Ring of Kerry / Kenmare in mid-December?

Edited the subject line and giving this a one time bump in case it gets more reads over the weekend.

I cant share about Kenmare in the winter, I just returned from an April visit to west Ireland and Kenmare. We hired Paul Brown to take us on a one day tour around the ring of Kerry and it was awesome. I hired a walking tour with a lady in Lucca last year and she set us up for great sight seeing the next two days by pointing out things we would have missed about the city. It was similar with Paul in that he hit all the great spots on the RofK and shared great stories and local lore. It also allowed me, as the driver of my Ireland trip with my wife, to relax and take in the sights, it was a great decision. I wanted to share this in case you visit the RofK, obviously the Shannon airport is much closer the Kenmare than Dublin, we went in and out of Dublin and will probably so Shannon on our return if the flights work out...although Dublin was pretty cool!!! http://www.kenmaretaxitours.com/ here is Paul's link, let me know if you need a B&B recommendation, we enjoyed the one we chose in Kenmare.

Thank you, jarrardd!

I will note the Paul Brown recommendation because it would be lovely if neither of us needs to drive for some of the sightseeing!

We'd also love the B&B recommendation. I think my friend's cousins' place is pretty small so we should probably get a B&B or hotel.

Were there any standout restaurants or pubs in Kenmare?

I can't speak about these places in the winter either. We recently went in April. From talking to a local, I know RoK does get some snow/ice, but not sure when. There are some good weather almanacs/forecasters on the internet.

In Kenmare - we stayed at the Oldchurch B&B just outside of town. Lovely place, still close enough to walk. Definitely enjoyed our stay there. We ate at Mulcahy's, which I also highly recommend. Reservations recommended. Kenmare has quite a few good restaurants to choose from, from what I remember.

Yup, we stayed at http://www.ashfieldkenmare.com/ and enjoyed it very much. They have 4 or 5 rooms and are very nice people and are located in a nice family neighborhood near the golf course. The room we had ws perfect and the breakfast was great. If you contact them directly they offer a discount and delivered on everything they said. They are a mile or so from the main square/road in town and some of the folks walked to the "downtown" area but we drove and parking was a breeze, we were there in early May. They will be happy to suggest pubs and restaurants, I hope you don't have issues with places being closed due to it being out of the travel season. Paul Brown picked us up at our B&B and dropped us off there after our tour and he helped me plan our next days driving tour (me at the wheel) down on the Beara Peninsula, a more rustic laid back "ring" compared to the RofK. Kenmare was cool but I will say Dingle provided more opportunity for traditional music and pub visits. We were able to hear good music all three nights we were in Kenmare! We had a great meal and music at Davitt's in Kenmare!