Tourist information - Killarney
Killarney is among the world’s best-loved tourist destinations. Killarney (Cill Airne - The Church of Sloes) developed into a magnificent town about 1750 when the local magnate, Lord Kenmare, developed the tourist business and four major roads were built to the outside world. The area still has the marks of a group of houses huddled outside the demesne walls. The present population is about 9,000 and the main economic base is tourism. Situated in the south-western part of Ireland, along with its three popular lakes highlighting the ever changing skies over the great mountain ranges, Killarney has long been the inspiration of poets and painters for many centuries, and now it is also a growing commercial and tourist centre. Killarney provides an extensive and varied range of hotels from the large and luxurious to the small and romantic. There are several excellent guesthouses, cozy farmhouses, friendly town and country homes, with self-catering accommodation in the best attractive locations with a total capacity to accommodate almost 7,000 guests. It is the best playground for the sporting enthusiast - you can go fishing, swimming, golf, play tennis, ride a pony, paddle a canoe, or climb up a mountain. For those who are interested in history and archaeology there are several excellent items of interest to be seen. The three major lakes of Killarney occupy a broad valley stretching south between the mountains. The three lakes and the mountains that are all around them are all in the Killarney National Park. Nearest the town is the Lower Lake (Lough Leane) studded with islands and having on its eastern shore the historical Muckross Abbey and Ross Castle. The wooded peninsula of Muckross isolates the Lower from the Middle Lake oftentimes called Muckross Lake. At the tip of the Muckross Peninsula is the quaint Brickeen Bridge and Dinis Island further on with its sub-tropical vegetation and sights of the 'Meeting of the Waters’. A narrow straight called the Long Range leads to the island-studded Upper Lake. Around these islands are luxuriant woods of oak, arbutus, holly and mountain ash, while beneath grows a abundance of fern and other plants. Added to the magnificence of the three main lakes are several other lakes in the folds of the mountains, and the numerous beautiful cascades such as Torc Waterfall. Rising to the west of the Killarney valley are the peaks of MacGillicuddy’s Reeks. These mountains are favorites of the climber, including Carrauntuohill 3414 feet (1,040 metres), the highest peak in Ireland. Ljao/jan/1v21