Moll's Gap, Kerry: The Story Behind the Name and Why October Is the Time to Go
You leave Kenmare with the heater on and the radio low, and for the first few kilometres it's just an ordinary Kerry road: stone walls, a few sheep who have no intention of moving, a tractor you'll be behind for longer than you'd like. Then the road starts to climb. The fields get thinner, the rock starts to show through, and after one last bend the whole thing opens up in front of you. The MacGillycuddy's Reeks are lined up along the horizon, the valley drops away underneath, and the road you've just driven is coiled below you like a dropped ribbon.
That's Moll's Gap. And in October, when the bracken has turned to copper and the light comes in low across the mountains, I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the country to pull in and just look.
It's also the newest design on our print table, so it felt like the right time to tell its story.
Photo by Ousseynou Cissé on Unsplash
Where is Moll's Gap?
Moll's Gap is a mountain pass on the N71, the road between Kenmare and Killarney, and it's one of the high points (in every sense) of the Ring of Kerry. From Kenmare the road climbs about 250 metres over roughly 9km, which doesn't sound like much until you're standing at the top in a breeze.
The rock here is Old Red Sandstone, the same stone that gives so much of Kerry its colour, but up at the gap it's stained green by chlorite rather than red by iron, so even the rock is a little different at the top. From there you look out over the Reeks towards Carrauntoohil, Ireland's highest mountain at just over 1,038 metres, and across towards the Gap of Dunloe. It's about ten minutes' drive from Kenmare and around half an hour from Killarney, so it slots easily into a day on the Ring or a slow afternoon run between the two towns.
N71 Kenmare to Killarney · about 10 minutes from Kenmare, 30 from Killarney · car park at the top
Who was Moll?
This is my favourite part. The gap is named after a woman called Moll Kissane, who ran a síbín (shih-BEEN), an unlicensed pub, up here in the 1820s while the road was being built. The story goes that she kept the road workers going with her own poitín (puh-CHEEN), which I imagine made the long days on an exposed mountainside a little more bearable, and possibly made the bends in the road a little more interesting too.
I love that of all the grand names that could have been given to a place like this, it's a woman with a shebeen who is remembered. Two hundred years on, people still stop at the top of the pass for a warm drink and a chat, so in a way Moll's business never really closed.
What is there to do at Moll's Gap?
Mostly you stop and look, and that's plenty. But there are a few things worth knowing before you go.
1. Warm up at the top
Avoca has a shop and café right at the gap, across from the car park, with that same view out over the mountains from the windows. The café serves from 10 to 4.30 and the shop is open 10 to 5. Avoca also stock our Moll's Gap tee in Green Bay, which still gives me a little thrill every time I think about it.
2. Carry on to Ladies View
About ten minutes further towards Killarney is Ladies View, one of the most photographed spots in Ireland. It got its name after Queen Victoria's visit in 1861, when her ladies-in-waiting were so taken with the view over the Lakes of Killarney that it was named after them. On a still October day, with the lakes like glass and the woods turning below, you can see their point.
3. Walk into Killarney National Park
From Ladies View the road drops down into Killarney National Park, Ireland's first national park. It began in 1932 when the Muckross Estate was given to the State by Arthur Vincent and his parents-in-law in memory of his wife, Maud, and today it covers over 100 square kilometres of lakes, mountains and woodland. It's also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve (since 1981) and holds the largest area of native oak woodland left in Ireland.
Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash
Why is October the best time to go?
Two reasons, and one of them is very loud.
The first is the colour. The bracken on the slopes around the gap goes rust and copper, the oak woods below start to turn, and the summer coaches have thinned out, so you're more likely to get the lay-by to yourself. In Irish, October is Deireadh Fómhair (DER-uh FOH-wir), the end of the harvest, and there's something about the light at this time of year that makes the whole landscape look like it's glowing from the inside.
The second is the red deer. Killarney is home to Ireland's only native herd of red deer, or fia rua (FEE-uh ROO-uh) in Irish, and they've been here since Neolithic times. Every other herd in the country descends from animals brought in later. In the 1970s there were fewer than a hundred left; today there are around 900, which is a lovely bit of good news.
October is the rut, the breeding season, when the stags roar across the valleys, walk side by side sizing each other up, and lock antlers when neither will back down. If you're walking near Muckross or Torc early in the morning or around dusk, you may well hear them before you see them. It's one of the great wild sounds of the Irish year. Please do keep a good distance though: a stag in the rut is big, busy and not in the mood for company.
A red deer stag (this one was photographed in the New Forest, but the Killarney stags look every bit as grand). Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
Our Moll's Gap tee
Moll's Gap joined our range at the end of August, but the idea goes back a few years. We drove over the gap on a trip to Kerry and were so impressed with it that it stayed with us long after we got home. So when Avoca asked us to make a Moll's Gap design for their shop at the top of the pass, we didn't need much persuading.
The design takes in the pass, the bends of the road and the mountains beyond, and it's screen-printed by hand in our Dublin and Wexford studios on 100% organic cotton. It comes in two colours: Green Bay, which has all the green of a wet Kerry summer in it (that's the one you'll find in Avoca), and Blue Grey, which to me is exactly the colour of the Reeks on a soft October morning. You'll find both here on our website.
See the Moll's Gap (Green Bay) tee →
See the Moll's Gap (Blue Grey) tee →
If you'd rather take the Ring of Kerry on two wheels, and plenty of people do, our Ar do Rothar tee is the one for you. It means "on your bike" in Irish, which is exactly what you'll need to be on for the climb up from Kenmare.
And if the view from the top has you looking up at Carrauntoohil and making plans, we wrote about climbing it in our Carrauntoohil post. The advice still stands: start early, and don't underestimate it.
For that low autumn light, there's Solas, the other new design that arrived alongside Moll's Gap. Solas na gréine means sunlight, and I think it's a rather lovely thing to carry around with you as the evenings draw in.
Planning a trip: a few practical things
- Park carefully. The car park at the top sits on a tight bend beside a junction, so traffic can come round on you without much warning. Take your time pulling in and out, and mind yourself crossing.
- Layer up. It can be mild in Kenmare and properly breezy at the gap. An organic cotton tee under a hoodie or sweater, with a fleece or a light jacket in the car, covers most of what an Irish October will throw at you. We went into layering in more detail in our autumn walks post.
- Go early or late. The light is softest in the morning and the last hour before sunset, and that's also when you're most likely to hear the stags in the park below.
- Check the forecast. Cloud can sit right down on the Reeks. If it's sitting low, spend the morning in Kenmare and try again after lunch; the mountains often clear as quickly as they closed in.
- Leave no trace. Bring your cup back to the café and your wrappers home. It's a small place that a lot of people love.
A bend in the road worth stopping for
There are faster ways to get from Kenmare to Killarney, and there are more famous views in Ireland. But there's something about Moll's Gap, the woman behind the name, the road that curls up the mountain and the view that opens out so suddenly at the top, that makes it one of those places you find yourself describing to people for years afterwards.
If you head over this October, I'd love to hear how you got on. Tag us on Instagram at @duesouthclothing, or reply to one of our emails with your favourite stop on the Ring. We're always glad of a recommendation for the next trip.
More from Kerry and the mountains: Carrauntoohil · the Skellig Islands · 8 autumn walks from Wicklow to Mayo · New arrivals