Muckross House of Killarney in County Kerry is spectacular. It is a 19th century Victorian mansion built in the lush green Killarney Park and sits on a glorious mountainside Muckross lake and waterfall. The house is open for tours and has been lovingly restored. The tour tells the story of the Herbert family who built and owned the house for many generations. It focuses quite prominently on renovations and plans made specifically for a visit by Queen Victoria in 1861. The house was eventually lost to the Herbert family and purchased, quite inexpensively, by the Guinness family who ironically had marital ties to the Herbert family. Eventually, in the early 20th century the house and grounds became impossible to maintain and was gifted to the state. It is now a state park boasting, tours, wildlife viewing, horseback riding, watersports, crafts, weavers, pottery, and more.
Lovely sunken garden
Rock garden built on a natural limestone outcropping
Horse drawn carriages can take you to the waterfall however it is only a short walk if you have the time.
For more on my Irish wanderings click here…
Bulldog Travels / Photos By Jenny 
It always makes me smile when houses are passed to the state when they become too expensive to maintain. I am thinking of offering them mine!
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Ha. No kidding! Or sell it to the Guinness family.
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For cash or stout?
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Your choice!
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Stout!
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These days you can choose from a Guinness IPA and Blond too apparently.
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Interesting product diversification!
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I suppose so. I had the blond and was prepared to hate it. Turns out it is quite nice. Haven’t had the IPA.
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So, something to look forward to next time!
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That first photo is postcard material to be sure! Beautiful.
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Thanks! It was a bright clear lovely day. Something about an old building with vines climbing up it.
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Incredibly beautiful! The second one is my favorite. 🙂
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Thank you! I wish I was back there now waking the grounds. It was very pretty.
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That last photo looks like something out of National Geographic. Do you get paid to do this stuff? Seriously. No really. I have a SONY DSLR and for the love of Guiness I can’t even get half as good of photos as those. 😦
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Omg. I wish I got paid to do this but no. It just makes vacationing fun for me to take a lot of photos. I am a part time photographer in real life. But I mostly just do weddings and portraits. I would love to get paid to travel and take photos. But, then again, I wonder if that would take the fun out of it? What do you think?
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I mean. Your stuff is good enough that if I went to Ireland and wanted to buy a calendar with your photos in it would. If that helps. I’m not a photographer. If you love it then do it and see if that changes stuff. If it does, then go back to doing it for fun.
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Wow. Thanks! Smiles! Sometimes when I travel I do see postcards and calendars with terrible photos and think I could do better! You are so sweet. Thank you for making my morning.
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In case you were interested. This guy has like 55000+ followers
http://aopinionatedman.com/2015/11/09/daily-photo/
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I have recently followed him. He has an interesting blog and he has already helped me connect with a lot of people. Thanks for the tip.
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What a lovely post! It takes my right back to my visit there. It’s just such a beautiful area, isn’t it:)
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Glad you liked it
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Great history lesson for me and absolutely stunning photos. What an amazing ‘house’ with stunning grounds.
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Thank you! It was a treat for sure. Do you have any big historic houses where you are from?
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Yes in Canberra we have some and in other cities in Australia. But with Australia being a relatively young country ours are not as old or magnificent ax yours.
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Interesting things everywhere!
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Spectacular indeed. Lovely. It does look cold though, judging by the “light” on some of the pictures.
Where’s the nearest “Pob”?
Thanks for sharing.
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As far as Irish weather went it was spectacular. Pob?
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Pub. Just the tendency of some Irish to pronounce “DOblin” instead of Dublin.
pOb in lieu of pUb
🙂
(I know, bad joke. i need to get therapy)
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I see! I would have typed it “poob.” I hear them pronounce it like Dooblyn. And don’t forget Faudder and mudder (father and mother) and tree instead of three. 🙂
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Hehe! It’s been a very long while since I went to the green island, but I remember the accent could be strong with some. (Nothing compared to New Zealanders. I just cannot understand them) 🙂
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I love hearing the differences in accents even from region to region within the same country. I know you have noticed that here in the U.S. 🙂
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Absolutely. Yankees, Southerners, Mid west, Californa-yeah, all have different accents. Take southern: alabamians don’t speak like texans of people from Lu-zi-ana. Mexicans have 3 or 4 very different accents while sounding the same to the outside world. Good ear!
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What do us Californians sound like?
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Good question. It’s been… twenty years since I last went to California. (That much? Have to go back) If I recall you sound pretty … “standard”? None of the Southern drawl, or the Yankee nasals, or the Nawyowkers accent. i don’t know. I need to go back for further research!
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You sure do!
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Yeah. I have so many places to go (sometimes back) to. Let’s move Frisco up the line. 🙂
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Holla if you are ever up this way.
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Holla? Ok. Not Holá? Holler? Ah shore will. Yes Ma’am. 😉
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Any of the above.
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All beautiful photos but I love the first one most, it’s stunning.
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Thank you so much!
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You have been nominated for a Liebster Award by http://leoladurant.com/
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Thanks. we were in kerry last week – staying at castlerosse hotel just outside the town! My mother was from kerry so a very nostalgic trip. regards Thom
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Wonderful! Glad to hear it.
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Thanks for taking us to the journey with you. I can’t even dream of seeing all this beautiful places.
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Every time I go somewhere I dream of going again or going to another place. Restless heart I suppose.
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How lucky you are.
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Such a beautiful and romantic castle, can you imagine living there? What a dream is must have been:) Lovely photos!
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Thank you. Living there would have been wonderful and peaceful.
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I’ve always wondered what it’s like to live and grow up in such a beautiful stately mansion surrounded by beautiful gardens. Guess I’m likely to keep wondering forever.
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You and me both!
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Such stunning shades of green! I think I could live in such a mansion, as long as I had the help to keep everything beautiful. 🙂
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Can you imagine the number of people required to keep it and the grounds up?
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Well, as an avid Downton Abbey viewer, yes I can. 🙂
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Gorgeous photos! I was extra-interested to see these, because I think my workplace are sending me to have a look around the weavers’ workshop early next year. Now I can’t wait! I hope I get some time to stroll around the grounds, they really are spectacular 😀
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Fun! Lucky you. I went to the shop where the weavers were selling stuff. It’s very pretty around the grounds. Enjoy your trip!
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Thanks! Hopefully I’ll get some great photos myself!
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Waw, what a beautiful place to visit! Waw! Fab pictures too! x
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Thank you!
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Beautiful!
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