"While Killarney is the tour bus capital of County Kerry, Tralee is its true leading city," says Rick Steves, tour guide author. Tralee is known for its annual international arts festival, during which a queen, the "Rose of Tralee," is crowned. Roses and other flowers abound in the town botanical gardens.
The other top site in Tralee is the Kerry County Museum...
with its "Medieval Experience," a Disneyesque recreation of the Celtic Middle Ages, dominated by friars and chieftains, which we wandered through.
The museum also had a special photography exhibition showing life in County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland, from the 1950s to the 1970s, which I found fascinating. It showed the poverty, discouragement, but also the strong sense of community as the Irish tried to find their way into the modern world. Many rural homes in Kerry lacked inside water and a toilet even in 1970.
Women gathered for the Yanks Ball in 1958, named in honor of emigrants home for the holidays. Emigration touched every aspect of life in Kerry in the 1950s and 1960s. The economy picked up in the mid-60s and many emigrants returned home in the 1970s. The ebb and flow of emigration continues, as the workers who stayed home during the "Celtic Tiger" years are now fleeing to Canada and Australia.
In the 1950s, life in Kerry was defined by farming, with families trying to hang on desperately to the family farm. Young people left in droves for cities in Ireland and abroad.
County Kerry has three spectacular peninsulas. One is the Ring of Kerry, where our condo was, and another is Dingle Peninsula. We drove over Conner Pass on Dingle Peninsula, on our way to Dingle City. It was so narrow that cars could barely squeeze past each other, and it wound high up the rocky hills, with the lakes and coast far below.
"While Killarney is the tour bus capital of County Kerry, Tralee is its true leading city," says Rick Steves, tour guide author. Tralee is known for its annual international arts festival, during which a queen, the "Rose of Tralee," is crowned. Roses and other flowers abound in the town botanical gardens.
The other top site in Tralee is the Kerry County Museum...
with its "Medieval Experience," a Disneyesque recreation of the Celtic Middle Ages, dominated by friars and chieftains, which we wandered through.
The museum also had a special photography exhibition showing life in County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland, from the 1950s to the 1970s, which I found fascinating. It showed the poverty, discouragement, but also the strong sense of community as the Irish tried to find their way into the modern world. Many rural homes in Kerry lacked inside water and a toilet even in 1970.
Women gathered for the Yanks Ball in 1958, named in honor of emigrants home for the holidays. Emigration touched every aspect of life in Kerry in the 1950s and 1960s. The economy picked up in the mid-60s and many emigrants returned home in the 1970s. The ebb and flow of emigration continues, as the workers who stayed home during the "Celtic Tiger" years are now fleeing to Canada and Australia.
In the 1950s, life in Kerry was defined by farming, with families trying to hang on desperately to the family farm. Young people left in droves for cities in Ireland and abroad.
County Kerry has three spectacular peninsulas. One is the Ring of Kerry, where our condo was, and another is Dingle Peninsula. We drove over Conner Pass on Dingle Peninsula, on our way to Dingle City. It was so narrow that cars could barely squeeze past each other, and it wound high up the rocky hills, with the lakes and coast far below.
Dingle is the most quaint of the many quaint Irish seaside towns.
We stopped at St. Mary's Church and the Celtic Culture Center to see stained glass windows by famous 20th Century Irish artist, Harry Clarke.
We wandered through the town, stopping at a weaver's shop and a store selling Irish sweaters and stuffed sheep. We ate a seafood supper at James G. Ashe Pub and Restaurant and then drove home.
1 comment:
What a fun town. It is great to hear a little bit of Irish history, too!
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