May the Road Rise Up to Meet You: Completing the Kerry Way

August 25, 2022

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“May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face;

the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again.

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

— Traditional Irish Blessing

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The Kerry Way is the Republic of Ireland’s longest multiple-day trail. Providing a walkers’ version of the famous Ring of Kerry drive, the path travels through mountains, woodlands, fields, boggy wetlands, and coastal terrain.

During our first four days and 54.6 miles of trekking, we had hiked over remote mountain passes and viewed beautiful coastal scenery. Because of the steep ascents and descents and the amount of elevation gain each day, we found the Kerry Way to be one of the most difficult and challenging hikes of our entire journey. But we also felt the blessings beneath our feet, the wind at our backs, and the sun on our faces as we neared the completion of our eighth and final trek of our trip.

A Challenging Day of Climbing in the Rain and Wind

We had already had some difficult early stages of trekking in the heat and through the remote and rocky mountains. Stage 5 was another day full of steep ascents and descents. In fact, the hike would be our greatest elevation gain of our entire journey, climbing a little over 3,000 feet in just 13.5 miles.

To make things even more daunting, the weather forecast was for significant rain and wind with limited visibility. Other Kerry Way hikers who we had met on the trail considered skipping the stage. But as long as there was no lightning in the forecast, we were up for the challenge.

We left our B&B in Cahersiveen as early as we could, which ended up being later than we wanted because of a mix up with our scheduled breakfast time. The previous day we had hiked into town on a five-mile out-and-back-trail spur. Not wanting to repeat the entire five-mile distance again, we devised a way to walk 3.3 miles on back roads to the stage start at the spur’s end.

After an hour of hiking from our hotel, we arrived at the end of the spur just before 10:00 am. The rain was already falling. Now joining the main 13.5-mile path, we began to steeply climb up a hill which would take us into the mountains for the next four miles.

Earlier in the trek we had climbed over mountain passes. What was different during this stage was that we were now ascending up and over the tops of mountains. This meant that the climbing was steeper. So over the next two miles we ascended 500 feet.

Having our trekking poles was imperative, as some of the climbs were near vertical. In a few cases we also had to use our hands to hoist ourselves up the rocks.

As we hiked, the rain continued to fall and the wind blew strongly. We were alone and only saw one other hiker the entire day.

The description of the stage promised great views as we climbed, but we saw nothing. In fact, time became secondary as we just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other as we climbed the rocks or walked through the boggy and muddy areas. We took turns taking the lead and then calling back to the other person with advice on the best way forward.

Finally making it to the top of a mountain at the trek’s high point at 1,217 feet, the rain let up and the sky cleared a little. I glanced at my watch and was shocked to see that we were already five hours into our hike!

We dropped 500 feet then climbed again before descending to a road and our first real break to eat a late lunch.

I checked my watch again while eating lunch. We had covered seven miles (plus the 3.3-mile road walk to the end of the spur), leaving us with 6.5 miles to go. There was more climbing before the end of the stage, but we now had some welcome flat road walking for about a mile. Since the weather had cleared up, we hoped the final miles of climbing would go by quicker.

After the road walk, we turned to a dirt trail and began ascending. Right away we could see that it was going to be a slog, as there was quite a bit of mud and puddles from all the rain.

The ascent began gradually, then we climbed 650 feet in 1.2 miles to the top of a ridge. Once we reached the ridge we had a couple of miles of picking our way through the uneven terrain on mud and slick rocks.

It seemed that the day was never going to end, but all we could do was keep walking. The only saving grace was that we had our best views of the entire stage as we inched toward the village of Waterville and our rest day.

Just over 10 hours after we left our hotel, we arrived in Waterville. It was almost 7:00 pm, and we were exhausted after the long day. Our rest day could not have come at a better time for us.

Trekking along the Coast to a Farmhouse Stay

After our rest day we had just four stages left. Because of the distances between the upcoming towns and villages, the standard hiking stages could be as long as 20 miles. So we worked on structuring our accommodations to keep our daily distances more consistent.

We were fortunate to find locals letting out rooms in their homes on Airbnb for some of the nights. But this meant we had to be creative with food, as there were no grocery stores and restaurants close to where we would be sleeping.

After our rest day we had an 11.7-mile stage to complete. It was a pretty easy day with good weather and just one major climb. But we were still tired and sore from our eventful stage two days earlier.

This stage also featured the most miles of coastal hiking, as we chose all the trail alternatives that took us along the water. As we left Waterville, we hiked along the beach.

