ARDFERT, 4 m. N.W. of Tralee, is now a decayed village, though an episcopal see in early times. It has the ruins of a splendid Cathedral, with curious monuments and gravestones, and a sculptured figure of St. Brandon. Ruins of round tower. To the E., ruins of Franciscan Friary, a venerable structure, from whence follow road leading to the sea and mansion of the Crosbie family. Visit Ballyheigh bay with fine strand; ancient Castle of Ballykeal; Castle on Ferrit Island; Kerryhead surrounded by picturesque and savage wildness; Kilcroghan, where is a curious hermitage cut in the rock, also a Danish fortification; Lixnaw the ancient seat of the Earls of Kerry; Odorney Abbey in ruins; remains of Rahanane Castle, once an episcopal residence; and lofty round tower at Rattoo. The tourist must employ a guide in surveying this district.
CASTLE ISLAND, 9 m. E. of Tralee, a decayed village on the route to Killarney, though anciently the shire town. See parish Ch.; roofless town house, barracks, &c.--As there are some decent inns, the tourist may from hence visit some of the scenery to the E. of Killarney.
DINGLE, 16 m. W. of Tralee, forms a station for the wild western district.--See Gaol built on vaults of Old Castle. Notice the various houses built in Spanish fashion, with stone balconies. See the mansion of the Knight of Kerry; the ruins of an ancient Monastery; also of part of the old parish Ch. and monuments of the Fitzgerald family. 1 m. N.E. see the vitriolic spa of Ballybeg; also Burnham, or Ballingolin Castle. Whilst exploring the wild beauty of this vicinity, the tourist will be amply repaid for his labour, by a journey across the Brandon mountains towards Tralee Bay. The views which they afford are highly picturesque, and the prospects from almost every eminence are very extensive. Ventry Bay merits investigation; on the western point, Caher Trant, are remains of a Danish entrenchment, and another at Rathanane, near a ruined Castle of the Fitzgeralds; also a stone Cell near it. Some historical interest is given to this isthmus, by a tradition that it was the last ground in Ireland possessed by the Danes; and there is a curious story about it in Hanmer's Chronicle, illustrative of the manners of those early times. A little further west is what is esteemed the _furthest_ extremity of the island, to which, like Johnny Groat's house in Caithness, is given "a local habitation and a name," its appellation being "Tyvorney Geerane," or _Molly Geerane's house_. From hence the tourist may visit Blasket Islands, remarkable for the simplicity of the inhabitants, for ancient religious ruins, and for a great variety of aquatic fowls, some rivalling the ortolan.