Historic county of Ireland
Kerry
County of Kerry
Province: Munster
Ireland’s highest mountains between long Atlantic peninsulas.
Kerry occupies the far south-west of Ireland, where mountains repeatedly push westwards into the Atlantic. The MacGillycuddy’s Reeks rise around the Killarney country and contain Carrauntoohil, the highest mountain on the island of Ireland.
Beyond them stretch the great peninsulas of Dingle and Iveragh, while Beara continues across the county boundary into Cork. Bays cut deeply between these mountain masses, creating one of Ireland’s most dramatic combinations of upland and ocean.
- Mountain kingdom of the south-west
- County by the early modern period
- Reeks, lakes and Atlantic peninsulas
- Named for the people of Ciar
County geography
Mountains and lakes
The Lakes of Killarney lie directly beneath some of Ireland’s highest ground.
This meeting of mountain and lake provides Kerry with a dramatic inland focus before the landscape breaks westwards again towards long peninsulas and Atlantic bays.
Dingle and Iveragh
The Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas give western Kerry much of its extraordinary form.
Mountain barriers and deeply indented bays mean that places which appear close in straight-line distance can belong to quite separate coastal worlds.
Beara
Beara demonstrates how natural regional geography and county geography can overlap without being identical.
The peninsula spans Kerry and Cork, remaining a recognisable geographical district while crossing an enduring county boundary.
County questions
Questions about Kerry
Does Kerry border only Cork and Limerick?
Yes. Those are its only neighbouring geographic counties; the Shannon estuary and Atlantic waters form the rest of its outer edge.
Is Carrauntoohil in Kerry?
Yes. Carrauntoohil is geographically in Kerry and is the highest mountain on the island of Ireland.
County record
Names and continuity
- Formal name
- County Kerry
- Province
- Munster
- Alternative name
- County of Kerry
Kerry is one of the six geographic counties of Munster. Its mountain core, great peninsulas and Atlantic bays give it one of Ireland’s most powerful physical identities.