Near the water we passed a statue of Charlie Chaplin, who vacationed in Waterville with his family for several years starting in 1959.

The trail steadily climbed for the first four miles. As we began our ascent, we had nice views of the water and coastline in the early morning light.

After climbing over a saddle, we rounded the southwest corner of the Iveragh Peninsula and turned east. We walked down to the water toward Derrynane Bay using a narrow road that was busier than we would have liked since it was Saturday.

Once we got down to the bay, we joined the Derrynane Mass Path that took us through some wooded areas and right along the coastline.

There were many day hikers but we also found some sections of solitude.

We turned off the trail to arrive at Derrynane Beach. There was even a stretch of sand to walk on, reminding us of our time in White Park Bay during our Northern Ireland Causeway Coast Way trek.

After leaving the beach we followed the trail inland to the village of Caherdaniel. We arrived there at about 2:00 pm, and it was perfect timing for us to take a long break and eat a filling late lunch. The main pub in the village was called the Blind Piper, and we got a seat at one of the few remaining outdoor tables. Darren ordered Guinness stew and mashed potatoes, which was delicious.

After we finished lunch we needed to hike two more miles before turning off to walk a mile to our Airbnb. We started off with a short climb up a beautiful rocky and fern-covered hill. After the long break for lunch the late afternoon ascent wasn’t too bad.

Since we had been hiking right along the coast most of the day, it was nice to have a coastal vista at the top of the climb.

Our Airbnb was an en-suite room in a farmhouse. After checking in, we enjoyed some bread and cheese that we brought with us for a light dinner. The owner was delightful to talk with, and we were introduced to the rescue donkeys that she recently adopted.

An Idyllic View, a Cow Encounter, and some Injury Management

Just like our previous day, we had a short 11.5-mile stage to complete during Stage 7. After walking back to the main trail from the Airbnb, we hiked inland with occasional Beara Peninsula views. The good news was most of the climbing was in the morning.

As we continued east down the Iveragh Peninsula, we were encouraged by the mountains we saw in the distance. They signified that we were getting closer to Kenmare, where we would turn north for some mountain climbing on our final day.

It was a beautiful cool day, and the morning climbing felt easy after the more difficult stages earlier in the trek.

After finishing the ascent, we had about four miles of steady downhill hiking. We were in a truly remote area and saw some of the most idyllic scenery of all our trekking in Ireland.

Soon we approached the village of Sneem. Because we had another local Airbnb booked for the evening, we planned to take the same late lunch break that we had done the previous day. We had just one thing standing in our way of our lunch – cows.

While trekking in the British Isles, we had already had our share of cow encounters, from a cow charging me and blocking our way on Hadrian’s Wall Path in England to annoyed cows forcing us to cut a break short on Scotland’s John Muir Way. In this case, we could see what looked to be a bull, cow, and calf walking ahead with their backs to us on the trail. They seemed to have hopped the adjacent fence from their field. Behind them was a gate and stile that we needed to pass through. And there was no good way to go around them as there was very dense brush on both sides of the path.

We asked some locals walking toward us for advice. They suggested that we just keep walking slowly behind the animals and that they would eventually move out of the way and let us pass. As we slowly inched our way toward the gate, all was well. Suddenly, the cows turned around, the bull in the lead, and became more aggressive as they now came toward us.

Darren decided to take a photo. I quickly reminded him to keep his distance and not provoke the cows any further. So we stopped and waited. The cows took a couple of more steps forward, then turned back around again and walked away from us into the bushes.

Seeing our chance, we cautiously walked to the stile and climbed over quickly. Relieved, I turned around to look back as we walked away. The cows were pressed against the gate looking in our direction, but were harmless since we had passed over the stile. As much as I was annoyed by the continual stiles on the trail. I was thankful for this one.

Finally reaching Sneem, we found a pub, and I ordered sausage and mashed potatoes. It was very satisfying after our eventful hike.

Even though we had taken a rest day and had hiked two shorter days since our long stage in the bad weather, we still felt tired. I also had a couple of nagging muscle strains from all the rocky terrain we had navigated through that day. And Darren had developed blisters on his pinky toes on both feet from hiking in the rain. While I only felt my muscle strains when completing steep climbs, Darren was in more and more pain with every step.

While in Sneem he decided to switch from his hiking shoes to trail sandals to give his feet some breathing room. Wearing sandals meant he had to watch his footing for any rocks, causing us to slow down a little. But it made the hiking much less painful for him.

