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Lake, Auger Lake, and Black Lough. The River Loe connects
each of these lakes, from which the gap gets its name.
The Wishing Bridge is between Coosaun Lough and Black
Lake and gets its name because it was said that wishes
made while standing on the bridge will come true.
The two mountain ranges flanking the Gap are fairly distinctive
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The Purple Mountains is a small range situated
on the eastern side of the Gap and are evident by
the purple hue of the stones. There are less than
a dozen peaks in the range with the Purple Mountain
being the tallest at 832 meters, or about 2730 feet.
The Purple Mountains are a popular destination for
walkers and hikers. The Killarney National Park incorporates
the Purple Mountains range, which also includes the
Tomies Mountain (735 meters) and Shehy Mountain (571
meters). While the mountains are mainly covered in
low growing gorse, heather and moss, the lower slopes
are rimmed in oak forests, some of which are remnants
of primaeval forests that covered Ireland long before
the arrival of man.
MacGillyduccy's Reeks is a much larger mountain
range and is situated to the western side of the Gap.
The Reeks are known as the Backbone of the Iveragh
Peninsula, aka the Ring of Kerry, and has the tallest
mountain of Ireland as its most prominent feature,
Carrauntoohil (1032 meters, or 3405 feet). Caher Mountain
comes in a close second highest mountain in Ireland
(973 meters, or 3192 feet).
Most visitors to the Gap of Dunloe start their journey
from the Killarney side of the Gap where they'll find
the famous Kate Kearney's Cottage. Kate was a local beauty
who once lived in this house. In the 19th century, she
operated an illegal drinking house for travelers from
her home! Today the house is open to the public as a restaurant,
pub and gift shop. Behind the house one will find jaunting
cars for hire that will take visitors up the Gap in the
traditional form of transportation.
Until recent years, the road through the Gap was mostly
unpaved, and while paved today, it's still a narrow, single
lane way through the Gap. A handful of homes on this end
of the Gap share this road with jaunting cars, hikers
and walkers.
The Black Valley
This is another unique area and is located to the southern
side of MacGillycuddy's Reeks. It connects the Gap of
Dunloe with Moll's Gap. The valley can be seen from Ladies'
View, a vista along the road through the Killarney National
Park, and is famous for being the last place on mainland
Ireland to be connected to electricity and telephone because
of its remoteness.
While most tourists stick to the main roads through the
Killarney National Park, those who are more adventurous
will brave the narrow road through the valley to see a
truly wild part of Ireland.
There are very few homes in the Black Valley; one can
drive for a couple miles without seeing a house. What
visitors will see really depends on the season. During
the tourist season, from mid-Spring to late Summer, acre
upon acre of bog cotton and wild yellow irises blanket
the valley floor. Wild red fuchsia, purple heather and
bright yellow gorse line the road and rocky outcrops.
Cascades, streams, lakes and rivers flow through blanket
bog and woody glens. Late in the season, leafy woodlands
change colors and shows another side of the valley with
fiery colors.
Lord Brandon's Cottage
At the juncture between the valley road and the Head of
the Gap, visitors will come to Lord Brandon's Cottage.
The cottage was the hunting lodge for Lord Brandon, the
Right Honorable and Reverend William Crosbie (1 November
1771 to 3 May 1832)...Baron of Brandon and Rector of Castleisland.
It was written in his obituary that Lord Brandon was "a
man of superior order of mind and of great literary attainments."
He was also respected by his friends and colleagues,
as he was a warm and generous person. For much of the
last twenty years of his life he lived in his lakeside
cottage in Killarney, now called Lord Brandon's Cottage,
though the last two years his home was in Nice, France,
where the weather was much more suitable for his aging
constitution.
Today, the original cottage is in ruin, but there is
a cafe on the site which offers refreshments to visitors.
Paths wander through the surrounding lands, and there
is a jetty behind the house where one can get a boat tour
of the Killarney Lakes.
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Black Lake
River Loe
Kate Kearney's Cottage
MacGillycuddy's Reeks
Owenreagh River - Black Valley
Lord Brandon's Cottage
Cafe at Lord Brandon's Cottage
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Driving tour, easy access on paved road, take care with
wheelchairs around horses