Today we were planning on taking a landing tour of Skellig Michael, an island a few miles off the coast, which would have taken most of the day. Unfortunately, the boat ride to the small island can be perilous due to weather conditions, so trips are canceled on almost 50% of days. While we were bummed about missing out on what would have been one of our highlights of the honeymoon, we relished the opportunity to relax for a day and do whatever we wanted in Killarney.

We woke up, grabbed some breakfast at the hotel, and then headed to a local coffee shop we spotted last night while wandering around town. There, we spent a few hours sipping our drinks and reading the books we brought on the trip. At 11 am, Murphy’s, the ice cream shop, opened up across the street and we went over to get the first ice cream cones of the day. I’m currently wondering if we subconsciously chose the coffee shop we did so that we could be at Murphy’s right as it opened…

We meandered around the town with our ice cream in hand, passing by a few specialty wool shops as well as a few gift stores that we checked in for patches. After finishing the ice cream, we decided to go into some of the wool shops and see if anything jumped out at us to bring home as a souvenir. There were a lot of cute scarves that Lauren tried on, and I looked at a few hats, but nothing peaked our interest enough to take it home.

Knowing there was a distinct chance of having a free day, we had researched an activity that we knew would be a fun time in place of Skellig Michael: an Irish Whiskey Experience. The local whiskey shop offered a variety of classes multiple times throughout the day, from cocktail making to tasting sessions and even a chance to blend your own whiskey. That seemed like the most interesting way to experience Irish whiskey, so we signed up. When we arrived at 3:45, we learned that no one else had booked that class today, so it would be a private class!

I won’t recount everything we learned there, but suffice to say, we covered a wide variety of whiskey-related topics during the 90-minute class. In the end, after learning about and tasting the 4 main types of Irish whiskey, we were given a chance to blend our own whiskeys. Lauren and I ended up with similar blends, “Top Ring Irish Whiskey” and the “Berman Blend,” which we’ll be bringing home to taste test with a few impartial judges 🙂

After the class had ended, we hung around for dinner and sampled two whiskey cocktails. One of the drinks was very unique because it used a peaty whiskey that gave the drink a very smokey flavor, which we both enjoyed. Of course, we headed back to Murphy’s for dessert, getting our last two cones while in Killarney.

Once the sun had set, we wandered the town until we found a busy pub, with a constant frenzy of people entering and moving around the entrance. It was a charming place, with maybe a dozen small rooms, each connected to three or four others, with one large outdoor area that had a live band. To start the night, I sampled the pubs own red ale, and Lauren got a pint of Guinness. By the end of the night, we had been pulled into a funny Irish bachelor party who had been teasing me about getting a gin cocktail instead of another beer.

Our time in Killarney was amazingly fun. We loved the atmosphere, the food, and the people, and are sad we have to leave tomorrow morning to head back to Dublin.