Killarney National Park

Listen for a moment. Under the oak trees the air is cool and damp, and it smells of moss, peat and wet stone. Somewhere a stream runs over rock. The light comes down green and broken through the leaves, and beyond the trees there is the flat silver shine of water. This is Killarney National Park, in County Kerry, in the far southwest of Ireland.

The park covers roughly 10,000 hectares of lake, woodland, bog and mountain. It sits right at the edge of Killarney town, so you can walk from a café into ancient forest in a matter of minutes. Few national parks anywhere sit this close to a town. It was also the first national park in Ireland, and it laid the foundation for every park that followed.

The story of how it began is a story of a gift. The core of the park was once the Muckross Estate. In 1932 the estate was given to the Irish nation by the Bourn Vincent family. The American businessman William Bowers Bourn and his daughter and son-in-law, Arthur Vincent, had owned it. After Maud Vincent died young, the family decided to hand the land over to the public. That gift is the reason you can walk here freely today.

At the heart of the old estate stands Muckross House. It is a Victorian mansion of grey stone, built in the 1840s for the Herbert family. Its tall chimneys and gables rise above lawns that run down towards the lake. In 1861 Queen Victoria came to stay here. The family spent enormous sums preparing for her visit... and some historians believe the cost helped push them towards financial trouble in the years that followed.

Now turn your attention to the water. There are three main lakes. Lough Leane, the Lower Lake, is the largest. Muckross Lake sits in the middle, and the Upper Lake lies deeper among the mountains. The lakes are linked by narrow channels, and boats still carry visitors between them. On a still morning the surface holds a perfect copy of the hills. On a windy afternoon it turns dark and choppy within minutes.

On the shore of Lough Leane stands Ross Castle, a tower house from the fifteenth century. It was built by the O'Donoghue clan, a Gaelic ruling family of this region. Its walls are thick, its windows narrow, and it was made for defence rather than comfort. Here is a story worth knowing. According to an old prophecy, the castle could never be taken from land — only from the water. In the 1650s, during the Cromwellian wars, attacking forces brought boats onto the lake. The defenders, so the tale goes, saw the boats and lost heart.

The O'Donoghue name lives on in local legend too. Locals say that the old chieftain lies sleeping beneath the waters of Lough Leane. Every seven years, on a May morning, he is said to ride across the lake on a white horse. Lucky witnesses, the story claims, will have good fortune. It is folklore, of course — but on a misty morning, when the lake is grey and silent, you may understand why the story has survived so long.

Out on Lough Leane lies the island of Innisfallen. A monastery was founded there in the early medieval period, and its ruins still stand among the trees. Monks on this island kept a famous chronicle known as the Annals of Inisfallen. It is one of the oldest records of early Irish history. Think about that for a moment. On a small island in this lake, people wrote down the events of their world, year after year, for centuries.

Back on land, near Muckross House, you will find Muckross Abbey. It was a Franciscan friary, founded in the fifteenth century. The roof is gone, but the walls, the tower and the cloister remain. And in the middle of the cloister grows a great yew tree. Its trunk is thick and twisted, and its branches cover the square like a dark green ceiling. Many visitors walk straight past the cloister and miss it completely. Do not miss it.

The trees here are a surprise in themselves. The park holds some of the largest areas of native oak woodland left in Ireland. Near Muckross there is also Reenadinna Wood, a rare yew forest growing on limestone. Woods like this are very uncommon in Europe. Look too for the strawberry tree, called arbutus. It has small red fruits and peeling reddish bark. It grows wild here but is normally found much further south, around the Mediterranean.

And then there are the deer. Killarney is home to Ireland's only native herd of red deer. Scientists believe red deer have lived in this area continuously since the end of the last Ice Age. In autumn the stags call across the hills — a deep, rough roar that carries a long way. Please watch them from a distance. They are wild animals, and in the autumn rut the stags can be unpredictable.

You will hear the clip of hooves on the roads, too. These come from the jaunting cars, open horse-drawn carriages driven by men and women called jarveys. The jarveys are famous for their stories, and a good one will mix history, gossip and a little exaggeration. A short drive south takes you to Torc Waterfall, where water falls in white steps through the trees. Further along the road is Ladies View. The name comes from Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting, who are said to have admired the scene in 1861.

The wider landscape has been recognised internationally. In 1981 the park was made a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, a status for places where nature and people live side by side. The mountains to the west include the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, the highest range in Ireland. On clear days their ridges stand sharp against the sky. On grey days they disappear into cloud, and the whole valley feels closer and quieter.

Before you move on, stop where you are. Feel the soft ground under your feet. Notice how many shades of green there are around you — the moss, the oak leaves, the bracken, the dark yew. Listen for water, because in this park it is almost always somewhere near. Many generations have stood on these shores and looked at these same hills. Now it is your turn. Take your time, and let the place set the pace.