The famed Colleen Bawn Rock is located close to the northern shore of Muckross Lake (take a look at the panoramic view from here). Legend has it that Eileen Hanly, "The Colleen Bawn", threw herself to her death from here because of her unrequited love for the landlords son and rather than marry the infamously ugly Danny Mann. The legend is based on fact, but is was a murder committed on the river Shannon in 1819 and had no connection with Killarney. The connection arose when Gerald Griffin used the story as the basis for his book The Collegians and transferred the setting to the more romantic Killarney. This was copied by Boucicault in his play The Colleen Bawn and Benedict in his opera The Lily of Killarney. Nice place for a swim.
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