Killarney is where Ireland's tourist trade began, and the landscape explains why. The town sits at the edge of a national park of lakes, woods and mountains, with the Lakes of Killarney, Lough Leane, Muckross Lake and the Upper Lake, strung out in a valley of oak, yew and arbutus. Behind rise Macgillycuddy's Reeks, with Carrauntoohil, the highest peak in Ireland at just over a thousand metres. Red deer, the only native herd in the country, roam the park, and the mild, wet climate keeps everything bright green.
Muckross House and Abbey, a Victorian mansion and a ruined Franciscan friary with a yew tree growing in the cloister, are within easy reach, as is Ross Castle on the lakeshore. In town, jaunting cars, horse-drawn traps, wait for visitors, and the drivers have a stock of stories. Torc Waterfall is a short walk from the road.
For riders, Killarney is the start of the Ring of Kerry, a loop of about a hundred and eighty kilometres around the Iveragh peninsula. The coaches traditionally run anti-clockwise, so anyone riding the same way spends the day behind them, while clockwise riders meet them head-on in the narrow bends; either way, start early and avoid the summer midday crush. The road climbs through Moll's Gap and Ladies View, with sweeping views over the lakes, and then drops to the coast, with Atlantic surf, sandy beaches and glimpses of the Skellig Islands. Surfaces are generally good, but the bends tighten and the road is narrow in places. Rain can come at any time, and midges are fierce on still summer evenings.
Killarney, which has about seven thousand people, has plenty of fuel and food, and it is the best place to fill the tank before the loop. The pubs offer music in the evening, and the usual fare is seafood chowder, lamb stew and brown bread. Take your time, stop at the viewpoints and be ready for stretches of slow traffic behind coaches. The best light is in the morning and evening, when the lakes are still and the mountains reflect in the water.