Saturday 6th July

Kenmare - Moll's Gap - Killarney - CastleIsland - Abbeyfeal (Co. Kerry)
The morning was overcast and it was very damp and chilly by Moll's Gap, but it kept dry all day although rather dull.
Kenmare is colourful with traditional narrow shop fronts. It is a long ride up to Moll's Gap, but it is well graded and we only needed to use the middle chain ring. Moll's Gap is a pass between the Kerry Mountains - bare moorland with sheep, rocks and grass. We made two stops on the way down, to view the Killarny Park lakes from above.The second stop is called 'ladies view' and it is said that Q. Victoria used to go there. In Killarny Park we passed pretty lakes and full-sized deciduous trees (e.g. beech, chestnut and birch) near to Muckross House.
We had lunch in Killarny - a tourist-ridden and rather spoiled town with new style shops and lots of traffic.
As we want to be at Tarbert for the ferry across the Shannon tomorrow morning, we decided to take a straight line route rather than a more picturesque one.
We took the back roads to Castleisland - a small but rather unattractive town with traffic. After that, more back roads to Abbeyfeal. The trouble with these back roads is that they have no sign posts or village names - and there are not many on the map either. We were passing through green farmland, with grassy fields, cows and small trees. As we rode we saw the mountains of Kerry behind and those of Dingle ahead.
We booked into Leens Hotel in Abbeyfeal, having searched, but failed to find a B & B near the centre. The room was expensive but the meal was good and reasonably priced. There are numerous bars in Abbeyfeal, but music doesn't start until 10.30 and we didn't stay up.

Looking down to Killarney from Moll's Gap	Near Lady's view, Killarney
Near Lady's view, Killarney	Lady's view, Killarney
Shannon crossing

Distance 57 miles today