Castles and Historic Sites in Co. Kerry
12 places
1.Ballybunion Castle
a 12m clifftop ruin above two Blue Flag beaches
The last wall of a 16th-century Fitzmaurice tower house, still standing 12 m tall on the headland that splits Ballybunion's two Blue Flag beaches. Free to visit, with open Atlantic views on both sides.
- Highlights
- 12 m-high east wall of an early 1500s Fitzmaurice tower house
- National monument since 1923
- Free entry, open every day
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
2.Derrynane House
The Liberator's seaside home on the Ring of Kerry
The ancestral home of Daniel O'Connell, "The Liberator", set in 120 hectares of coastal parkland on the Iveragh Peninsula. Inside are unique relics of his life, from a triumphal chariot to the bed he died in.
- Highlights
- Ancestral home of Daniel O'Connell
- The 1844 triumphal chariot and O'Connell's deathbed
- 120 hectares of gardens, arboretum and coastal park
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
3.Muckross House
Victorian mansion that hosted Queen Victoria
Muckross House is a grand Victorian mansion built in 1839-1843 at the heart of Killarney National Park, where the Herbert family hosted Queen Victoria in 1861. Gardens, a 1930s-style working farm and the Lakes of Killarney surround it.
- Highlights
- Queen Victoria stayed here in August 1861
- Free entry to the gardens and Killarney National Park
- Three working 1930s-40s traditional farms
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
4.Uragh Stone Circle(Ciorcal Cloch Uragh)
a five-stone Bronze Age circle beneath a giant monolith
A five-stone Bronze Age circle on a Kerry hilltop, dwarfed by a 3 m monolith, with lakes, mountains and a tumbling waterfall filling the view. Remote, unstaffed and free to visit.
- Highlights
- Five-stone Bronze Age circle with a 3 m outlier monolith
- Hilltop setting between two lakes, backed by mountains and a waterfall
- Free to visit; open all year
5.Carrigafoyle Castle
A 15th-century 'Guardian of the Shannon'
A ruined five-storey tower house on a rocky outcrop in the Shannon Estuary, once the O'Connor clan's "Guardian of the Shannon" and still climbable to the top.
- Highlights
- National Monument tower house built in the 1490s
- 104-step spiral stair to the rooftop solarium
- Sweeping Shannon Estuary and Carrig Island views
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
6.Kilmalkedar Church / Cill Maoilchéadair
Ogham stone, sundial and a 12th-century church
Kilmalkedar is one of Ireland's most significant early Christian and medieval church sites, a Hiberno-Romanesque complex spread over ten acres above Smerwick Harbour on the Dingle Peninsula. The roofless 12th-century church, ogham stone, sundial and holy well make it a rewarding, free stop on the Slea Head Drive.
- Highlights
- 12th-century Hiberno-Romanesque church (after 1134)
- Holed ogham stone with 6th-7th century inscription
- The Alphabet Stone inside the church
7.Ross Castle
Last Munster stronghold to hold out against Cromwell
A 15th-century tower house on the shore of Lough Leane, the last stronghold in Munster to hold out against Cromwell, and the departure point for boats across the Killarney lakes.
- Highlights
- 15th-century tower house on Lough Leane
- Last stronghold in Munster to fall to Cromwell
- O'Donoghue Mór legend of the white horse
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
8.Blennerville Windmill
The country's largest working windmill
A fully restored 1800s windmill above Tralee Bay, still grinding flour with its original stones and home to Kerry's model railway and a famine-emigration exhibition.
- Highlights
- Largest working windmill in the country, the only one on the Wild Atlantic Way
- Climb four flights of steep stairs to the top
- Jeanie Johnston famine-ship exhibition
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
9.Fairy Fort Ringfort
Where Bronze Age earthworks meet baby lambs
A well-preserved earthen ringfort on the Slea Head Drive, wrapped in fairy folklore and paired with a small pet farm where children can feed sheep, goats, horses and donkeys.
- Highlights
- Well-preserved univallate ringfort (rath / lios)
- Earthen bank rising 2.5m above the interior and 4.2m above the fosse
- 3m causewayed entrance facing due east
- Facilities
- Good for kids
10.Listowel Castle
Free tours of a castle that held out 28 days
Half of a 15th-century Anglo-Norman fortress still stands above the River Feale, and the OPW shows it off with free guided tours. It was the last Fitzmaurice stronghold to fall to Elizabethan forces, holding out for 28 days in the 1600 siege.
- Highlights
- Two of four original square towers survive, over 15 m high
- Free admission and free guided tours
- Held out for 28 days in the 1600 siege
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
11.Staigue Stone Fort
A 2,000-year-old fort built without mortar
An enormous drystone ring fort at the head of a Kerry valley, built without a drop of mortar around 2,000 years ago and still standing 5.5 m tall. It is free, unstaffed and open year-round.
- Highlights
- Ireland's finest drystone ring fort, almost 2,000 years old
- Walls up to 5.5 m high and 4 m thick, built without mortar
- Ten X-shaped stairways climb inside the wall
12.Cromwell's Bridge
a 17th-century bridge too fragile to cross
A single-arch stone bridge over the Finnihy River, now too fragile to cross, tucked into greenery a five-minute walk from Kenmare town centre. Free, open-air and quietly photogenic.
- Highlights
- Single-arch stone bridge, dated c.1700
- Free and open every day
- Five-minute walk from Kenmare town centre
- Facilities
- Good for kids