- Where
- Iveragh Peninsula
County Kerry, Ireland - Start / end
- Killarney (a loop)
- Length
- 179 km (Wikipedia)
- Roads
- N71, N70 and N72
- Direction
- Tour coaches anticlockwise,
via Killorglin first - Fees
- None for the road; Ross Castle €5
(adult, 2026) - Status
- No N70, N71 or N72 closure listed
(Kerry County Council, 21 Oct 2026) - Advisory
- Ireland Level 1
Coaches all going round the mountains in one direction, like geese with somewhere to be, so I went the other way and met every one of them, politely. Lakes lay below a pass, blue upon blue. Down a lane between red fuchsia hedges stood a round stone fort with stairs climbing its inside walls, and nobody in it but a robin.
Route facts
- Route
- Killarney (a loop) to Killarney (a loop)
- Length
- 179 km (111 miles) all the way roundChecked · Wikipedia: Ring of Kerry
- Season window
- In use all year; tour coaches run anticlockwise; Ross Castle opens 5 March to 3 November 2026 and Derrynane House April to OctoberChecked · Office of Public Works: Heritage Ireland (Ross Castle; Derrynane House)
- Closures
- Open as read Kerry County Council's road-closure notices, read on 21 October 2026, list no closure on the N70, on the N71 between Killarney and Kenmare or on the N72; the N70 closure at the Drimna More culvert, between Sneem and Kenmare, ended when the road reopened on 15 September 2026.Live alert: Kerry County Council: road closures
- Fees
- No charge for the road; Ross Castle €5.00 for an adult in 2026; Staigue Fort has an honesty boxChecked · Office of Public Works: Heritage Ireland (Ross Castle; Staigue Stone Fort)
- Cost to enter
- Free
- Anchor point
- the Iveragh Peninsula (the middle of the loop)
51.90° N, 9.95° W
The short answer
The Ring of Kerry is a circular tourist route 179 kilometres long in County Kerry, in the south-west of Ireland, Wikipedia records. Clockwise from Killarney it follows the N71 to Kenmare, then the N70 round the Iveragh Peninsula, through Sneem, Waterville, Cahersiveen and Glenbeigh, to Killorglin, and returns to Killarney by the N72. All tour coaches run it anticlockwise, by way of Killorglin first; some drivers recommend going the other way, and others going the same way to avoid meeting the coaches. A walking route, the Kerry Way, roughly follows it on its own paths; Valentia Island, joined to the mainland, is off the official driving loop.
Why it's worth knowing
Ireland’s first national park. Killarney National Park, at the start of the loop, was created in 1932 when the Muckross Estate was given to the Irish Free State by Arthur Vincent and his parents-in-law, in memory of his wife, Maud, Wikipedia records; it was Ireland’s first national park and became a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1981. It covers more than 102 square kilometres; the Lakes of Killarney, Lough Leane, Muckross Lake and the Upper Lake, take up almost a quarter of it. It holds the only herd of red deer on mainland Ireland, the country’s last wild herd of native red deer. Muckross House, a Victorian mansion by Muckross Lake, draws more than 250,000 visitors a year; Ross Castle, on Lough Leane, is a tower house probably built in the fifteenth century by the chieftain O’Donoghue Mór, the Office of Public Works says. Ladies View, on the road south to Kenmare, looks over the lakes.
A dark sky at the far end. The Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve, about 700 square kilometres across nine districts at the western end of the peninsula, from Cahersiveen and Valentia Island to Waterville and Derrynane, was given the Gold Tier award by the International Dark-Sky Association on 27 January 2014, Wikipedia records: it was Ireland’s first dark-sky reserve and the first of Gold Tier in the northern hemisphere.
The field notes
A fort with its stairs inside
Staigue is a ruined stone ringfort about 18 kilometres west of Sneem, Wikipedia records: its walls are up to 5.5 metres high, 4 metres thick at the base and 27.4 metres across, and inside an elaborate network of stairways climbs to terraces, with small corbelled cells set into the wall. It is entered through a passage 1.8 metres long roofed with massive double lintels. Its age is given two ways: Wikipedia’s article says it was probably built in the late Iron Age, about 100 BC, and the Office of Public Works’ Heritage Ireland page dates it to about 300 to 400 BCE. The Heritage Ireland page calls it one of the largest intact stone forts in Ireland, a national monument protected under the National Monuments Acts, reached by a walking trail from a gated car park and public toilet in the care of Kerry County Council, open in daylight, with an honesty box on site.
Which way round
The coaches’ anticlockwise habit is settled enough that in 2008 satellite navigation was blamed for sending some coach drivers round the wrong way, Wikipedia records. Derrynane House, on the southern side of the loop near Caherdaniel, is the ancestral home of Daniel O’Connell, the champion of Catholic emancipation, and with the surrounding national park is managed by the Office of Public Works; it opens from April to October.
The Killarney lakes and their valley from the roadside, 2026.
Photograph: Howard Walsh via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
Staigue Fort above the Kenmare River, July 2012.
Photograph: Robashaw · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
Ross Castle on Lough Leane in morning light, August 2025.
Ballycarbery Castle near Cahersiveen.
