Waterville is a single line of houses on a narrow neck of land, with a lake behind it and the Atlantic in front. The Irish name, An Coireán, means the little cauldron — for the bowl shape of Ballinskelligs Bay. The English name is older than it sounds; it comes from the streams that run off the hills into Lough Currane and out to sea on either side of the village.
The two things people come for are the fishing and the golf. Lough Currane has produced wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout for as long as anyone has kept records, and the Butler family of ghillies have rowed visitors out to the same lies for five generations. Waterville Golf Links, out on the dunes at the north end of the village, is one of the great links courses on the planet, and the regulars know it.
Charlie Chaplin came here every summer from 1959 until the early 1970s, with the family, to fish and walk and not be Charlie Chaplin for a fortnight. He stayed at the Butler Arms. The town built him a bronze statue on the seafront, and every August a comedy film festival turns up in his honour. Stay a night, walk the prom, eat fish that was alive that morning, and you start to see what he saw in it.
Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.
Lough Currane on one side, Ballinskelligs Bay on the other, and a single street of painted houses stitched between them. Stand on the seafront and you can see both at once.
Stories & lore → 02 The RingThe N70 swings down off the Coomakista pass and most coaches stop here for a sandwich and a photograph of the Chaplin statue. Stay the night and you get the place back once the buses leave.
Where to stay → 03 The linksWaterville Golf Links sits on a sandspit between the lake and the bay. Henry Cotton called it the finest links he had ever seen. Tiger Woods and Mark O'Meara warm up here before the Open most years.
Stories & lore →None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:
On the main street, looking out at the bay. A working bar with a kitchen behind it that takes the lobster seriously. Pints, music some nights, no nonsense.
Tucked in beside the golf links at the north end of the village. The bar fills up after the last group comes off the course. The fishing crowd wander in from Lough Currane the same evening.
Named for the Irish name of the village. The locals' room more than the visitors'. Quieter than the seafront places. A good pint and a conversation that does not feel staged.
| Place | Type | € | Local note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dooley's | Seafood restaurant | €€ | On the seafront, family-run, the dining room you book if the lobster is the point. Chowder at lunch, a proper menu in the evening. Ask what came in that morning. |
| The Smuggler's Inn restaurant | Restaurant at the inn | €€€ | The Hunt family have been cooking here for decades. Fish from the bay, lamb from the hills behind, and a wine list that surprises you for a village this size. |
| The Strand | Cafe & lunch | € | Daytime spot on the main street. Soup, sandwiches, brown bread, a slice of cake. Where you end up after a morning on the lake. |
| Place | Type | Local note | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Butler Arms Hotel | Hotel | The big white hotel with the round towers at the end of the seafront. Run by the Huggard family since 1916. Chaplin's hotel — the family kept his suite the way he left it. Old-fashioned in the right ways. | |
| The Smuggler's Inn | Inn & restaurant | Twelve rooms beside the golf links, looking out over the bay. The Hunt family run the bar, the kitchen and the rooms. The breakfast is a reason to stay an extra night. | |
| Lakelands Farm Guesthouse | Farmhouse B&B | Out the road toward Lough Currane. A working farm with a handful of rooms and a view of the lake. Ghillies will collect you from the door if the fishing is what you are here for. | |
The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.
The ones below are bookable through our partners — pick one that suits, or skip the lot and just turn up.
Take on the full 179km Ring of Kerry circuit from Cork, stopping at coastal viewpoints, charming villages, and mountain passes where the Atlantic meets the Kerry mountains.
See tour → via partnerStart right from Killarney and loop the legendary Ring of Kerry in 8 hours, stopping at Derrynane Beach, Waterville, Skellig viewpoints, and the colourful village of Sneem along the way.
See tour → via ViatorImmerse yourself in some of Ireland's most spectacular scenery on a day trip to the Ring of Kerry from Dublin. You'll admire Ireland's coastal landscape...
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Killarney to Waterville is 1h 30m on the N70 via Killorglin and Cahirciveen — the Ring of Kerry road. Kenmare is 1h 15m the other way, over the Coomakista pass.
Bus Éireann 279A runs Killarney–Cahirciveen–Waterville several times a day in summer, fewer in winter. About 25 minutes from Cahirciveen on the N70.
No train. Nearest station is Killarney, then bus or hire car.
Kerry Airport (KIR) at Farranfore is the nearest — 90 minutes by road. Cork is 2h 30m. Shannon is 3h.