The Kerry Way is a long-distance trail that is among the most popular hiking trails located in County Kerry, within the southwestern part of the Republic of Ireland. The trail is circular, beginning and ending in Killarney, usually completed in nine days, and it is more precisely located on the Iveragh Peninsula, which is the largest of Kerry’s Atlantic peninsulas, extending 60 km (37 mi) into the ocean from the mainland, and being 32 km (20 mi) across.
The Iveragh contains the Killarney Lakes with their mountainous backgrounds, the most famously picturesque landscapes in Ireland since tourism began in the late eighteen hundreds. The main mountain group on the peninsula, called the Macgillicuddy Reeks, contains the two highest summits in Ireland, Carrauntoohil at 1038m and Caher at 1001m.
The Kerry Way, at 230km, the longest of the Irish Waymarked Trails, is a circular route that circumnavigates the peninsula, and also passes through fine Kerry towns such as Glenbeigh, Caherciveen, Waterville, Sneem, and Kenmare. The Kerry Way was first proposed in 1982 and developed by members of the Laune Mountaineering Club and the Kerry Association of An Taisce, under the chairmanship of Seán Ó Súilleabháin.
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Ó Súilleabháin was inspired by a history lecture he had attended given by Father John Hayes on the subject of old roads and paths in the southwest of Ireland. Realizing that “there was a spider’s web-like network of roads and paths that could be combined to form a route around Kerry”, he began devising the trail that would become the Kerry Way. The first section, starting from Killarney to Glenbeigh, was opened by Tánaiste Dick Spring in 1985. It was the second long-distance trail to be opened in the Republic of Ireland, after the Wicklow Way.
The full route was completed in 1989 and opened by Frank Fahey, T. D., Minister of State for Youth and Sport. The trail was constructed by workers on FÁS social employment schemes at a cost of IEP £60,000 and involved the provision of over 200 stiles and six footbridges as well as way-markers.
In conclusion, as the Kerry Way is one of the most used paths in the Republic of Ireland, it represents a serious test for anyone who is setting out to walk that long distance, and it is a serious test of physical endurance, but at the same time, it is a real pleasure for the sore eyes.
