I first got interested in publishing back in 1985 when I produced Outdoor Kerry, a small diary containing information and news for outdoor pursuit clubs in the county. Members of the outdoor fraternity contributed excellent articles - such as 1943 Plane Crash in the McGillycuddy Reeks; Ice Climbing in Scotland; The Story of Tom Crean, (the antarctic explorer from Annascaul) and Himalayian Canoeing Adventure.

Having enjoyed working on Outdoor Kerry, researching articles, doing interviews, taking photographs and having my first cut at desk top publishing- I really missed it when it finished up. I looked around for an alternative magazine and with the inspiration of Padraig Kennelly, my uncle and editor of Kerry´s Eye, we came up with a new economically sound and viable project - Kerry Gems, a free guide book for visitors to Kerry. It would begin as a 12 page full colour booklet that would be distributed free to hotels, restaurants and visitor attractions throughout Kerry.

Since the first issue in May 1989 Kerry Gems has grown and grown. In 1993 we decided to change to A5 size, 40 pages, 50% colour and with a printrun of 50,000. Today Kerry Gems is a 96 page, full colour, A5 size and with a print run of 100,000 copies, distributed to over 500 outlets throughout Kerry and beyond. Hopefully you will find this useful and enjoyable. As always I would welcome any comments or suggestions.

Reader input is always welcomed and comments and suggestions would be most useful in helping us to improve, even further, the quality of Kerry Gems.

Kevin and Judy Tarrant

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