All ruins are the same, right? Just a bunch of old stone castles and abbeys that are no longer in use, right? Wrong! If you have ever read one of my blogs about ruins or listened to my podcast (Kathleen’s Korner) about ruins, then you will know how much I LOVE them. And Muckross Abbey is definitely one of the best, intact Abbey ruins I have ever been able to walk around. The Abbey is in the Killarney National Park and there is no fee to get into it. It’s a peaceful ruin that is cool to walk around.
So why do I think Muckross Abbey is one of the best ruins I’ve ever been to? Because of how much I was able to walk around it with my husband freely. This abbey is almost like a maze. Usually, when we go to a ruin like this there are bars in the doorways so you can’t enter into a room or walk up the stairs. In the case of Muckross Abbey, we were able to walk into I think almost all the rooms. They were dark and a bit eerie but put a flashlight on and you are fine. It was cool to be able to explore all the rooms in that abbey. I also love the fact that there is a very old tree standing in the middle of the abbey’s cloisters.
I loved walking up and down all the different rounded stairwells with my husband. I was rather impressed with the upstairs part of Muckross Abbey. All the walls are still there. There is so much to walk around. The doorways are cool to look at and walk through, remember to mind your head if you are tall. I love the fact that the doors are still on some of the doorways. Being able to walk all the way up the tower part of the Abbey ruin was so cool. All in all Muckross Abbey for me was worth visiting. I love ruins and this one is definitely at the top of my list for Abbey ruins. It’s free. It’s beautiful to look at. It’s cool to wander around. It’s peaceful. And I absolutely loved walking around it with my husband and getting to walking up the winding stairways. This is definitely my kind of ruin and I look forward to going back to it someday.
Kathleen Smith author of Miscarriages My Story, Brooklyn Raised Livin’ Upstate & Hey You Moments to Remember. Blogs about a variety of things. Has her own podcast Kathleen’s Korner and she is the CEO of BearsWithApps. OH, let’s not forget her YouTube channel