Best time to go
A parking lot serves the cottage, though its space and ease of use aren’t clear. The operator recommends calling ahead outside the season; don’t assume the kitchen or evening entertainment is running on a particular day.
Overview
About Kate Kearney’s Cottage
Why stop
- Traditional music and dancing can make an evening visit lively.
Heads up
- Food quality and service can be uneven.
Map
Where it is
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Full mapPlan your stop
Before you go
Best time to go
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Killarney Tour Guide
Your drive to Kate Kearney’s Cottage, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Killarney National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
Recorded for this area
Tomies Wood and O'Sullivan's Cascade0:00 / 0:25
“You're approaching Tomies Wood, where a woodland walk leads to O'Sullivan's Cascade.”
Plays on the road 2 km from Kate Kearney’s Cottage in the Parkwolf Killarney Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Ross Island Copper Mines
- Five Mile Bridge and Eagles’ Nest
- Ross Castle and Innisfallen
- Upper Lake Viewpoint: Rock Shaped by Ice
- 18 audio storiesacross Killarney’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Red Deer, Sika Deer, Feral Goat, and 11 more
- Works offlinemaps, 29 trails, 32 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
More about Kate Kearney’s Cottage
At the Gap’s entranceKate Kearney’s Cottage is a family-run bar and restaurant at the northern entrance to the Gap…
Kate Kearney’s Cottage is a family-run bar and restaurant at the northern entrance to the Gap of Dunloe. It’s a natural start or finish for the valley outing: the full walk is about 11 km, and jaunting-car trips also use this gateway. Pair the cottage with the Gap rather than making the building your only stop.
Food and eveningsThe bar serves pub food, with a menu that has included pizza, vegan dishes and Kate Kearney’s…
The bar serves pub food, with a menu that has included pizza, vegan dishes and Kate Kearney’s Coffee with poitín. The menu can change, so don’t plan around one dish. Traditional music and dancing make some evenings lively, but they aren’t on every night. Call ahead outside the main season and check which evenings have entertainment.
A cottage with a long storyThe family story dates the present home to 1849, when Dónal Mór Moriarty and Julia Burke began…
The family story dates the present home to 1849, when Dónal Mór Moriarty and Julia Burke began building near the remains of Kate Kearney’s house. Kate’s story as a shebeen keeper and poitín maker is local lore rather than established biography. Lady Morgan’s ballad about Kate, written around 1800 and performed in an 1807 play, helped carry the name beyond this valley.
Shaped by iceThe Gap is a U-shaped valley between MacGillycuddy’s Reeks and Purple Mountain.
The Gap is a U-shaped valley between MacGillycuddy’s Reeks and Purple Mountain. Glaciers carved it about 20,000 years ago; as the ice retreated, it left hollows that filled with lakes. Look past the cottages and the rounded green slopes make more sense as part of that old glacial landscape.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Killarney
106 sightingsRed DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
209 sightingsSika DeerMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
12 sightingsFeral GoatMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
49 sightingsSwanMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
48 sightingsHeronMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
16 sightingsCormorantMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Killarney. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
