Killorglin, Cill Orglan, Co. Kerry

Cill Orglan · Co. Kerry

A town that crowns a goat king for three days every August. The rest is footnotes.

Killorglin sits on a hill above the River Laune, twenty-two kilometres west of Killarney, where the Ring of Kerry stops being an idea and becomes a road. For 362 days a year it is a working market town with a steep main street, a bridge, and a salmon river. For the other three, it crowns a goat.

Puck Fair is the thing. Everything else here is in orbit around it. A wild billy goat is brought down from the Macgillycuddy's Reeks, a young girl from a local school crowns him King Puck, and he sits on a scaffolding tower above the square for three days while the town drinks, trades horses, and remembers itself. Nobody is entirely sure how old it is. The town has a charter from 1613. The fair is older than the charter. The goat predates both.

Outside of August the place is quieter than its reputation suggests. The Laune runs salmon in season. The pubs are real pubs. The food is better than it has any right to be for a town this size - Sol y Sombra and Nick's are the kind of restaurants you remember. Stop here on the way around the Ring. Stay an hour. Or come the second week of August and stay three days, like everyone else.

Population

2,163

Walk score

Up the hill, down to the bridge, ten minutes

Founded

Charter 1613; fair older

Coords

52.1065° N, 9.7850° W

01 / 10

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 Puck Fair

August 10, 11, 12. Every year.

A wild mountain goat is caught, crowned King Puck by a young girl called the Queen of Puck, and reigns over the town from a high platform for three days. Possibly the oldest fair in Ireland. Possibly pre-Christian. Definitely happening again this August.

Stories & lore → 02 The bridge

King Puck stands in bronze.

Alan Ryan Hall's bronze goat has watched the River Laune since 2001. Photograph it. Then go and find the real one in August.

Stories & lore → 03 The Ring

First stop out of Killarney.

Killorglin is where the Ring of Kerry properly starts if you drive it the sensible way (anti-clockwise). 22km from Killarney, the road climbs over the bridge and the peninsula opens up.

Getting there →

02 / 10

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

The Old Forge

Stone walls, slow pints

Pub & restaurant

On Lower Bridge Street near the river. The kind of pub where the fire is on in October and the toasted sandwich is taken seriously. Music some weekends.

The Bianconi

Bar food, busy

Pub, restaurant & inn

Named for Charles Bianconi, who ran the 19th-century coach network. Now a pub-restaurant-inn on Annadale Road. Crowded during Puck. Civilised the rest of the year.

Falvey's

Townland regulars

Local pub

A proper Killorglin pub. Pints, talk, no fuss. The crowd is local and stays that way unless you sit down and say hello.

03 / 10

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
Sol y Sombra	Tapas, in a converted church	€€	Spanish tapas served in the old Church of Ireland building on the lower end of town. The setting alone is worth the drive - high windows, original stonework, a long bar where the priest used to stand. The food keeps up.
Nick's	Seafood & steaks	€€€	An institution. Nick Foley opened it in 1976 and the family still runs it. White tablecloths, piano in the bar, Kerry seafood done plainly and well. Book ahead for Puck weekend or forget it.
Zest	Cafe & lunch	€	Daytime spot on Iveragh Road. Soup, sandwiches, decent coffee, the brown bread you wanted. Open till four. Closes when the town does.

04 / 10

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
The Bianconi Inn	Inn & restaurant, Annadale Road	Already in the pubs section - it is also an inn with rooms. On the Ring of Kerry road, easy for arrivals off the N72. Busy during Puck Fair; book months ahead in August.
Grove Lodge Guesthouse	Guesthouse on the Laune	Five minutes' walk from town, on the banks of the River Laune. Family-run, recently refurbished, views down to the water. Quiet at the back. The breakfast sets you up for a day on the Ring.
Carrig Country House	Country house hotel, Caragh Lake	Five kilometres north, on Caragh Lake rather than in town. Victorian, formal, the kind of hotel that separates the Puck Fair from the peace and quiet. Worth it if you want a lake rather than a river.

05 / 10

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

August 10, 11, 12

Puck Fair

Three days. The Gathering Day, the Fair Day, the Scattering Day. A wild mountain goat is caught in the Reeks, brought into town, and crowned King Puck by a young girl chosen as the Queen of Puck. He sits on a 15-metre scaffold above the square for three days while horse-trading, music, and drinking go on below him. Origin theories run from a Cromwellian warning (a goat fled the army and alerted the town, allegedly) to a pre-Christian harvest rite to the Celtic god Lugh. Nobody knows. The fair is older than anyone who could tell you. He's released back to the mountain on the third night.

King Puck, 2001

The bronze goat

Alan Ryan Hall's bronze of a Puck goat stands beside the bridge over the Laune, unveiled in 2001. He looks down the river with the expression of an animal who has been crowned king and would prefer to be eating gorse. Most-photographed object in town. Stand beside him for the obligatory shot, then walk the fifty paces to the river itself.

