, but do look at the lake before entering. The rooms are cramped and real, making the defenders' calculations feel surprisingly immediate. It is a spot where history and local myth shake hands, and you are just along for the ride.
Photo: Gillfoto, CC BY-SA 4.0
Then Tom went looking for the oddest places around it.
Stop 2 · Five minutes' walk
Rough Island
“Cheese ghost? Probably just damp.”
Rough Island is where a smuggler hid a crate of cheese that turned into a legend over time. Everyone swears they saw the ghost of the cheese thief dancing on the rocks. Pretend it's yours and plan the housewarming right now.
Rough Island is recorded as an island in County Kerry.
From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w26526916Photo: Ben Gamble, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Stop 3 · 5 minutes down the road
Meeting of the waters
“Pick a stone, make it up.”
Meeting of the Waters is where two rivers had a row and never quite made up, so they just stand there sulking while you take your photos. I heard King Charles visited once to mediate their dispute, but he got distracted by a seagull and left without saying a word. Pick a stone, any stone, and invent its biography.
Meeting of the waters is recorded as a viewpoint in County Kerry.
From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) n475668119Photo: Ian Macnab, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Stop 4 · A 10-minute spin away
Aghadoe House
“Look up, not down, lads.”
Aghadoe House would post a selfie of its portico with the caption 'living my best life'. It’s been a hostel since 1957 and still thinks it’s royalty. Look up, the best bit is always higher than you think.
Detached nine-bay two- and three-storey Lombardo Romanesque style country house, built c. 1860, possibly incorporating fabric of earlier house, 1828. Designed by William Atkins. Comprising two-bay two-storey advanced main block, single-bay two-storey…
From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 21306614Photo: John Martin, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Stop 5 · Hop back in the car, 5 minutes
Parkavonear Castle
“It is just a cylinder.”
Parkavonear Castle stands below Aghadoe's older church remains, a round Norman tower on a Kerry slope that seems to have misplaced the usual castle shape. I came prepared for battlements and a grand staircase; the surviving cylinder gave me a tougher, stranger little history lesson. The state heritage service dates this two-storey castle to the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, early in the Anglo-Norman period in Ireland. Traces of a square earthen defence surround it. That plan is unusual beside the more familiar motte and circular bailey of many Norman castles. Look around the outside to understand the shape: a compact stone tower held within earthworks, rather than a sprawling fortified house. The nearby Aghadoe monastic site has church and round-tower remains, but it is a separate monument with an older story. I imagine a medieval builder being told to make the castle less predictable and taking the order a little too literally. The real reason for its layout is not written on a handy stone tablet, so the shape itself gets the last word. Let the difference between the two sites sharpen your eye for what survives on the hillside. Heritage Ireland lists Parkavonear as an unguided state-owned monument and allows exterior access only. Stay outside the tower, respect the earthworks and take care on uneven ground. Check current site information before travelling, especially after poor weather. A short stop here gives you an oddly memorable Norman castle, with no need to pretend its locked interior is part of the visit.
Parkavonear Castle is recorded as a castle in County Kerry.
From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w378015314Photo: Bkwillwm, CC BY-SA 3.0
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The whole day on one map
See everything else around Ross Castle →
Over a million places across Ireland and Britain, all free. Explorer Tom has a story for nearly every one.