With the forecast half decent for once, we set off for a clockwise ride round the ring of Kerry. Having skirted part of the Killarney National Park already, I thought that we would cut off the easternmost part of the ring and drive through the Dunloe Gap instead, as I had planned to do before rain stopped play yesterday. As we began to drive through the gap between MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, we reached Kate Kearney’s Cottage, a large car park and café where plenty of coaches were gathered. A sign suggested that the road beyond this point was for walkers, horse-drawn carts and cars if they were accessing accommodation. A couple of other cars were launching themselves into the abyss. We rashly decided we were ‘accessing’ our route home via the Dunloe Gap. If we thought that driving through the Dingle Peninsula was a challenge, that was nursery slopes compared to today’s route. A ten mile journey, a seven foot wide road (and that’s being generous) winding and I do mean winding, its way up the side of a cliff, with sheer drops in many place. Horse drawn-carts to negotiate, travelling in both directions, as well as the occasional oncoming car. What might just be called passing places were infrequent but fortunately, most people were going in the same direction as us. It took us an hour, which will give you an idea of how carefully it needs to be driven. The visibility wasn’t perfect but was good enough for us to appreciate the spectacular scenery. My advice: travel this road, it is most definitely worth it but don’t attempt to do so by car unless you are bonkers/an extremely good driver, or probably both. On no account try to drive this in anything larger than a standard car, even a small camper van would be impossible. Hiring a jaunting car will probably cost an arm and other appendages, prices start at three figures but that is definitely the way to go and will be a highlight of your trip. My driver claimed that he was enjoying the challenge but it is very unlikely that most drivers would feel the same.

We continued round the rest of the Ring of Kerry. This is number one in our guide book. It was lovely and I was making allowances for the less than optimum visibility. It is a long drive and although there are stretches that are awesome, some parts are a bit mundane. There weren’t many opportunities for toilet/refreshments stops; plenty of restaurants that looked much too upmarket for us but very few open cafés. The best part was the Dunloe Gap, which isn’t part of the official Ring, for obvious reasons. So, yes, do this but I think number one is over-egging it.

We’ve finished our DVDs about farming in the seventeenth century and are now working our way through Ruth Goodman and co. slaughtering animals nineteenth century style.

Yes that is a road you see, not a river.