Irish highs

Following a winter’s worth of precipitation, Ireland is looking particularly emerald right now. Chris and I are over in County Kerry for his father Michael’s birthday-and-Easter-combined bash. He and Jane’s cottage, Seal Rock (kenmareirishcottages.com), is half an hour’s drive from Kenmare along the Iveragh peninsula. The cottage sits at the end of Rossmore Island, which is connected to the mainland by a tiny bridge. Just over the bridge is a lovely and quirky little hotel, the Tahilla Cove, where we drop in on arrival, it being cocktail hour for the Rossmore regulars.

Seal spotting from Seal Rock Cottage

The view from Seal Rock is pure drama, out towards the the mountains of the Beara and the Atlantic beyond. For now, it’s sunny and warm so we can linger on the patio and stare out to sea. 

Sea view to the Beara peninsula 

One of my pre-party jobs is to set the Easter-egg hunt. I find plenty of nooks and crannies in the dry-slate wall. In the event there are only three kids, so they average 30-odd eggs each (mini-ones, mind you).

Wall of chocolate

Turns out Mike and Jane’s bash is an upmarket affair, with a marquee, caterers, and a father-and-son singing duo to entertain us all. Chris’s cousin Anne-Louise comes up from Cork with her family – they’ve bought a couple of canoes and plan to spend Sunday pootling around the coast.

The crowd-pleasing Kellehers

Best lemon meringue pie ever

Sunday is a full Irish breakfast on the terrace, then it’s off in the open-top Merc to Parknasilla, a hotel and estate near Sneem (love that name) that was once owned by the Bishop of Limerick (grandfather of the writer Robert Graves). 

A breakfast place in the sun

We explore all the trails, then walk back to Seal Rock via a bit of the Kerry Way long-distance trail. It weaves around the back of farms, derelict cottages, over bleak moorland and back down to the almost tropical Tahilla Cove. 

Serene Parknasilla scene

Kicking off on The Kerry Way

The party bus missed the turn-off

Moving on from Seal Rock, we explore a few hidden corners of Cork and Kerry on our way to Waterford, where we're booked in to a plush hotel for a couple of days. We walk a little of the Beara Way, wild and moorish…

A barren stretch of The Beara Way

…and visit Gougane Barra, where St Finbarr established a monastic settlement in the sixth century. He went on to became the first bishop and founder of the city of Cork at the mouth of the River Lee, which has its source here at Gougane Barra. The prayer cells are still intact in the ruins of the monastery, and Mass rocks around the site have been scored by countless pilgrims, who come to honour St Finbarr by doing the 'rounds', a 13-step path of prayer.

There be pilgrims

Nearby, the more recently built oratory casts reflections in the water. The place has an undeniably spiritual feel, but it's no surprise to learn that it's also a popular backdrop for wedding photos.  

The oratory at Gougane Barra