Killarney National Park is one of the highlights of the Ring of Kerry. It's right next to the town of Killarney. It became a national park in 1932 but has a human history going back 4,000 years. It was Ireland's first national park and has been expanded since it became a park to over 25,000 acres. The park includes lakes, mountains, woodlands including the most extensive native forest remaining in Ireland. It also has a herd of red deer.

There's lots to see and do in Killarney National Park but one of the main highlights is the Muckross House. It was completed in 1843 and is a 65 room Tudor style mansion. The gardens surrounding it are just as impressive. Queen Victoria visited Muckross House in 1861.

Muckross House was a planned visit for us. It changed hands three or four times with the last family owning it being an American named William Bourn in 1910. He presented the estate to his daughter Maud on her marriage and then he moved to California. But Maud died in 1929 and her husband's family donated it to Ireland in her memory.

Our main reason for wanting to visit Muckross House is because the Bourn family moved to California after they left Muckross House. They built Filoli, a mansion, only about 25 miles north of our house. It was built between 1915 and 1917. Bourn owned one of the richest gold mines in California and was president of the Spring Valley Water Company which supplied San Francisco's water. Filoli is a 56-room house and sits on a 654 acre estate. We have visited Filoli and plan to visit it again.

The name Filoli is an acronym formed by combining the first two letters from key words of William Bourn's credo: "Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life."

Muckross House looks out over Muckross Lake.

We went for a long hike around the grounds, well beyond the gardens.