Ireland 2026 - Day 3: Kerry to Dingle
Today we were riding the Ring of Kerry, up to the Dingle peninsula.
We woke after a pretty good night’s sleep and had breakfast in the camp kitchen before packing up and heading off to the Ring of Kerry. As the campsite was actually on the north of the Healy Pass (which we had to reroute past yesterday) we could pick up a little bit of the narrower part of the Healy Pass [1] heading towards Kenmare [2], before we made for Moll’s Gap [3] and then joining the Ring of Kerry at Sneem [4], the “knot in the Ring of Kerry”. Moll’s Gap takes you a little further north than the Ring of Kerry but takes you through a spectacular mountain pass before joining back onto the Ring again. I’d ridden some of these roads before and couldn’t wait for this section.
Before heading to Moll’s Gap we stopped off in Kenmare [2] to enjoy the current sunshine (between showers) and have some food at Maison Gourmet which was lovely. The coffee was really nice and I had scrambled eggs with toast which was delicious. We popped into a couple of shops and I headed for a look in Soundz of Music at the Bodhráns which I’d love to learn how to play.
However it was time to head off again so after a re-fuel for the bikes we made our way out of the town. We could feel the wind again today although the roads were spectacular and flowing. The roads were pretty clear up via Moll’s Gap although we ended up behind one tourist driver who was driving very slowly at 15kmh around the corners. When I went to overtake on a long straight section with a dashed centre line he accellerated up to 96kph, presumably to block me from going past. Honestly it was pretty dangerous although my bike has enough power to pass easily but it wasn’t great. So I let the others know via the comms that he was one to avoid. Although the roads were too beautiful to get too angry, it was just a bit frustrating and unecessary. But soon we were arriving in Sneem which is a cute town sitting on the Ring of Kerry itself.
Our next stop was Waterville [5] to see the Charlie Chaplin statue. The town itself has a wide open vista and a real holiday destination feel to it. The reason for the statue is that Charlie Chaplin used to love to visit Waterville on holiday with his family and enjoy the fishing there. So the story goes he went to the local hotel to get a room but was told that the hotel was full, so he headed off to Kenmare to try his luck there instead. Hearing that this had just happened, the owner of the hotel jumped in his car and chased him, eventually catching up and offering them a room. Then started a long relationship with the town and Chaplin visited many times over the years, finding a place where he wasn’t mobbed and where he could relax away from his celebrity life.
After this we had planned to ride the Skellig Ring although the wind was really quite high and the day was getting on so we decided to continue on the Ring of Kerry instead. I’d previously ridden the Skellig Ring on my last trip and while it would have been great to ride that road again and head onto Valentia Island for the ferry back to the mainland, the weather today didn’t really make that a sensible option. The roads on the Skellig Ring are much more exposed and narrow, so descretion being the better part of valour, we stuck to the Ring of Kerry. Although I’d not ridden the section of the Ring of Kerry that you’d miss when riding the Skellig Ring so that was great to experience.
We took the N70 along the top of the Ring of Kerry, a fast and flowing road, until we reached Tralee [7]. There we headed west again along the Dingle Peninsula to our campsite, north of Dingle itself on the edge of Brandon Bay. The route to the campsite was pretty fast although we could occasionally feel a gust of wind…foreshadowing for later that night into the next morning.
We eventually arrived at O’Connors campsite and after a bit of confusion eventually found a place to pitch. The original field they asked us to camp in was sitting under an inch of water so after a little back and forth they let us pitch to the side of an RV pitch which was much more dry. The site wasn’t busy though so it wasn’t an issue for them. We then headed to the pub at the edge of the site for some food and a well-deserved pint!
The pub itself is really characterful and the owner came over to ask about our trip and what we do. When I told him I worked in broadcasting he immediately turned on his heels and left. Fearing I’d said something wrong he appeared a few seconds late a thudded an Emmy Award down on the table in front of us, explaining it was a family member who had won that Emmy and regailed us with the story of how it was won and how he’d been over to Chicago to collect the trophy itself.
Checking the dinner menu there was mention of a spice bag on the menu, so of course I needed to get that. Number 2 of the trip!
We then retired to the bar and sat next to the open fire, chatting with some other people staying there in the guesthouse—enjoying a few pints of Guinness and a nightcap of a Jamesons.
We were all pretty beat so headed to bed in our tents, warmed by the fire in the pub, although the rain had set in again and we could feel the wind rising…yet again…
Stage Distance: 210 km (130 miles)
Overall Distance: 956 km (594 miles)
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