Ireland - The Motherland

This Easter, I fulfilled my dream to visit Ireland…home of my paternal ancestors. Doug, Kate, and I loaded the car up for an Irish road trip. Travelling via the Volvo and ferry was a welcome change from airplanes, airport security, and customs.
Day 1: Wales and the Ferry Ride
The drive to Holyhead port in Anglesey, Wales was a pretty far car ride. Rather than getting up at the crack of dawn to catch our ferry, we opted to spend the night in Shrewsbury, England. The highlight of this leg of the journey was going through our first reverse drive-thru McDonalds. I’m not sure if it was the lack of coffee or that we don’t get out much, but this was strangely exciting.

The drive through Wales was absolutely stunning. With its snow-covered mountains and hillsides dotted with sheep, it reminded Doug and me of our trip to the south island of New Zealand. We definitely look forward to seeing more of Wales before moving back to Ohio. We reached the port in Anglesey, and much to my disappointment, did not see its most famous residents (William and Kate) anywhere. So sad. Maybe next time.

Snowdonia National Park

The whole ferry experience was pretty cool. We drove our car right onto the boat then hung out in the lounge for the 3 hour ride across the Irish Sea. The ferry was ultra comfortable, complete with a Curious George play area, cafe, restaurant, cinema, and bar. Once we reached Dublin, we drove off and were on our way!

Driving onto the Stena Line ferry

The Volvo is loaded!

Enjoying the view of the Irish Sea

Stickers.  Worth their weight in gold.

There's Ireland!

Checking out our hotel room balcony. 

Day 2: Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland
While the weather was less than cooperative, we stuck with our plan to visit one of the most unusual stretches of coastline in the world. It was a 3+ hour drive from Dublin, but couldn’t come this far and not see it. There are two explanations for this wondrous site…

The Scientific Version - Formation of Giant’s Causeway began 61 million years ago after a series of massive volcano eruptions. The layer of lava cooled quickly, and in the process cracked into polygonal-shaped blocks beneath the surface. There were more volcanoes and more lava, creating more layers. Eventually, the Ice Age came and went and erosion took place forming the causeway. The result was a terrain of roughly 37,000 columns with four, five, eight, and ten sides. We didn’t get to explore the columns as much as we would have liked, as walking on them in the cold, wind, and rain with a toddler wasn’t exactly safe.

The Legend – Finn MacCool was a famous Irish giant warrior who helped defend Ireland from foreign forces. Legend has it that he laid the causeway to provide a path across the sea to his lady love, who lived on a Scottish island where similar columns are found.

We took the coastal route back to Dublin, which passed through some quintessential Irish villages, some castle ruins, and lots and lots of sheep!

Dunseverick Castle Ruins

Guiness!

Pretty village of Ballygalley

Day 3: Exploring Dublin & Heading to Adare, County Limerick
We had been in Ireland for over 24 hours and had yet to drink a Guinness. In our defense, the Easter holiday in the Emerald Isle is pretty big deal. After all, 90% of the Irish population attends Catholic Mass regularly. I’m sure that other 10% steps it up for holy days. Good Friday is designated as a dry day in Ireland. In other words, no Guinness for anyone yesterday. Naturally, the first stop on our agenda was the Guinness Brewery. However, long line + toddler = no tour. We took some souvenir pictures and moved on with our quest for beer. Next stop…The Brazen Head pub, which happens to be the oldest bar in Ireland. Ahhh. Finally. It’s true what they say (whoever “they” is)…the Guinness in Ireland is just better. Way better. I don’t know why, but WOW. You’ll just have to go and taste it for yourself.

Doug's 1st Guiness in Ireland

Cheers!

We hit a few of the other sites –

*St. Patrick Cathedral - I lit candles for Claire Beaver (my cousin’s husband’s sister’s infant daughter who is battling a rare heart condition) and my step-brother Ranger Rob who is fighting for our country in Afghanistan. If you’re reading this, please stop and say a prayer for them.

St. Patrick Cathedral

Not exactly sure what they're collecting for.

*Temple Bar - a cute cobbled street with bars, restaurants, and shops.  This is where most of the drinking takes place in Dublin!

*Dublin Castle – we didn’t tour the castle, but did check out the beautiful Chapel Royal

*Grafton Street – Dublin’s bustling shopping district. It’s places like this where my husband reverts to being 5 years old, so we generally avoid exploring shopping areas like this.

Finally spotted some leprechauns!

*Misc. Here and There -

Spire of Dublin in the distance

Famine Memorial

Christ Church Cathedral

Rare moment of sunshine

Dublin at night - view from our balcony

View from the other side of our balcony

After all that, we were back in the car for the 2 hour drive to Adare in County Limerick. Our home for the next two days was an adorable converted stone barn cottage on a working farm. Kate absolutely loved the field of cows right outside the cottage, and I got a little taste of my dream of living on a farm.

We stayed in the Stone Barn Cottage on the left.

Inside the cottage

Not sure if Kate was more interested in the cows or if they were more interested in her!

Day 4: Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry

We hit the road early for the 2 hour drive to the Dingle Peninsula. Silly name, but incredible scenery! We grabbed a bite to eat in the small, but bustling, fishing village of Dingle before exploring the Slea Head drive (a 25 mile loop around the peninsula) and the Conor Pass (the highest mountain pass in Ireland). The views were absolutely stunning, and we even saw the sun poke out a wee bit.

Beach on our way to Dingle

Beautiful!

Downtown Dingle

Stopped here for some delicious ice cream.  WOW.

Downtown Dingle

Kate riding "Fungi"

Dingle fishing boats

Dunbeg Fort

xoxo

Stunning coastline

Irish eyes are smiling!

Slea Head

View towards the Blasket Islands

Another beautiful beach

Day 5 (Easter Monday): Cliffs of Moher, County Clare & Cashel, County Tipperary
On the road again…

By day’s end, we will have covered some serious ground in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland in 5 days. Over 1,000 to be exact. I’m pretty sure that anyone who logs this kind of mileage in the car with a toddler is slightly crazy. Thank goodness for stickers and books, Kate’s two favorite things in the whole world.

The Cliffs of Moher tower an astounding 650 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Pictures don’t even begin to do this place justice. It was breathtaking.

Cliffs of Moher

O'Brien's Tower in the distance

Is this sign really necessary?

Our last stop on the McIrish Tour was the Rock of Cashel, where St. Patrick is said to have converted the King of Munster. While we were too late to tour the castle, we were able to walk through the nearby monastic ruins of the Hore Abbey (awful name, right?) Such a beautiful place with so much history.

Church remains on our way to Cashel

Knappague Castle - Built by the MacNamara clan

Rock of Cashel

Hore Abbey

Hore Abbey from the Rock of Cashel

Inside the beautiful Hore Abbey

Aside from an overnight stay in Rosslare and a 4 hour car ride back to Oxford, this was the end of our Irish holiday. When it was all said and done, we travelled roughly 1,200 miles in our car and about 120 miles on the ferry.

Kate did awesome. She’s such an adventurous little girl who really seems to love all the travelling we’re doing. It’s not easy, and we certainly don’t travel lightly, but Doug and I strongly believe that this experience will shape who she becomes. Our hope is that she’ll have a love of travelling, an appreciation for God’s great world, and a respect for other cultures. At the ripe old age of 19 months, she’s now logged about 30,000 air miles and has walked on 8 countries (US, England, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Wales, Ireland, and Northern Ireland). She’s a blessed girl, as are we.