History of the Kerry Way

The Kerry Way was first proposed in 1982 and developed by members of the Laune Mountaineering Club and the Kerry association of An Taisce, under the chairmanship of Seán Ó Súilleabháin. Seán was inspired by a history lecture he had attended given by Father John Hayes on the subject of old roads and paths in the southwest of Ireland.

Realising that there was an interwoven network of roads and paths that could be combined to form a route around Kerry, he began devising the trail that would become the Kerry Way.

The first section – from Killarney to Glenbeigh – was opened by Tánaiste Dick Spring in 1985. It was the second long-distance trail to be opened in the Republic of Ireland, after the Wicklow Way. The full route was completed in 1989 and opened by Frank Fahey, TD, Minister of State for Youth and Sport. The trail was constructed by workers on FÁS rural social employment schemes at a cost of IEP £60,000 and involved the provision of over 200 stiles and six footbridges as well as waymarkers.

A review of the National Waymarked Trails in 2010 found The Kerry Way to be one of the most heavily used of the trails. It recommended that it be one of five National Waymarked Trails that should be prioritised to be upgraded to a National Long Distance Trail, a proposed new standard of trail in Ireland, intended to meet international standards for outstanding trails.

The name in Irish is Slí Uíbh Ráthaigh, meaning the Iveragh Way, called after the Iveragh Peninsula.