We left Limerick this morning and headed south west towards County Kerry. Our first stop en route was at Adare - a small village renowned as one of Ireland's prettiest villages. It also boasts a fantastic 19th century manor house as well as a castle.

The manor house is set on a 840-acre estate, located on the banks of the River Maigue in the village of Adare and now operates as a five star hotel. Bill Clinton stayed in Adare Manor back in September 1998. Nearby the manor is Desmond Castle, which stands on the north bank of the Maigue. Unfortunately time didn't allow us to visit the castle, but we did manage to drive through the estate and get some fantastic views of the manor house.

From Adare, we continued south west, passing through Milltown and Killorglin. Every year, in Killorglin, starting on 10th of August, they hold the three-day Puck Fair, the oldest traditional fair in Ireland, and one of the oldest non-religious fairs in the world. Each year a group of people go up into the mountains, catch a wild goat (which they crown 'King Puck') and keep it on a high stand in the town centre. And at this point the fair has started. Then, in true Irish tradition, they spend the next three days dancing, singing and of course, drinking. Makes sense doesn't it?

Killorglin is also the beginning (or end of, depending on which direction you've chosen) of the Ring of Kerry - a famous tourist trail in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. The route covers a 179 km circular road, starting from Killorglin and passing by amazing views of Dingle Bay, then through Cahersiveen, Waterville, Sneem, Kenmare, heading around the Iveragh Peninsula and finally ending up in Killarney.

We spent the majority of the day driving around the loop, stopping off along the way in the various small towns and villages, as well as certain check points with incredible coastal views. Towards the end of the loop and inside the Killarney National Park are the Lakes of Killarney - three lakes of varying size and are a renowned scenic attraction - the largest of them being Lough Leane, then Muckross Lake, and finally Upper Lake as the smallest of the lot.

Originally I had booked into a hostel, but on checking into the folks' hotel, there was an extra bed, so decided to forfeit the hostel and use the hotel instead. Tonight we took a wonder down the road to the main road of Killarney and found the Danny Mann pub which looked fairly quiet. We had Irish Stew for dinner, followed by an Irish folk music night, by which point the pub had properly filled up, which made for a good atmosphere in the end.