Our fifth day-trip, at the start of the third week, brought us again to the Killarney region.  Here we visited the splendid Muckross House and Farms, part of the Killarney National Park.  Muckross House sits on the shores of Muckross Lake, the "Middle Lake" of the three Killarney lakes (the "Lower Lake" is Lough Leane, and the "Upper Lake" is, well, the Upper Lake).   Muckross has been called "the jewel of Killarney," and it is the main attraction of visitors to this magical section of Ireland. 

The House itself is a magnificent specimen of the Victorian Mansion, and was completed in 1843 for the Herbert family.  The social triumph of Muckross came with Queen Victoria's visit in 1861.  The House was known for its splendid hunting grounds, and it still contains the famed Irish Red Deer, as well as the Japanese Sika Deer (introduced to Muckross in 1865).  Today the tour of the house includes many of the over 20 luxurious rooms, and the splendors of the furniture, moldings, and artwork are most impressive.  Muckross represents a long-standing part of Ireland, the wealthy and cultivated Anglo-Irish aristocracy. 

Along with Muckross House, we visited the adjacent Muckross Farms, which show another side of Ireland.  These Farms are a working replica of typical 19th- and early 20th-century Irish farm life, complete with thatched cottages, farm animals, artisan shops, and period machinery.  The various houses still contain turf-burning fires, period furnishings, and helpful guides who spin wonderful stories about life in rural Ireland--a stark contrast to the majestic Muckross House nearby.

Yet at Muckross these two parts of Irish life lived in harmony, as evidenced by the Herberts' behavior during the tragedy of the Irish Famine in 1865-69.  During these calamitous years for the Irish peasantry, the Herberts were remarkable in their charity, aid, and concern for the local farmers, and went far toward alleviating, as much as they could, their suffering.