whats good about Kilarney? I'm confused

crockholm wrote: »

Who the hell cares if shops sell Aran sweaters and postcards of "Auld Ireland"-they sell it because it sells,people seem to enjoy buying it,would you prefer them to sell somthing that loses them Money?The exact way that I don't mind O'Carrolls or the Lepreuchaun museum in dublin sending out hoardes of people in lepreuchaun hats and tam o' shanters,people come and willingly part with their Money-tourism is an industry as many dolts seem to forget.

I care. There are thousands of very talented artisans, jewelry makers, artists, pottery makers etc etc all over Ireland, making beautiful hand crafted products. They would give their left arm to get a crack at selling their wares to the hordes of tourists in places like Killarney. And the tourists would probably love a chance to buy them. But neither of them get a chance, as the plastic leprecauns are all anywhere seems to sell. It shows a crushing lack of imagination imo. (And to be fair, Killarney isn't alone in that, most touristy places do it too.)

It would be great if the Irish Craft Councils, jewelry guilds, IDA, craft associations, local councils, design colleges etc etc had a plan in place in cities and towns that had a large tourist footfall, where by locally made, home grown art & craft & clothing etc etc were promoted and readily available.

crockholm wrote: »

There is absolutely no shortage of high quality produced goods being sold in Killarney, a lot of it can be found in Quills and I'm pretty sure you can buy jewellery and trinkets from brian de staic in many shops there.

I think that we have vastly differing views on what constitutes high quality goods, if you think that Quills sell 'em. I'm not talking about mass produced Aran sweaters that are about as unique as a six pack of knickers from Dunnes, or twee Belleek cottages, or linen sachets of lavender that were considered naff back in the 70's, or tweed capes that were outdated when Maeve Hillary was wearing them 30 years ago.

I'm talking modern, hand crafted, high quality artisan goods, that are unique to the area & representative of the area, not your typical tourist tat that can be found every where from Bundoran to Bantry.

My favourite thing about Killarney is getting my friend to put on aload of green clothes and tell all the Americans that he's a leprechaun.

Boy, that was some weekend.

ProudDUB wrote: »

I think that we have vastly differing views on what constitutes high quality goods, if you think that Quills sell 'em. I'm not talking about mass produced Aran sweaters that are about as unique as a six pack of knickers from Dunnes, or twee Belleek cottages, or linen sachets of lavender that were considered naff back as the 70's, or tweed capes that looked outdated when Maeve Hillary was wearing them 30 years ago.

I'm talking modern, hand crafted, high quality artisan goods, that are unique to the area & representative of the area, not your typical tourist tat that can be found every where from Bundoran to Bantry.

Well now you have me stumped...."modern,hand-crafted,high quality artisan goods that are unique to the area & representative of the area"- what could all of this possibly mean? The Town I'm from is about 16(ish) miles from Killarney and I can't Think of any traditional Craft that is distinct and unique to the area-sheeeet,if we want to be pedantic-twee,naff crap like "Kate Kearneys cottage in a snowglobe" is distinctively Killarney.

I honestly don't see your Point-there are no barriers preventing these high quality artisans from Selling their wares either to shops and hotels (who already have a keen Eye with regards what their customers like and spend Money on) or taking them to open markets or stalls.

Maybe you have to slow walk me through this,but,what is it exactly that you want to change about the Place?

irishguitarlad wrote: »

Killarney has amazing scenery outside it, as a town I much prefer Tralee. The people are friendlier. They say Tralee is a rough spot but whenever I go out in Killarney there is always mad fights. They are the same in this respect I think.

Used to do doorwork in Killarney and the only times we had trouble was for the rally or the stag parties,the travelling Community in Killarney were by and large reasonable to deal with......Tralee,on the other hand,fvck me:eek:


Cops in Killarney are usually fast to stop anything that looks bad for business in front of the Tourists.

eternal wrote: »

Tralee is very rough especially around the time of the festival. It's a knackerfest down there. Killarney gets a bit messy but I've never seen anyone fighting there, only the usual chancers coming onto gals at 3am, sure you get that everywhere.

I Always found the Killarney crowd were like pussycats,it's not them you're watching to be fair.
Could never enjoy a night out in Tralee though,a strange and uncomfortable vibe from the Place,a friend of mine that still lives there has been beaten up/mugged outside bars there twice last year.
Last time I was there a gang of about 10+ travellers just took a ball some Young kids were passing around and wandered off with it,broad Daylight.!!

I hope it has since changed,but the Beautiful Town park there was in danger of being overrun by louts( E.L.- I'm looking at you in particular),gardai seemed half-assed about it.

Different mentality in Killarney though.

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Hi, I'm heading to the Music and Food Festival in June. Can you recommend any good pubs that are not too diddley-ay? Any late bars to cater for those coming back after the gigs?

From memory the only non trad late bar is the Qube.