Kerry County has long been a photographer’s dream. Why the rest of the world didn’t notice until social media appeared is a worthwhile question. Tourist maps have included the Ring of Kerry since before Instagram. Ireland’s first national park, Killarney National Park, was created in 1932. Long before any film team came, Skellig Michael, a rocky island off the coast of Kerry where monks established a monastery in the sixth century, was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The components were present. The distribution strategy was altered, as was the unique way Kerry’s landscape works with a phone camera to create pictures that people actually want to share.
The change was sparked in part by the Wild Atlantic Way. Kerry was in the center of the most visually striking portion of Ireland’s 2014 launch of the picturesque coastal driving route. Social media users could follow and share the route’s linear narrative, which featured recognizable milestones that could be photographed and fed into one another. Early on, travel content producers working the Wild Atlantic Way realized that their best-performing content was always the Kerry leg. Influencer networks picked up on that remark more quickly than any tourism board could have anticipated.
One of the most iconic pictures in Irish tourist media is Dunquin Pier on the Dingle Peninsula. The Blasket Islands in the distance on a clear day, the winding road down the cliffside, and the stone pier extending into the Atlantic are examples of compositions that work well on a phone screen and are rewarded by the algorithm. A distinct color scheme is added by the nearby Coumeenoole Beach, which features white sand, dark cliffs, and water that in summer sunshine takes on unbelievable tints of blue and green. There is no need for staging at any location. When you get there, just point the camera, and the scenery takes care of the rest.
Something new was added by Skellig Michael: cultural gravity. When Luke Skywalker’s island refuge on the Skellig Islands was filmed for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a vast worldwide audience was drawn to a place that most of them had never heard of. The scenes didn’t last long. There was no impact on search volumes or interest in making reservations. Visitors started coming expressly to stand where the movie was filmed, and the pictures they captured went viral in both travel and fan communities, two groups that would not often interact. Because Skellig Michael prohibits huge numbers of visitors, its appeal is based in part on scarcity, which creates its own social media dynamic.
The towns finish the image. With its operational fishing harbor and painted storefronts, Dingle provides “lifestyle” photographs that are not possible with just wilderness photos. Kenmare, which is quieter and smaller, performs the same task with a different color palette. Both towns provide as evidence that a vacation to Kerry entails more than just cliffs because they offer the kind of traditional pubs and fresh seafood that look great on a platter. The mix of a functional community and a dramatic scenery produces a range of material that keeps users interested for a long time.
Another, more awkward question is whether the number of tourists this brings in is sustainable for Kerry’s more vulnerable areas. The limited access road at Dunquin Pier was not intended to handle the summertime parking demand. Because the island cannot accommodate an infinite number of tourists, Skellig Michael controls its population through permits. Because County Kerry is truly remarkable, it has become Ireland’s most Instagrammed destination. Pointing a camera doesn’t take the same level of focus as managing what happens next.
