July 11, 2026

Just outside the city of Killarney is the Killarney National Park, and for our agenda this meant a stop at Muckross Abbey.

The abbey is in a state of maintained ruin, founded in 1448 and was the target of English attacks in its long history, leaving it uninhabitable from 1652 onward. it surprised us that the graveyard just outside the abbey had modern burials on site, I imagine the span of time between the oldest grave and newest must practically span the abbeys whole history.

The highlight of the abbey is a Yew tree, growing in the middle of the cloister, potentially the oldest Yew tree in Ireland. It’s a scene from fantasy, and it takes little imagination to picture a Druid circle in this place, it’s a magical site for sure.

Sadly, we just did not have time to explore the Dingle Peninsula or Ring of Kerry properly, they are such highlights in every Ireland itinerary, but for us they will be the priority on some undetermined second trip. We turn East towards County Cork.

Another stop I had been looking forward to was the Midleton Distillery Experience. The distillery that owns most of the famous global names in Irish whiskey; Jameson, Red Breast, and the Spots lineup primarily. Cillian was our tour guide on the Behind the Scenes tour, including us two, we had only four total in our tour. We saw the old kilns beneath the malting floors, the old water wheel which powered the fermentation operation, and the cooperage and barrel houses.

We tried rare bottles, enjoyed a Jameson cocktail, and a couple pours of bottles I’ll never see again.

But our day was not over, a couple of months back we saw that the sea shanty folk band, The Wellerman, would be performing in Cork, on the night we would already be in Midleton twenty minutes away.

Like anyone with good taste and too much time on their hands during the pandemic, we got on the sea shanty bandwagon right after The Wellerman formed. And their venue tonight, Live at St. James, a church tuned music venue, only in Ireland, haha.

Thoroughly enjoyed their covers and original songs. Ending the night with their rendition of Wellerman, the viral sea shanty which started the cultural sensation.

Tomorrow ends our roadtrip, returning to Dublin sometime tomorrow afternoon. We’ll try to turn in early for the early morning flight to Edinburgh, we’ll see!