Castles and Historic Sites in Co. Kerry
11 places
1.Ballybunion Castle
Unique anti-clockwise spiral staircase
A ruined 16th-century tower house standing sentinel on a dramatic cliff edge between two Blue Flag beaches, with sweeping Atlantic views and free access all year.
- Highlights
- Anti-clockwise spiral staircase — unique to north Kerry
- Nine Daughters' Hole blowhole on the cliff walk
- Two Blue Flag beaches framing the castle
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
2.Muckross House
See nearly 200-year-old Hattersly looms in action
A magnificent Victorian mansion set on the shores of Muckross Lake in Killarney National Park, paired with 1930s-style working farms and craft workshops — Kerry's premier visitor attraction.
- Highlights
- Self-guided tour of a Victorian mansion furnished in period style
- Free access to extensive gardens: Sunken, Rock & Stream Gardens
- Three working 1930s–40s farms with animals and traditional crafts
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
3.Uragh Stone Circle(Ciorcal Cloch Uragh)
Five-stone circle with 3m outlier and waterfall
A breathtaking Bronze Age five-stone circle with a monumental 3m outlier, set on a hillock between two lakes with a waterfall tumbling in the distance — one of Ireland's most atmospheric megalithic sites, hidden deep in the Beara Peninsula.
- Highlights
- Five-stone Bronze Age circle with 3m+ outlier
- Stunning lakeside setting with waterfall backdrop
- Remote, unspoilt — often have the site to yourself
4.Carrigafoyle Castle
Cannon fire breached its walls in 1580
A dramatic 15th-century tower house rising from the Shannon Estuary, Carrigafoyle Castle was once known as the "Guardian of the Shannon" — climb its 104 steps for sweeping estuary views from one of Kerry's most atmospheric ruins.
- Highlights
- 104-step spiral staircase to panoramic rooftop views
- Rare fortified harbour built into the castle walls
- Dramatic siege history — cannon fire breached the walls in 1580
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
5.Kilmalkedar Church / Cill Maoilchéadair
free 12th-century church, ogham stone and sundial
Kilmalkedar is a 10-acre early Christian and medieval complex on the Dingle Peninsula, set above Smerwick Harbour with a 12th-century Hiberno-Romanesque church, a holed ogham stone, an early medieval sundial and a historic graveyard. It sits on the Cosán na Naomh pilgrimage route and is free to visit all year round.
- Highlights
- Free 12th-century Hiberno-Romanesque church
- Holed ogham stone, c. 600 AD
- One of Ireland's few early medieval sundials
6.Ross Castle
last Munster fortress to surrender to Cromwell
A 15th-century tower house perched on an inlet of Lough Leane in Killarney National Park — the last place in Munster to hold out against Cromwell, steeped in O'Donoghue legend.
- Highlights
- O'Donoghue Mór's 15th-century tower house, authentically restored with period furnishings
- Sweeping views over Lough Leane to the MacGillycuddy's Reeks
- Bronze Age copper mines (oldest in northwest Europe) on the Ross Island loop
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
7.Blennerville Windmill
Ireland's largest working windmill, turning since 1800
Ireland's largest working windmill, beautifully restored and still grinding flour on the shores of Tralee Bay — with a compelling emigration museum, model railway, and bird-watching platform all on one site.
- Highlights
- Largest working windmill in Ireland
- Climb five floors to see flour milled by wind power
- Poignant Jeanie Johnston famine emigration exhibition
- Facilities
- Good for kids · Restrooms · Wheelchair access
8.Fairy Fort Ringfort
a Bronze Age fairy fort with a petting farm
A well-preserved Bronze Age ringfort on the Slea Head Drive where you can walk the ancient earthen ramparts, hear the fairy legends, and hand-feed free-roaming sheep, goats and donkeys.
- Highlights
- Well-preserved univallate ringfort with bank, fosse and souterrain
- Free-roaming pet farm animals you can feed
- Fairy folklore: Tuatha De Danann and the whitethorn tree
- Facilities
- Good for kids
9.Listowel Castle
Last stand of the Fitzmaurice clan
A rare surviving example of Anglo-Norman architecture in Kerry — two hulking 15th-century towers linked by an arch, standing over the River Feale at the heart of Listowel. Free guided tours bring its dramatic siege history to life.
- Highlights
- Two 15th-century towers joined by a rare arch below the battlements
- Site of the last Fitzmaurice stand against Elizabeth I (1600)
- Free guided tours with passionate OPW guides
- Facilities
- Wheelchair access
10.Staigue Stone Fort
10 X-shaped staircases climb its inner walls
One of Ireland's largest and best-preserved ringforts — a mortar-free stone giant perched at the head of a wild Kerry valley with sweeping views to Kenmare Bay.
- Highlights
- Walls up to 5.5m high and 4m thick, built entirely without mortar
- Ten X-shaped staircases climb the inner wall to the ramparts
- Two corbelled intramural chambers hidden within the walls
11.Cromwell's Bridge
a 300-year-old mossy single-arch bridge
A disused, moss-draped single-arch stone bridge spanning the Finnihy River on the western edge of Kenmare, free to visit and reached by a short stroll from town.
- Highlights
- Single-arch stone bridge c.1700 over the Finnihy River
- Disused and moss-covered; view from the bank, not the deck
- Plaque links the name to the Irish 'croiméal' (moustache)
- Facilities
- Good for kids