Kerry Way May 21, 2025 Day 7 - Sneem to Kenmare

Hillwalk Tours Overview: Near Sneem you can visit an art gallery and cafe in a woodland setting before the route passes part of the Parknasilla Resort. Hillsides and woodlands guide you through an ancient landscape, dotted with tiny hamlets and you are never far from the sea. After crossing the fast-flowing Blackwater River, you descend through woodlands and forests to the shore of Kenmare Bay – a lovely setting for a picnic with views across to the Beara Peninsula. Continue along the hillsides to Kenmare, a pretty market-town with a lively pub scene and some fantastic places to eat.

Daily Information 

Distance:   27.9 Kms   [165.6 Kms]

Walking time:   5h 46m [35h 57m]

Avg walking speed:   4.8 Kms/hr  [4.6 Kms/hr]

Elevation G/L meters: 497:(505)  [3,605:(3,666)]

Total Daily Steps: 38,102 [221.928]

Carbon copy of the previous 6 days on the Kerry Way Walk…no rain…varied terrain…feeling strong however it was a long day at 27.9 kms. It really has been an exceptional walk! 😊.

The morning scenery was superb…the early afternoon walking started with a 5 km walk on a pleasant asphalt road surrounding a golf course. Surprisingly the golf course had many brown patches due to lack of rain and poor underlying soil conditions (as per a local woman we met)

Late day walking was much tougher up and down a hill on a sketchy rocky “Billy goat” path. This takes a lot of concentration given the length of the day and the tricky downhill terrain. 

Breakfast was interesting as our host Chris was not shy about broaching current troubling events. He was very knowledgeable about the particular challenges facing Canada 🇨🇦 even displaying the “elbows up” and how Mr T influenced in a significant way the outcome of our recent Federal election.

More reasonable portions today!

Once done breakfast we were greeted by our friendly shuttle driver to take us back to where we ended up yesterday on the trail. Amazing what a night’s sleep does to one's perspective…yesterday’s junk heap taxi seemed acceptable today. 

John found his seat buckle…”the ridiculous side door” could be slammed shut with a big time push from the inside and…well…we were looking forward to the day 😊

Note this is an “emergency door” 🤣

Now I received a little good natured dig from my good friend Paulo from 🇧🇷. He professed to be shocked 😮 that we would use a taxi!!!

Now to be perfectly clear at no time have John or I used a taxi to cut out a portion of the trail. The taxi’s are only used to get to/from our accommodation providers who are off trail. We are NOT CHEATING PAULO!

For some perspective on how serious this taxi ribbing is I am including a write up from the Camino Portuguese walk…

“Paulo and I had chosen Os Lambruns as our last night’s accommodation prior to our final day...a luxury which turns out is 3 kms out the Camino way. After a long day we decided to take a taxi from a specific Camino point to Os Lambruns and the next morning return to the same specific point and resume our walk. Totally kosher.

Seemed logical however hopping into a taxi might be misinterpreted by fellow pilgrims so I was determined to be careful. What followed in my recollection of events. We wanted a taxi...none to be found. We start walking in circles asking people. At one point we are directed to a booth to phone in front of a million pilgrims for a taxi!!!!

Telephone booth for Pilgrims

While walking around helplessly... estimate 2 kms, Paulo thinks 500 meters, so let’s say 1.75 kms we turn the corner and see Steffan and Allan wave to us from a bar. Panic sets in...if they see us entering a taxi we will NEVER hear the end of it no matter how logical our reasoning is!

During the walk which I estimate would be 30 to 45 minutes...Paulo might say 15 - 20 so let’s settle on 40 minutes it starts to rain!!! Monsoon like rain, Paulo might say light rain so let’s settle on a heavy downpour.

Finally a nice woman in a supermarket provides Paulo with a phone number and a taxi is there in a few minutes.

At this point I gave Paulo some very specific pilgrim avoidance instructions for the taxi...remove hats and slouch in our seats as low as possible...who cares what the taxi driver thinks! We must not get people who do not understand our logical plan providing FAKE NEWS to others!”

Today however had some challenges…the first one could have been a disaster…the second very unfortunate and the third a very pleasant surprise.

- #1 Breakfast completed we gather our stuff and hop in the taxi. Driver starts and I pad my pockets “NO PHONE”. Geez I hustle back to our table and there it is. Phew 😮‍💨 

- #2 We stop for a quick break…water guzzle or other. As I am leaving John says “missing something?” Have my wallet, phone, phone walking poles so??? John hands me my Fitbit watch. It has a band which uses magnetic click mechanism and it simply detached and fell to the ground. Geez no way would I have EVER found the watch! Merci John!

- #3 Somewhere on the trail I feel my iPhone vibrating in my pocket. What gives? I look at the screen and my oldest daughter Lise is there…then granddaughters  Elodie and Rose 🥰. Have a quick nice chat as they are off to school. Typical iPhone jiggling and somehow I FaceTimed them. Could have been anyone on my Contact List! Geez that was a lucky break for me.

The Irish word for the day is Sculling

Definition: A slang word for drinking down an alcoholic drink as fast as you can !

Sample Usage: We were banjaxed when we arrived in Kenmare so we sculled a pint of cider.  

We met again two walkers…a woman from the United States and a man from Israel. No idea how they managed to get ahead of use! John the detective suggested all manner of nefarious ways this might have happened.

John just came in…I was very concerned he had pulled a runner to solve the local murder case however he is back!

Walked 1.4km to downtown Kenmare for a great supper where we lucked out and listened to two women playing Irish music…another Ireland to do complete 😊

Kenmare Fish Cakes…so good!

Spirited Irish Music

A superb walk is coming to an end as tomorrow Day 8 we will walk into Killarney. I have a lot to be thankful for! Some pictures to give you some perspective on today.

Just to prove I am actually walking!

An impressive selfie post walk!