Killarney Races
The August festival. The racecourse also runs festivals in May, July and October; check the official fixture list, as the October dates are reported differently by different sources.
Runs every year
Killarney Racecourse sits on Ross Road with the MacGillycuddy's Reeks behind it, and it is routinely called the most scenic course in Ireland. The setting is as much the draw as the racing.
The August festival is three days, and the Kingdom Gold Cup is the feature race. Alongside it run the things that make an Irish race meeting a day out rather than a sporting fixture: best dressed competitions, food, and music. Some cards are afternoon and some are evening, so check which you are buying before you plan the rest of the day around it.
The useful thing for a visitor is that you do not need a car. The course is on the edge of town, roughly a twenty minute walk from the centre of Killarney, which makes it one of the few Irish race meetings you can go to and still have a drink. If you do drive, expect slow going on the approach roads either side of a card.
Admission is ticketed, with hospitality packages from a coffee shop in the racing hall up to private boxes in the grandstand, and race-and-stay packages that bundle a bed with a ticket. Book ahead: the August festival lands in the busiest fortnight of the Kerry year, when Killarney beds are already scarce.
The course runs four festivals a year in all, in May, July, August and October, so a Ring trip outside August may still catch one.
