By the 1980s, Killarney was known for bad short trips. But the Irish town tried new green ideas. Now it’s much better.
Killarney is by a lake with mountains and valleys nearby. It’s very pretty. It’s part of a long route along Ireland’s west coast with many beautiful places.
This route started 10 years ago. But people have been coming to Killarney for almost 300 years. In 1747, Thomas Browne got land there. He found empty, wet fields and owed a lot of money.
But Browne saw a chance to bring visitors. The area had pretty islands in three lakes. It also had old buildings from the 1300s and 1400s. He planted trees, dried wet land, and fixed roads. People built places to stay.
In 1853, trains came. In 1861, Queen Victoria visited. This made Killarney famous. People from far away heard it was beautiful.
But if Browne could see the future, he might have left the wet land alone.
In 1895, group trips to Killarney started. Over the next 100 years, things got worse. Too many hotels were built. Roads got busy. The town grew too big.
From the 1980s on, party groups caused trouble at night. Some visitors only stayed at fancy golf places. In town, fake Irish music played from speakers. Shops sold cheap souvenirs not made in Ireland.
Killarney became known for bad short trips. The town forgot about its pretty nature. Many people thought it was ruined and not worth visiting.
Some locals didn’t give up on their town’s beauty. In recent years, they worked hard to make Killarney better. They used smart green ideas. The change is big.
I visited recently. You can get to Killarney in a green way. The train station is in the middle of town. You don’t need to fly or drive. Not many small towns still have trains, but Killarney does.
I went to Luna cafe first. I had coffee outside. I heard Americans talking about horse rides, a common thing to do here. People from all over were around. Many talked about the pretty area. Some got coffee to go. But they didn’t use paper cups.
Last year, Killarney was in the news. It was the first town in Ireland to stop using throw-away coffee cups. Many shops joined in. Louise Byrne, who helped start this, says it saves over a million cups each year.
Byrne got the idea after seeing many cups as trash. Even in the nearby park, which is special and protected. She says that even when cups are recycled, it uses energy. In Ireland, people use more than 200 million throw-away cups each year. Most aren’t recycled or turned into compost.
Visitors can bring their own cups. Or they can pay €2 for a cup made in Ireland. They can return this cup or keep it. More than 70 shops don’t use throw-away cups anymore.
Also, 22 hotels promised to be greener. They stop using throw-away things. They try to use less energy and waste less food. They work with local sellers who care about nature.
These changes work well in Killarney because people help each other. They call this “meitheal” in Irish. It means neighbors working together. Long ago, people helped with farms and building. This idea is still strong in Killarney. It’s a small town, so people feel their work matters.
The Killarney Mountain Meitheal started 10 years ago. Johnny McGuire made it to help nature. This group and another called Tidy Towns work with the town leaders. They do things like remove bad plants and paint things on the street.
Maureen Hegarty leads walks and is in the Mountain Meitheal. She says when people see teams cleaning or painting, they think it’s people doing work as a punishment. She tells them it’s not. It’s just how Killarney people help their town. Many visitors like this idea and want to do it at home.
Hegarty says you just need a few people with good ideas to start. It’s about changing how you think. Now, everyone sees why working together is good.
It’s working well. In 2023, Killarney won a prize for being the cleanest big town in Ireland.
The town looks clean and has new paint. But some buildings still look ugly. I saw the short movie theater in the middle of town. I tried not to look at it. Then I saw something surprising across the street. There were many herbs and flowers you can eat. They made a small farm where a nightclub used to be under a hotel.
Gemma Ring runs some hotels. She showed me around. They grow plants without soil using special lights and water. Chefs come to pick fresh herbs.
Ring said this is just one thing they do. They work with local people to make good things from food waste. We thought about how empty shops in other towns could do this too.
The town is also trying to connect better with the nearby park. During Covid, locals found new things near home. They told others when travel opened up.
I went to the park with Eamonn Meskell. He works for the park. The park started in 1932. It was Ireland’s first. It has lakes, old forests, valleys, old ruins, and big mountains. Many rare plants and animals live there.
“This is a very pretty part of the park,” Meskell said. We walked on an old road. It’s part of a long walk. “You can take a bus back,” he said.
Old oak trees had rare plants on them. Birds flew around. We saw people planting new oak trees. They grew these from acorns found nearby. Schools helped too. A new eagle baby was born. They’re bringing back eagles and other birds. We saw a special old wood and some deer.
As it got dark, I thought about when I came here before. It was dirty then. It’s hard to balance visitors, business, and nature. Sometimes we think our small actions don’t help. But then I thought about the acorns. Starting small can do a lot of good.
