"I want especially to have the young people come to Muckross to trail those mountains and to enjoy nature in all its aspects. I hope that Muckross will be made a real garden of friendship..."

Arthur Vincent, 1876-1956, Senator and Donor of the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park.

Killarney National Park is a unique and special place.

It was Ireland's first National Park and came into being in 1932 when the Muckross Estate (the core of the present day National Park) was presented to the Nation by Senator Arthur Vincent and his parents-in-law Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn, in memory of his late wife Maud.

Situated in south-west Ireland, close to the most westerly point in Europe, the National Park covers over 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) of mountain, moorland, woodland, waterways, parks and gardens.