Two of the six sit in and beside Tralee, which makes them the easy pairing. Kerry County Museum runs seven galleries, from prehistoric tools and Daniel O’Connell’s duelling pistols to the Tom Crean Polar Room with its Emperor Penguin eggs and expedition journals; downstairs, the Medieval Experience rebuilds a Tralee street of 1450, smells included. A little way out at Blennerville, the 21.3 m windmill still works, four sails turning a pair of French millstones and grinding real flour when there is wind, with an emigration exhibition, a large model railway and a café on site.
West of there, the Dingle peninsula holds two more. Oceanworld on Dingle’s marina is the largest aquarium in the country, with sand-tiger sharks passing over a 9-metre tunnel, Gentoo and Humboldt penguins, Asian otters and a rehabilitation programme for stranded sea turtles. Back along the road at Annascaul, the Jerome Connor Gallery takes up the upper floor of the South Pole Inn and shows 14 bronzes by the sculptor, free to visit.
The last two need proper driving. Valentia Heritage Centre, in the old national school at Knightstown, covers the 1866 transatlantic cable, the tetrapod footprints and the slate quarry, and it opens April to September only, so it is a summer plan. Kilgarvan, on the Roughty River between Kenmare and Killarney, has a family-run motor museum open Tuesday to Saturday.
Ireland's largest working windmill, restored in 1990 and still grinding flour when the wind is up, with an emigration exhibition and model railway alongside.
Seven galleries running from prehistory to Tom Crean's polar journals, plus a walk-through reconstruction of a Tralee street as it stood in 1450.
The country's largest aquarium, where sand-tiger sharks pass over a 9-metre tunnel and penguins, Asian otters and rescued sea turtles share the Dingle marina site.
A volunteer-run centre in an old island schoolhouse covering the 1866 transatlantic cable, tetrapod footprints and the slate quarry, open April to September.
Fourteen bronzes by the Annascaul-born sculptor, shown free of charge on the upper floor of the South Pole Inn since 2014.
6 of 6 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Blennerville, kerry
Blennerville is the largest working windmill in Ireland, a 21.3 m whitewashed tower whose four sails still turn a pair of French millstones when the wind is up. Restored to working order and reopened in 1990, it comes with an emigration exhibition, a large model railway and a café, and it grinds real flour rather than sitting as a museum piece.
Tralee, kerry
The seven galleries run from prehistoric tools and Daniel O’Connell’s duelling pistols to the award-winning Tom Crean Polar Room, which holds Emperor Penguin eggs and the explorer’s expedition journals. Downstairs, the Medieval Experience rebuilds a Tralee street of 1450, sounds and smells included.
Dingle, kerry
Oceanworld on Dingle's marina is Ireland's largest aquarium, open since 1996. Sand-tiger sharks glide over a 9-metre ocean tunnel, Gentoo and Humboldt penguins share the bill with Asian otters, and 'Deep Atlantic' is the country's first immersive digital marine experience. The aquarium also rehabilitates stranded sea turtles for release.
Knightstown, kerry
Set in the former Knightstown National School, this volunteer-run centre tells Valentia's outsized story: the 1866 transatlantic cable, 385-million-year-old tetrapod footprints, the slate quarry and marine biologist Maude Delap. It doubles as the island's tourist office. Open April to September.
Annascaul, kerry
Kilgarvan, kerry
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