Kenmare

Kenmare stands where the mountains of the Iveragh and Beara peninsulas run down to the sheltered head of Kenmare Bay, in the south-west corner of Kerry. It is one of Ireland's oldest planned towns. In the 1670s the land came into the hands of Sir William Petty, the English economist and surveyor who had mapped much of Ireland for Cromwell, and it was his descendants, the Lansdowne family, who around 1775 laid out the town more or less as you see it today: two long streets crossing to form a distinct X, with a triangular market place at the join. The Irish name, Neidín, means "the little nest," an apt description of a town tucked snugly among its hills.

Kenmare's great cottage industry arrived in the nineteenth century. After the Famine the Poor Clare nuns established a lace school here, and Kenmare needlepoint lace - worked with a needle rather than bobbins - became some of the finest in the world. It travelled a long way from Kerry: pieces were made for Queen Victoria, and Kenmare lace was worn by royalty across Europe. You can still see examples, and learn how it was made, at the lace and heritage centre in the old market house.

The pleasure of the town today is in its three colourful streets - Henry Street, Main Street and Shelbourne Street - lined with brightly painted shopfronts, galleries, craft shops and an unusual number of good places to eat. Holy Cross Church, with its slender spire and painted timber ceiling, presides over one end of the town. For its size Kenmare has earned a serious reputation as a food town, running from grand country-house dining rooms to small, characterful bistros; among them is Tom Crean Fish & Wine, run by descendants of the Antarctic explorer of the same name. A few minutes' walk from the centre, screened by trees off Market Street, stands the Kenmare Stone Circle, a Bronze Age ring among the largest in the south-west and a reminder that people have gathered on this spot for thousands of years.

Kenmare sits at the meeting of the N70 and N71, which makes it a natural base or pause on any Ring of Kerry journey and the gateway to the quieter Ring of Beara as well. A lively market fills the square on Wednesdays through the season, and the traditional fair day falls in mid-August. Coming from Killarney, most travellers arrive over the high road through Moll's Gap; it's worth timing your visit so you have an hour or two to spare, because Kenmare rewards an unhurried stroll far more than a quick lap of the town.