After leaving the pub in Sneem, we walked 2.75 miles further before turning off the trail to the Ring of Kerry Road. From there, we road walked about a half-mile to the family Airbnb. We spent the night sleeping in one of their second-floor bedrooms.

Completing our Final Coastal Hiking

With two trekking days to go, we had longer stages to complete before finishing back in Killarney. We left the Airbnb to rejoin the trail for a 15.9-mile stage. The day consisted of several climbs, with the most challenging taking place at the end of the day.

We started walking through the forest in the 500-acre Parknasilla Estate.

After about two miles, the series of ascents and descents began. We had some nice views at the top of the climbs.

After two ascents and descents we hiked down to Blackwater Bridge.

The path took us along the coastline for the final time. While walking through the tall trees at Lackeen Point, we were reminded of the Pacific Northwest.

After about 9.5 miles of hiking, we came to the Ring of Kerry Road. The book I used to plan the trek gave directions for a 1.5-mile Ring of Kerry road walk before turning inland to complete the stage’s final climbs. Since the publication of the book, there was a recent (and longer) inland alternative created to replace the road walking. We were pretty comfortable with road walking after all of our trekking in Ireland, so we opted for the shorter mileage.

Back on the trail after completing the road walk, we began two steep climbs in succession. When we reached the top of the climbs, we were presented with views of almost the entire Beara Peninsula.

As we started down, we could see the town of Kenmare below. Once we reached Kenmare, we checked into our B&B and enjoyed a nice dinner in the center of town.

Completing the Trekking Loop and a National Park Finale

Beginning our ninth stage of hiking in 11 days, we had just one 16.1-mile stage to go. Still in some pain, Darren opted to wear his sandals again for the first few miles as we left Kenmare by an old road.

Now hiking north into the mountains, we had a climb of 550 feet over about 1.2 miles. We had not seen much wildlife on the trek, but were treated to a couple of red deer sightings in the early morning. A buck with large antlers also ran away before we could take a photo.

After a brief downhill section, we climbed up to another Windy Gap (we had ascended over the first one during Stage 3). It was quiet and peaceful on the path and we saw just a couple of people.

Nearing the top of Windy Gap, we looked back for a final view of the water and Beara Peninsula.

As we began hiking downhill, the terrain ahead looked familiar to us. Just ahead was where we started had the Kerry Way loop 11 days earlier, during Stage 1. We also began to see day hikers as we descended.

After walking 6.5 miles from Kenmare, we arrived at the end of the 104-mile loop and the intersection of the spur trail to Killarney.

With only 9.5 miles and two climbs to go, we were back in the Killarney National Park. Darren changed into his hiking shoes before we started climbing. After completing the first ascent in the trees, we had a rocky downhill section for about a half-mile that required some careful footing with our trail shoes. Fortunately our shoe tread (after the road repaving incident during Stage 4) held up on the uneven surfaces.

The views in the park were just as incredible as we remembered from 11 days prior. We relished the scenery as our remaining mileage continued to decrease.

After taking a lunch break, we began our final climb of the Kerry Way.

After reaching the top of the ascent, we gave each other a quick high five. Continuing on, we descended to pass the Torc Waterfall and Muckross House again. We came to the Muckross Abbey, and ventured off the trail for a short visit. It was founded in 1448 as a Franciscan friary and was damaged and reconstructed many times. Today, the abbey stands as well-preserved ruins, with no real roof over most of the church.

After leaving the abbey, we had just a few more miles to go. We left the national park and walked on street sidewalks during rush hour traffic until we arrived in the center of Killarney. Reaching the same trail sign where we started, we joyfully completed the 123-mile Kerry Way!

We took the same picture outside the Killarney House and Gardens to commemorate our actual trek start and finish to commemorate our achievement.

Pose at the beginning of the Kerry Way; photo at the end of the Kerry Way, after 123 miles of trekking

Finishing the Kerry Way was emotional for us. With our eighth and final trek complete, we celebrated meeting our goal of trekking 700 miles in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. When we had to cancel our entire trip in 2020, due to COVID, we never could have imagined that we would be able to actually complete our four-month Trekking the British Isles journey two years later.

We headed to a local brewery to properly toast our accomplishment.

We would like to thank everyone following our journey for your support, comments, and questions while we traveled. It meant so much to us every time we heard from you! Even though we have completed our multiple day treks, we plan to publish some final trekking stories and video recaps, so watch out for those soon.