Mal Rogerssets off along part of the Kerry Way - doing his best to avoid being eaten and blinded by the hungry plant life
IRISH SPURGE - or bainne caoine, as Gaeilge - grows in profusion in this neck of the (ancient) woods. One squirt in the eye from spurge sap and you're blind. But the "milk" can have a practical application, too: it's a favourite for poachers, who spew it into pools. Stunned salmon float gently to the surface.
Spurge-spotting represents a side activity in this quest through ancient woodland, primeval bog and heather-clad mountainside (although plants will be up for discussion again, when we've got a few kilometres under our belt).
After leaving Lord Brandon's Cottage - he doesn't live there any more - an easterly bearing takes us around the curve of Upper Lake, then southwards towards the ancient Killarney oak forest.
Into Derrycunnihy Woods and underfoot the going is easy. After a 30-minute uphill struggle the reward is a flat, verdant expanse of bogland - and a popular hang-out for Ireland's only native red-deer herd. Galway's River meanders across; at the bridge dragonflies flit among the orchids. We'll stop to watch and won't worry about the oil pollution in the bog pools. Plants in these damper reaches are absolutely paranoid about drought; when water levels drop they extrude an oily substance over the surface to prevent evaporation.
It's a cunning plan used by one of our favourite carnivorous plants, the sundew, while it gets on with its main business: devouring insects. One specimen can account for 2,000 insects. These small red plants growing along the edges of bog pools create botanical mayhem on a grand scale.
Just beyond the bridge a sharp left-hand turn throws the trail back northeast towards Killarney. The path rises sharply now, through a luxuriant tangle of holly, alder, bilberry and moss, until it reaches Esknamucky Glen.
A climb of quite a few metres and it's into the open again. With luck we'll get what the locals here call a "lazy wind" - one that goes around you but not through you.
The path threads its way between Cromaglan Mountain and Stumpacommeen now, reaching its highest point at 335m. Over our left shoulder is the brooding hulk of Carrauntoohil, plus its half-dozen muscular neighbours who top 900m - the altitude with attitude in these parts.
The path, which at this point was once the Old Kenmare Road, now crosses the Ferta Fields, with old, weather-eroded Torc Mountain to the left.
Before reaching Clogheen, on a huge slab of red sandstone, is a piece of intriguing graffiti. It says, quite simply: "John O'Neill, Tippy Regiment, 1875." What the British Army was doing up this path we'll probably never know - but it's unlikely to have been studying sundew plants.
KERRY WAY
StartLord Brandon's Cottage at the head of Upper Lake, Killarney.
FinishClogheen Upper car park. This is about four kilometres from your starting point, so you'll need two cars or a taxi on standby, or be prepared to make the very pleasant walk into Killarney.
DistanceJust over 11km.
TimeAllow four or five hours.
MapOrdnance Survey of Ireland Discovery Series 78.
Best thing about walkThe terrain varies between bogland, ancient woodland and mountainside. In the open spaces you're afforded a vast panorama with no sign of man-made structures.
How to get thereTake a boat from Ross Castle through the lakes to Lord Brandon's Cottage.