Waterville

Waterville by the sea

Silhouetted against the evening sun he could almost be real, the man on the promenade with the cane and the bowler hat. Charlie Chaplin, megastar of the silent movies, and his family were regular guests at the Butler Arms Hotel in Waterville. The hotel proudly displays an excellent collection of photographs of the Little Tramp. For generations now this seaside town with its promenade has attracted a regular influx of visitors. Those who pass by on the Ring of Kerry Tour miss so much. Not for them the joy of hiring a boat and heading off to catch the prized sea trout on Lough Currane, and later perhaps sipping tea amid the monastic ruins of Church Island. They also fail to retrace the steps of Cromwell´s soldiers of 1652 and to see for themselves the spectacular views on the Kerry Way mountain path to Caherdaniel. The beauty and tranquillity of Waterville has attracted many fine craftspersons. Their work, and that of others, can be seen at the local Craft Market. And before you go, don´t forget to have your photo taken with Charlie on the promenade!

Wonderful Golf

Charlie Chaplin was a great clown, but no fool! Year after year he returned en famille to the splendid tranquillity of this little village, and now they name the mammoth annual two day AM-AM after him. Golf has existed here since 1889, but, in the early 1970s, Jack Mulcahy, a dynamic Irish American, created the mighty Waterville Golf Links of today. At 6,618 metres off the championship tees, this is possibly the longest, most fearsome 18 in Europe. Sam Snead referred to it lovingly as ´the beautiful monster´. If you think the front nine a challenge, hold your breath, and keep your head down for the homeward journey. And don’t be fooled by hole names. The par five eleventh, ´Tranquillity´, can play like Purgatory. Mercifully, it is followed by ´The Mass Hole´. Club pro Liam Higgins´s spectacular ace at the 330-yard sixteenth is recorded in bronze for all time. No word of a lie, the thrill of standing on Mulcahy´s Peak, the seventeenth tee, which rises 25 feet on the Atlantic shore, is a memory you will take with you to that great fairway in the sky.

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