Killarney (Killarney House, afternoon tea)
I specifically planned for a day off from our vacation this vacation, and this was the day. I wanted to have a low key day to rest, catch up on notes and reading (and laundry) and just kind of take it easy in an interesting place. Killarney seemed to be the right spot. It also worked out to be the best day to schedule an afternoon tea for Barb. Walter’s Way actually arranged for the tea and included it in our tour package. I found that, despite really enjoying our touring time, I was quite looking forward to having a down day. I now think it’s a good thing to incorporate into any vacation itinerary, if possible.
For our day off from touring, we had what became our regular breakfast at The Ross: a partial Irish for Barb (porridge, eggs, bacon, mushroom) and an omelette for me. We took the short walk to Killarney House, effectively the visitor center for the National Park. We luckily stumbled into a guided tour of the restored house and learned about its history.
No photos were allowed in the restored rooms but they were set circa 1970 when it was the home of American developer John McShain and his wife, Mary. I didn’t know McShain but he was evidently The Man Who Built Washington, designer of the Pentagon, Jefferson Memorial, renovation of the White House and more. He was the final owner of this, the third of three Killarney House locations, formerly the stables of one that burned down in 1913. There had been an even grander estate nearby, Kenmare House, which Queen Victoria visited for one night in 1861 before heading to Muckross House. It is said Queen Victoria selected the location of Killarney House because of the excellent view of the lakes and mountains.
Beyond the restored rooms, the rest of the house is now an interpretive, interactive introduction to Killarney National Park. It’s really something we should have seen earlier in our stay but it was helpful even toward the end. We finally tied together some of the loose story lines between Killarney House, Kenmare House, Muckross House and Ross Castle, all of which are now part of the park (except there’s no Kenmare House anymore).
I was surprised that rhododendron are considered an invasive species and have become a big problem in Ireland. There are serious efforts to eradicate it from public spaces such as Killarney National Park. Who knew?
After almost two hours of orientation, we headed back to the room and got ready for our afternoon tea scheduled for 1:30. We spent about an hour in the very comfortable public rooms of the Killarney Park Hotel.
When the time came, we walked around the corner to the Great Southern Hotel where we had our tea. The server, Marguerite, was lovely and helpfully included photos in the presentation of the tea. Barb and I enjoyed our savories and then sweets, and eventually got boxes to bring a good deal of it back to our room.
After tea, we waddled back to our room. Barb took a nap while I ventured out to find a belt for the new pair of pants that threatened to fall down with every step. After finding one at Penney’s (which I think is just Primark with a different name), I took a stroll in the gardens at Killarney House. They were peaceful but mostly spent by the end of September.
I returned to the room and also had a bit of a nap before taking some time to work on this journal. We thought a little about going for dinner but both of us were full from the tea (and we still had some goodies in boxes) so our main activity for the evening was getting packed to head toward Galway the next day. It was a fine, restful day; we were reinvigorated for the remainder of our tour.
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