I stopped in for a quick gander at Muckross House and Gardens –
a 19th century house and its various acres of gardens. Situated on Lough Leane,
the wind here was tremendous, nearly knocking me over a couple of times. I
didn’t explore the house, contenting myself instead with the gardens, which
included a huge rockery, arboretum, stream garden, walled garden, and the kinds
of greenhouses (and I say greenhouses, for there are many!) which would give
anyone with any kind of a tendency towards gardening greenhouse envy.
Everywhere you go throughout Killarney National Park (and
Muckross House and its grounds sit within it) you find four-wheeled carts
pulled by shaggy cart horses. These are the jarveys, or jaunting-cars, and
routes dedicated to them have been specifically set aside within the national
park. You would think, with usually a few of them lined up at a time, that
there’d be quite the clamour from their drivers, jockeying for tourists – but
instead they follow a time-honoured tradition known as the turn, whereby a
single driver waits near an entrance to a tourist site, politely asking if
you’d like a ride, and if you say no he simply nods and you pass by. If, however,
he is successful in recruiting a cartload of visitors, the next driver in the
queue takes his place. It all seems very civilised.
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| Jarvey, Killarney National Park |