A working river

Salmon and the Laune

The River Laune drains the lakes of Killarney into Dingle Bay and runs straight through Killorglin. Salmon and sea trout come up it from the sea every summer. The fishery is properly run - beats are leased, licences required, ghillies still earning a living. Walk the riverbank below the bridge in July and you'll see waders standing in the current with the patience of people who actually catch things.

06 / 10

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Kerry Way - Laune valley section The Kerry Way long-distance trail (215 km total) passes through and out of Killorglin along the River Laune. The section west toward Glenbeigh follows the valley floor before climbing to the high moorland. Walk a stretch and come back, or arrange a lift from Glenbeigh.

8-12 km one-waydistance

Half daytime

Riverside walk, town to bridge From the town centre down to the old stone bridge and along the Laune bank. The King Puck bronze is at the end of the bridge. Anglers stand in the river in season. Short, flat, good before a pint.

2 km returndistance

30 mintime

07 / 10

Tours, if you want one.

The ones below are bookable through our partners - pick one that suits, or skip the lot and just turn up.

via Viator

Sustainable Ring of Kerry Rail Tour from Dublin

day trips

Take the train from Dublin to Killarney and join a full coach circuit of the Ring of Kerry - Dingle Bay, MacGillycuddy Reeks, Glenbeigh, Waterville and the Lakes of Killarney.

15 hours 30 minutes From €161

See tour → via Viator

3-Day Blarney Castle, Ring of Kerry, & Cliffs of Moher Rail tour

day trips

Three days by rail and coach from Dublin - Blarney Castle, the Ring of Kerry and the Cliffs of Moher, with B&B accommodation and a hosted train experience included.

72 hours From €1039

See tour → via Viator

4-Day Blarney Castle, Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher & Connemara

day trips

A 4-day rail and coach tour from Dublin Heuston covering Cork, Blarney Castle, Ring of Kerry, Bunratty Castle, Cliffs of Moher, Galway Bay and Connemara.

96 hours From €1321

See tour →

We earn a small commission when you book through our tour pages. It costs you nothing extra and keeps the village hubs free. All Co. Kerry tours →

08 / 10

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Quiet. The Ring of Kerry traffic hasn't started. The Laune is full and the salmon season is opening.

◉ Go

Summer (Puck)

Aug 10-12

Three days that justify the year. Book accommodation six months out or sleep in the car. The town triples in size and means it.

◉ Go

Summer (rest)

Jun-Jul, late Aug

Coach traffic on the Ring is constant. The town itself is still pleasant; the road outside is not.

◐ Mind yourself

Autumn

Sep-Oct

After Puck, before the weather closes in. The pubs settle back to themselves. The hills go gold.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Quiet to the point of empty on a wet Tuesday. The Old Forge will still have a fire on. That may be enough.

◐ Mind yourself

09 / 10

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Puck Fair accommodation without booking six months ahead

August 10-12 is the only time this town triples in size. Every bed in a twenty-kilometre radius fills from January. Book early or arrive by day and leave by night.

Ring of Kerry anti-clockwise in July between 10am and 4pm

The coaches all go anti-clockwise. In peak July they are on every straight. Go at dawn, or drive the other direction and accept some tight bends.

Nick's restaurant on a Puck weekend without a reservation

The best kitchen in town books out a year in advance for those three days. On any other weekend it is merely well-loved and two weeks ahead.

Getting there.

By car

Killarney to Killorglin is 22km, 25 minutes on the N72. Tralee is 26km north on the N70. The Ring of Kerry begins (or ends) at the bridge.

By bus

Bus Éireann 279 and 280 run Killarney-Killorglin-Cahersiveen along the Ring of Kerry. Multiple services daily in summer; thinner in winter.

By train

Nearest station is Killarney (22km), on the Dublin-Tralee line. Bus or taxi from there.

By air

Kerry Airport (KIR) is 30km, about 35 minutes by car. Cork is 1h 45m. Shannon is 2h 30m.

Next on the tour

Co. Kerry

Glenbeigh

Fifteen minutes west on the Ring. Rossbeigh Strand, the Kerry Way, and a quieter pint after Killorglin.

Co. Kerry

Killarney

Twenty-two kilometres east. The big base for the Ring, the lakes, and the train. Killorglin's loud cousin.

Co. Kerry

Cromane

Ten minutes off the main road, out on a spit into Castlemaine Harbour. Mussels, a single pub, and a sunset that does not photograph.

Co. Kerry

Castlemaine

South-west down the Maine, the hinge between Dingle and the Ring.

Co. Kerry

Milltown

A few kilometres south-west, a Godfrey estate town on the river Maine.