There are several companies offering a “hawk walk” throughout Ireland. Falconry is a big thing there apparently. I decided on Falconry Kerry just outside Killarney as I thought it fit our itinerary to drive there before heading to our Airbnb in Killarney.

We left Dingle around 2:30pm and headed to the meeting spot, at a farm just outside Killarney. Unfortunately, the road Waze directed us on was blocked by construction equipment so we had to route around and through some local farms to get to the right place. The falconry expert waited for us and we drove with him through the farm to a field.

We got to meet three different owls and a hawk. We basically held out a thick glove with some food (chicken feet) for the birds to come land on our arm and eat the food.

We learned a lot about the birds, their history and how they get trained. They had to be brought out one at a time as they do not mix the birds. They all get their own barn to live in on the farm. There were a few alpacas in an adjacent field, so of course our daughter had more fun with those.

The experience wasn’t cheap (around 230 Euros total for the four of us) but a lot of fun and very unique. From there, we had a very short drive into Killarney. Our Airbnb owner gave us very specific directions on where to park (a paid lot nearby) and how to access our apartment. We spent two nights in Killarney.

As for the town, we enjoyed the nightlife and music both nights. There’s a unique pub called John M. Reidy that includes a regular pub, coffee bar (that also serves beer), cocktail bar, and an outdoor courtyard. The pub also owns the restaurant next door called Hilliard’s where we ate dinner one night. On our second night, our daughter was really craving pizza so we had some at Tatler Jack’s. It was, well, exactly what you would expect from Irish pizza.

We also stopped at a few different pubs each night for some Irish music. We enjoyed our stay in Killarney. It was a good place to stop between driving the Dingle Peninsula and then driving the Ring of Kerry on consecutive days.

Up Next: Driving the Ring of Kerry

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