Ring of Kerry, Part II

Two dry and twenty damp travelers climbed aboard the bus on Valentia Island to continue our counter-clockwise tour around the Ring of Kerry.  It was raining at this point but it eased up as we drove.  By the end of the afternoon the sun had broken through again, albeit briefly.

Sneem

After a quick stop for some hot beverages and snacks in Sneem, we continued on to the Kissane Sheep Farm.  All of the towns we've viewed along the way have been quite colorful - it seems that selling paint in southern Ireland would be a good business.

John Kissane, with a bit of his herd

The Kissane family have been farming their patch of County Kerry (approximately 3,000 acres) for 150 years.  John demonstrated for us how he and the dogs work together to gather the sheep and bring them in to the farm for check-ups and medication six time each year.  As there are too many sheep (more than 1,000) to do this all at once, it is an ongoing process throughout the year.

We met two of their dogs including Jane, the lead dog.

Jane

John showed us how he uses different commands with different dogs, and how they work as a team to herd the sheep along.  The dogs charged up the mountain and within minutes they had brought down a small group so we could get up close and personal with them.

Next we moved on to the shearing room, where they demonstrated how a professional can quickly shear a sheep, holding it down with only his legs and hands.

A sheep waiting to be sheared

I have a video of the shearing process that I'll upload once I figure out how to do that.

Our last stop of the day was a photo op overlooking the lakes in Killarney National Park.  The point is called "Ladies' View" because Queen Victoria, while visiting, proclaimed it "a view fit for ladies".

Ladies' View, Killarney National Park

We had some sun again by this point and found a rainbow on the ride back, bringing the day back around to our starting point.