Go Walk: Gems on the Ring, Caherdaniel, Co Kerry

It delivers a heady cocktail of compelling experiences – towering mountains, secluded beaches, shed loads of heritage and even a dark-sky reserve. A tourism Mecca for generations, the Ring of Kerry still manages to retain a bank of intriguing secrets. A great pleasure of exploring the Ring is still the joy of discovery – getting slightly off the main drag to come close and personal with a sequestered gem, like the beguiling countryside west of Caherdaniel.

My exploration began from the car park for Derrynane where I followed a green lane leading to the coastline. Going right and sauntering the exquisite strand laid out before Derrynane House, I reflected that this breath-taking expanse of golden sand must surely be a top contender for the title of Ireland’s prettiest beach. Derrynane’s other claim to notoriety is that it was the childhood home of Daniel O’Connell. Ireland’s Liberator was born near Cahersiveen, but was raised by his wealthy uncle, Maurice “Hunting Cap” O’Connell, at Derrynane House. The rambling mansion is in an exquisite setting, but I wondered how such a complex and cosmopolitan character as O’Connell could have emerged from what must have been, in the late-18th century, an isolated, Irish-speaking, backwater.

Next to capture my curiosity was the ancient monastic site on Abbey Island – the last resting place of O’Connell’s cousin and wife, Mary. Then bidding adieu to the beach, I followed an enclosed track to a minor road leading to a small harbour. An ancient Mass path now ascended through natural woodland before dropping to a little cove where I found it impossible not to tarry. Afterwards, the ascent of a rocky slab to rejoin the Mass path wasn’t difficult and soon after I reached Bealtra Pier, where, in penal times, the faithful from Scariff and Deenish islands landed their curraghs before walking to join the mainland community in prayer at Derrynane Mass rock.

Now, it was uphill on a minor road with outrageously photogenic views unfolding over Derrynane Bay and dissolving into the mountainy Beara Peninsula beyond. After about 1.5 km, a finger sign pointed right for the famous Kerry Way. An ancient highway in a southeasterly direction now led past the poignant ruins of Famine era homesteads before descending, through luxuriant native woodland, to reach the tarred Derrynane Road. Then, as the arrows conveyed me right and back to Derrynane House through a bell-adorned gateway, an annoying question troubled my thoughts.

I headed for the house and questioned guide Mary Lyne about how it was possible for the O’Connell’s to have become prosperous in such a remote location when the surrounding lands seems so difficult to render productive. Her answer was instructive. “The land is poor, but this wasn’t really a remote location in the time of O’Connell. Roads were few and basic, but Derrynane was beside the sea and the O’Connell’s made their money trading with France. ” The 18th-century Derrynane wasn’t, it seems, such a rural backwater after all.