These are the islands of Deenish (left) and Scariff (right). The picture was taken near the Coomakista Pass, on the Ring of Kerry between Caherdaniel and Waterville. If you judge scenic points by the size of the turnout provided for cars and tour buses, Coomakista is by far the biggest attraction in these parts.
There’s a statue of Mary at Coomakista, so I vaguely assumed that “kista” meant Christ. But vague assumptions aren’t enough for this blog, so I looked it up. This turned out to be surprisingly hard, but as near as I can tell, a coom is a hollow and kista means treasure or somesuch. According to the Irish Times, “The placename Coomakista, which means ‘the coom of the cash’, stems from a legend that 18th century French privateers stashed money in the mountain recess.”
In any case, it really is a stunning view, and it changes subtly every day depending on the weather. And yes, I do have a picture of the Madonna statue! You’ll see it one of these days.
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