Sneem is the village the coach buses stop at for a coffee and a leg-stretch on the Ring of Kerry. That is the version most people see - forty minutes, a scone, back on the bus. The other version is the one where you stay the night, walk down to the salmon waterfalls behind the church, and find a quiet pint in The Blue Bull while the day-trippers are halfway to Killarney.
The shape of the place is the trick. The Sneem River splits the village clean in two - North Square on one side, South Square on the other, a single stone bridge between them. The Irish name means knot, and you can see why. In South Square, Steve Crusher Casey - world-champion wrestler, born in the parish - stands in bronze with a stance that could go through a wall.
Up the road at Parknasilla, George Bernard Shaw wrote part of Saint Joan in a hotel room looking out over Kenmare Bay. The village has the Pyramids - a small sculpture park of stone pyramids set just off the road, built by a local artist in the 1980s, deeply odd, and worth ten minutes. Quill's Woollen Market on the corner of South Square is the original of the chain. Stay for a night and the place stops being a coach stop and starts being a village.
[object Object]
[object Object]
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
The Sneem River cuts the village in two. North Square has the de Gaulle monument and the church. South Square has the Crusher Casey bronze. The bridge between them is the whole town.
Stories & lore → 02 The RingSneem is the Irish word for knot. Kenmare to the east, Waterville to the west, and most coaches stop here for forty minutes and a coffee. Stay overnight and you get the village back after four o'clock.
Where next → 03 The waterWalk five minutes from South Square and the river drops over a series of stepped falls. Salmon work their way up in autumn. It is not signposted to a coach park. Find it on foot.
Read on →None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:
Painted blue, sits on North Square. Stone walls, low ceilings, a fire most evenings. Decent food, proper pint, the closest the village has to a session pub on a quiet night.
On the North Square side of the bridge. The shop sign and the pub sign are the same family name. Quiet on a Tuesday, busy on a Friday, and a tune appears now and again without much warning.
Known locally as Kelly's, on South Square near Quill's. Bigger room than the Blue Bull, music on summer weekends, food until late. The pub the coach drivers know about.
| Place | Type | € | Local note |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Village Kitchen | Cafe & lunch | €€ | Day-only spot in the centre of the village. Soup, sandwiches, traybakes, a chowder that does not pretend. The kind of lunch that lets you keep walking. |
| The Hungry Hiker | Cafe & deli | € | Sandwiches, coffee, scones the size of a fist. Aimed at the Ring of Kerry walkers and the day-trippers, but the locals eat there too, which is the test. |
| Parknasilla Resort | Hotel restaurant | €€€ | Five minutes out of the village. Dinner in the Pygmalion restaurant looks out over Kenmare Bay. Dress code is a notch up from the rest of Sneem - worth it for one night. |
| Place | Type | Local note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parknasilla Resort & Spa | Hotel & spa | Five minutes out of the village on its own peninsula. George Bernard Shaw stayed here and wrote part of Saint Joan in a room looking at the bay. Pool, golf, walks down to the water. The grand option. | |
| The Sneem Hotel | Hotel | On the edge of the village overlooking the Goldens Cove inlet. Modern, comfortable, no pretensions. Walking distance to both squares - five minutes downhill, fifteen back up. | |
| A B&B on the Square | B&B | Two or three small B&Bs on or near the squares change hands every few years. Ask in The Blue Bull and someone will point. Cheaper than the hotels, and you wake up two doors from a pint. | |
The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.
The ones below are bookable through our partners - pick one that suits, or skip the lot and just turn up.
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.
See tour → via ViatorThree 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.
See tour → via ViatorA 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.
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 →
There is no bad time. There are different times.
Quiet. The Ring of Kerry coaches haven't started. The village is itself. The Lomanagh Loop is at its best in May.
Coach traffic through the village is continuous from June to August. The stops are forty minutes and then gone, but the main street is rarely empty from ten to four. Stay overnight and get it back.
The locals' pick. Coaches thin out. The river runs salmon. Parknasilla is quieter and cheaper. The hills go gold and red above the bay.
Several places close or reduce hours. The Blue Bull stays open. Parknasilla is on reduced service. Fine if you want quiet - genuinely quiet, not tourist-quiet.
If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.
One square, a scone, back on the bus. You've not been to Sneem. Stay the night, walk to the salmon falls, eat at Parknasilla. Two squares is a start; one night is the place.
It is the best dinner within forty minutes in any direction. In summer it books out a week ahead. Ring the day before and be pleasantly surprised, or book at the same time as your room.
The coaches go anti-clockwise, which is why Sneem is a coach stop when approached from the east. Go the other way and arrive before the buses.
Killarney to Sneem is 1h on the N71 and N70 via Kenmare. Coming round the Ring of Kerry from Waterville, allow 45 minutes. The road is twisty either way - take it slow.
Bus Éireann 270 runs Killarney-Sneem-Waterville-Cahersiveen, the Ring of Kerry route. A handful of services daily, more in summer. Drops on the squares.
No train. Nearest station is Killarney, then bus or hire car (1 hour by road).
Kerry Airport (KIR) is 1h 10m by car. Cork is 2h 30m. Shannon is 3h.