A visit to Cow Island — part of a whole 'farmyard' of islands in Killarney

Other islands on Killarney's lakes include Hen, Chickens, Elephant, Jackdaw, Otter, Crow and Swallow

Islands of Ireland — Cow Island, Lakes of Killarney, Co Kerry. Picture: Dan MacCarthy

To look down on the Lakes of Killarney from Mangerton Mountain is to have your heart captured by the sparkling blue lakes and seemingly endless woods. A myriad of islands on Lough Leane, by far the largest of the three lakes, are seen in several clusters: there are a bunch near Ross Castle. 

And a few more further out to the centre of the lake including Inisfallen, where monks in the 11th century copied manuscripts and compiled what became known as the Annals of Innisfallen — a historic record of Ireland from the fifth century.