Our second day in Killarney started at Muckross House, which is part of Killarney National Park.
There were daffodils blooming everywhere (although this picture was from Killarney House on Friday).
This is the main entrance to the house, although tourists now enter through the side, since they recently renovated to make it handicapped accessible.
Would you believe that when we walked up to the desk to pay for the tour, there was Patsy! We met her walking about 2 weeks ago just around the corner from our house.
She was so interested in hearing about homeschooling and how we picked this house to rent in Dingle. She lives and works in Killarney, but comes often to visit Dingle.
We were thrilled to have her as our tour guide for the trip through the beautiful Muckross House.
The grounds and the view of the lake were just wonderful!
There was also a farm, but it was closed to visitors in the off season.
View of the other side of the house from the grounds. Looks like Downton Abbey, doesn’t it?
Muckross House was begun in 1839 and completed in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert. It has 65 rooms.
When the Herbert family fell on hard times, the house was purchased by Arthur Guinness in 1899.
It then was purchased by William Bowers Bourne in 1911 to give to his daughter, Victoria, as a wedding gift.
When Victoria died in 1929, her father and husband gave the home and its 11,000 acres to the Irish government, and it became the first National Park in Ireland.
Kids found a little tunnel through the shrubs in the garden. Great hiding place for hide and seek!
Next stop was Muckross Abbey, also in the grounds of Killarney National Park.
This Franciscan Abbey was founded in 1448 and built on the site of a previous monastery said to have been built by St. Fionan in the 6th century.
The monks of Muckross Abbey were driven out by Cromwell’s forces in the 1650’s.
The cemetery just outside the walls of the Abbey is still used today.
Since we are big Lord of the Rings fans, we had to go to the Shire for dinner!
The doorways were round, the floor was covered in grass carpet, and the menu had Second Breakfast!
After dinner, another swim in the hotel pool, then back to Dingle in the morning.
We didn’t get to do everything in Killarney, so we may try to come back soon for one more day.
Brogans Across the Pond 
Oh that Cromwell–so insulting! Great photos and looks like a grand escape for the weekend.
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This is amazing! The Abbey is so cool! And the Shire!!!🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
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The round doorways cracked me up. ONe picture I didn’t put on the blog but it was so great (couldn’t get it to download from Maggie’s phone) was of a tree in the center courtyard of the abbey. They think it was planted the year the abbey was built, which would make it over 600 years old! It was amazing. Reminded me of the white tree in the last Lord of the Rings movie.
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This is amazing! The Abbey is so cool! And the Shire?!!! 🙌🏼🙌🏼
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