Peter Harbison traces the path of pagan worshippers and Christian pilgrims over the Ring of Kerry, inspired by a cultural atlas from Cork University Press.
The Iveragh Peninsula, better known as the Ring of Kerry, is certainly one of the jewels in Ireland’s scenic crown, and the largest of those five West Munster fingers which jut out into the Atlantic, striving to be the first to be touched by the Gulf Stream’s warming waves. Occupying the area west of a line drawn roughly from Kenmare to Killorglin, its interior is wild, expansive and grandiose as it slopes down towards the Ocean from the MacGillicuddy’s Reeks. This sparsely populated part contrasts with the overbuilt coast road area bearing the frenetic tourist traffic generally moving anti-clockwise around the peninsula’s periphery.
On the eve of his show at the Hunt Museum, Limerick, in Winter 2009 Joseph McBrinn considered the unique aesthetic Rudolf Heltzel has brought to jewellery design.
