Killarney: lakes and wild deer at the foot of the Ring of Kerry

The National Park of Killarney, the first national park established in Ireland, protects glacial lakes, ancient forests, and one of the few genuinely wild herds of red deer in the country.

A few minutes away, Ross Castle, a fifteenth-century fortress on the shores of Lough Leane, remains among the best-preserved medieval castles of southwestern Ireland.

Continuing by boat on the lakes, one reaches the Abbey of Muckross, a fourteenth-century Franciscan ruin surrounded by an ancient yew tree at the center of the cloister.

In the afternoon, it is worth traveling a stretch of the Ring of Kerry, a scenic road that crosses cliffs, beaches, and villages along the Iveragh peninsula.

The red deer of Killarney descend from populations present in the region since prehistoric times, making them genetically distinct from most deer raised or reintroduced elsewhere in Ireland.

The Ring of Kerry, approximately one hundred seventy kilometers long, requires an entire day to traverse leisurely, stopping at numerous scenic viewpoints along the Atlantic coast.