Kenmare and the Ring of Kerry - Ireland 2014 - page 310

highest bump on the distant ridge across the Black Valley to the west is Carrauntoohil, Ire-
land's tallest mountain at 3,400 feet.
▲▲▲ Kissane Sheep Farm
Animal lovers will enjoy an hour's visit to this hardworking 2,500-acre Irish farm,
perched on a scenic slope above the Black Valley. John Kissane, whose family has raised
sheep here for five generations, gives hands-on demonstrations of sheep shearing. John
(or his brother Noel) explains the process and invites you to touch the pile of fresh wool
afterward. You can feel the lanolin, which acts as natural waterproofing for the sheep and
is extracted from the wool to sell to pharmaceutical firms (synthetic manufacturing has
driven the price of wool so low, it's not worth selling otherwise). But the highlight of any
visit is the demonstration of sheepherding by the highly alert family dogs (border col-
lies trained here since puppyhood). John commands the dogs from afar using an array of
verbal calls and hand signals.
Note that this is a working farm—demonstration times fluctuate depending on neces-
sary farm work. Call ahead for times (usually in the afternoon), or check the current sched-
ule on their website, under “Sheep Dog Demonstration Calendar.”
Cost and Hours: €7, most afternoons June-Aug, April-May and Sept by appointment
only (minimum 15 people), closed Oct-March, on N-71 between Ladies View and Moll's
Gap, tel. [phone], mobile [phone], [e-mail] ,
www.kissanesheepfarm.com .
From Kissane Sheep Farm to Kenmare: Continue driving south on N-71. Going over
Moll's Gap (WCs and Avoca Café beside parking lot), you'll descend into Kenmare. The
rugged, bare rock on either side of the road was rounded and smoothed by the grinding
action of glaciers over thousands of years. In the distance to the north (on your right) you
can see the Gap of Dunloe, a perfect example of a U-shaped glacial valley notch.
Ring of Kerry
The Ring of Kerry (the Iveragh Peninsula) has been the perennial breadwinner of Irish
tourism for decades now. Lassoed by a winding coastal road (the Ring), this mountainous,
lake-splattered region comes with breathtaking scenery and the highest peak in Ireland.
While a veritable fleet of big, tourist-laden buses circles it each day, they generally stay
together and seem to stop at the same handful of attractions. Therefore, if you avoid those
placesatrushhour,theRingfeelsremarkablyun-spoiledanddramaticallyisolated.Clever