Photograph: Mick Haupt via Unsplash · Unsplash licence
Red deer in Killarney National Park, December 2022.
Photograph: NoNameIsLeft · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Choose your direction round the mountains and stick to it, and wave at every coach coming the other way. (The list tried to keep count of the waves and has since withdrawn, citing exhaustion.)
- Pull in at the lookout over the lakes on the road south, and give it longer than the coaches give it.
- Climb the stairs inside the round stone fort and sit on the top of the wall for a while, saying nothing. It has managed without conversation for a very long time.
- Much of the land along the road is somebody’s farm. Pull right in to let tractors by, close any gate you open, and put something in the honesty box at the fort.
- Spend a night out at the western end of the peninsula, and step outside once the sky has come on properly.
Staigue Fort. West of Sneem, a ring of dry stone walls up to 5.5 metres high and 4 metres thick at the base encloses a yard 27.4 metres across, Wikipedia records, and inside an elaborate network of stairways climbs the walls to terraces, with corbelled cells set into them; the way in is a passage roofed with massive double lintels. The Office of Public Works calls it one of the largest intact stone forts in Ireland and dates it to about 300 to 400 BCE; Wikipedia’s article says about 100 BC. It is visited on foot, in daylight, and left as it is.
Tally, in the marginFrom the lane it looked like an enormous stone teacup a giant had set down in the field and forgotten. I circled the outside twice, admiring it, before I thought of going in, and found the stairs criss-crossing the inside walls, like a house that had decided to keep its staircase where everybody could see it.
Getting there
How to drive it. Start from Killarney. Going clockwise, take the N71 south through Killarney National Park, past Ladies View, to Kenmare; then the N70 west along the southern shore of the peninsula through Sneem and past the turning for Staigue and Derrynane, round by Waterville and Cahersiveen, and east through Glenbeigh to Killorglin; then the N72 back to Killarney. The tour coaches go anticlockwise, from Killorglin first.
When to go. The road is in use all year. Canada’s travel advice for Ireland (updated 26 May 2026) notes that traffic drives on the left, that some rural roads are uneven, narrow and winding, and that Ireland is subject to seasonal storms; Kerry County Council posts road-closure notices on its website; on 21 October 2026 they listed no closure on the N70, on the N71 between Killarney and Kenmare or on the N72. Ross Castle and Derrynane House open in the warmer months (below).
What to arrange ahead. The road is free; the paid stops set their own seasons: as of 20 October 2026, the Office of Public Works’ Heritage Ireland page for Ross Castle, on Lough Leane at Killarney, gives adult admission at €5.00 (family €13.00), opening daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from 5 March to 3 November 2026, with the interior seen by guided tour only, first come first served, for at most 15 people at a time. Staigue Fort has an honesty box and no listed fee, and Derrynane House opens from April to October, Heritage Ireland says.
Safety. The State Department’s advisory for Ireland is Level 1, “Exercise Normal Precautions”, dated 20 March 2026. Canada says to take normal security precautions, and notes that weather can change rapidly for walkers, even in summer.
Mark this place
Common questions
How long is the Ring of Kerry?
The Ring of Kerry, a circular route round the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland, is 179 kilometres long, Wikipedia records; it starts and ends at Killarney and follows the N71, N70 and N72.
Which direction do you drive the Ring of Kerry?
All tour coaches drive the Ring of Kerry, in County Kerry, Ireland, anticlockwise, by way of Killorglin first, Wikipedia records; some recommend that drivers go the opposite way, and others that they go the same way, to avoid meeting the coaches.
What towns are on the Ring of Kerry?
The Ring of Kerry in County Kerry, Ireland, passes through Killarney, Kenmare, Sneem, Waterville, Cahersiveen, Glenbeigh and Killorglin, Wikipedia records, on its 179-kilometre loop round the Iveragh Peninsula.
What is Staigue Fort?
Staigue is a ruined stone ringfort about 18 kilometres west of Sneem on the Ring of Kerry, Ireland, with walls up to 5.5 metres high and 4 metres thick and stairways inside; Wikipedia dates it to about 100 BC and the Office of Public Works to about 300 to 400 BCE.
When did Killarney National Park open?
Killarney National Park, at the start of the Ring of Kerry in Ireland, was created in 1932 from the gift of the Muckross Estate to the Irish Free State, Wikipedia records; it was Ireland’s first national park and became a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 1981.
What is the Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve?
The Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve covers about 700 square kilometres at the western end of the Ring of Kerry in Ireland; the International Dark-Sky Association gave it Gold Tier status on 27 January 2014, the first in the northern hemisphere, Wikipedia records.
How much does Ross Castle cost to visit?
As of 20 October 2026, the Office of Public Works’ Heritage Ireland page for Ross Castle, at Killarney on the Ring of Kerry in Ireland, gives adult admission at €5.00 and a family ticket at €13.00, with the interior by guided tour only.
What is Derrynane House?
Derrynane House, near Caherdaniel on the Ring of Kerry in Ireland, is the ancestral home of Daniel O’Connell, champion of Catholic emancipation; it is managed by the Office of Public Works and opens from April to October, its Heritage Ireland page says.