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LAURAGH |
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| Following the main road for LAURAGH , twelve miles southwest of
Kenmare, you're still in the enormous estate once owned by Sir William
Petty. The gardens at Derreen House (April-Sept daily 11am-6pm;
£2.50/3.17), for a long time one of the Irish residences of Petty's
descendant, the Marquess of Lansdowne, are open to the public and
stocked with plants that clearly luxuriate in the mild sea climate,
including such exotica as tree ferns and bamboo, plus rhododendrons and
camellias. Yet despite its magnificence, it doesn't compare with the
wild and windswept grassy uplands. Head westwards from Lauragh and
you're soon over the border into Cork; south, the road climbs
spectacularly above Glanmore Lake to the Healy Pass - again, the county
border - giving amazing views in both directions. There's the fairly
basic An Óige Glanmore Lake hostel beside the lake (closed Oct-Easter;
tel 064/83181). |
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