Region · Co. Kerry
The largest peninsula in south-western Ireland — the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks in the centre, Carrauntoohil at its height, and the Iveragh’s towns and headlands running out to the Atlantic.
The Iveragh Peninsula is located in County Kerry in Ireland. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. A mountain range, the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, lies in the centre of the peninsula, and Carrauntoohil, its highest mountain, is also the highest peak in Ireland. The peninsula runs out from the head of Kenmare Bay to the headlands of the west, and the towns that line it — Kenmare at the gate, Cahersiveen in the middle, Portmagee at the ferry — are the bases that make it work.
The MacGillycuddy’s Reeks are the peninsula’s spine. Carrauntoohil, the range’s highest mountain, is also the highest peak in Ireland, and the range runs east-west through the centre of the Iveragh, with the smaller peaks and the valleys between them making up the hillwalking country. The Reeks are the reason the peninsula is a hillwalking destination as well as a coast one: the walk up Carrauntoohil is the big day out, and the shorter walks in the range are the ones that get done on the other days.
The Iveragh’s coast runs from Kenmare Bay on the east to the headlands on the west, and it is the coast that carries the Blasket view, the Derrynane bay, and the Skellig boats from Portmagee. The headlands — Derrynane Head among them — mark the entrance to the bays, and the walk along the coast road is the walk that gets done before any of the hills. The peninsula is large enough that a single day is not enough for it: the towns, the coast and the hills each take their turn.
The Iveragh is a drive from Killarney — roughly an hour to Kenmare at the gate, and the peninsula runs west from there. The towns (Kenmare, Cahersiveen, Portmagee) are the bases; the Reeks and the coast are the days out. Check the weather before setting out into the hills — the Reeks change fast, and the forecast is the whole story.
Übernachten
The peninsula’s towns are the bases — Kenmare at the gate, Cahersiveen in the middle, Portmagee at the ferry — and the Reeks and the coast are the days out.
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The aquarium in Dingle town — penguins, sharks, Asian otters and rays under a glass dome on the main street, the classic rainy-day stop on the Iveragh and one of the best places in the country to do with kids.
A small, steep island off the Iveragh Peninsula, home to an early Christian monastery of beehive huts — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the great places in the country.
Two small islands off the Dingle Peninsula, home to a community until 1953 — now a nature reserve and one of the most important seabird colonies in Europe.
The principal settlement of the Iveragh Peninsula — “Little Sadhbh’s stone ringfort” — on the lower River Ferta, fifty kilometres west of Killarney, with the ringforts of Cahergall and Leacanabuaile in the townland.