All Things Green and Irish
March Writing Challenge
What is it about Ireland and the Irish that keeps on pulling me back? It’s a strange sensation being drawn to a country again and again. Every time I fly into Dublin airport, I feel like I’m coming home yet I have no Irish heritage that I know of.
The first time I visited Ireland, the colour of the countryside stunned me. When I try to explain it, it’s the greenest green you can imagine — the grass is more than green — but there are no words to describe just how green it is.
Every time I’ve visited Ireland, I’ve travelled with friends and/or family but it’s a place I could travel alone quite happily. A couple of times in a van with booked accommodation and once in a motorhome where booked accommodation wasn’t needed.
Things to Do and See in Dublin
The Guinness Storehouse
I’m not a beer drinker and I definitely don’t drink Guinness anywhere in the world apart from the Gravity Bar at the top of the seven-storey building. By the time you reach the top, you’re tonguing for a pint of the stuff — those advertising campaigns must have been successful — after grabbing your complimentary pint (it’s included in the entrance fee), you can sit back and relax and experience 360-degree views of Dublin. I find this brewery so interesting I’ve visited it three times!
Kilmainham Gaol
I love old gaols (jails) probably because of the history they can tell and Kilmainham is no exception. It’s one of the saddest places I’ve been, but that doesn’t stop me from going back and joining a tour.
Literary Pub Crawl
On my first trip to Ireland, my niece and I went on a Literary Pub Crawl. As you can see, my prize was a T-shirt! I had a lot of help from her as she was too shy to call out the answers even though she knew them. Me shy? No way! And we did visit a few different pubs and had a drink at every one where literary icons frequented: James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde. I drank Magners cider. I’ve only done this once…
Trinity College and the Book of Kells
The first time I saw the Book of Kells I was intrigued by the artistic talent and the patience of the monks — it was simply beautiful. The book is open on a different page each time I’ve returned. You’re not allowed to touch it — it’s in a glass case. The last time I visited Trinity College it was Graduation Day and I chatted with students all dressed in their academic robes and mortar boards. It was such an exciting atmosphere in the Long Room.
Ceilidh (pronounced kaylee)
For a fun night of Irish singing and dancing including a delicious Irish three-course meal, go to the Arlington Hotel overlooking the River Liffey. It’s a great night out!
If you haven’t realised by now, I love Dublin!
There’s so much more to see and do in Dublin: Dublin Castle, St Stephen’s Green, St Patrick’s Cathedral and all the lovely old bars. The Brazen Head is Dublin’s oldest pub. Records can be found dating back to 1198 — now that’s OLD!
Travelling around Ireland
Always starting in Dublin and travelling south. To change it up, on my last trip, I decided to head north as I wanted to walk the cliff pathway of the Gobbins. It was newly built or should I say rebuilt and it was something I hadn’t done before. It was pouring rain and we couldn’t actually find the Gobbins. Our GPS said we had reached our destination but were in the middle of a new housing estate. We pulled into a cul-de-sac thinking we’d camp here for the night — yes I know out the front of someone’s house — only in Ireland — and look for the Gobbins Visitor Centre first thing in the morning.
Best laid plans…we woke around 2 am freezing our butts off — it was early December — and trying to get the heater to turn on. It eventuated that we had been given a motorhome with an almost empty gas cylinder. So we drove back to Dublin and parked outside the Bunk Campers office using the heater from the engine to warm us up.
Instead of refilling the cylinder, the owner gave us another vehicle. He was unperturbed. We had ripped off one of the side mirrors so were pleased to get a new camper. The owner was unperturbed by this too remarking that it happened a lot on the narrow village roads. We had to transfer all of our possessions including the fridge full of provisions we had bought in Dundalk the previous day to the new motorhome.
Then we set off south as I had always done in the past. We planned to park at the Rock of Cashel overnight as I knew it had a large parking area. We visited the ruins of the castle and abbey built atop the rock with views forever and confirmed that we could park there overnight. The young guy said we could but he wouldn’t advise it as there was a storm approaching with gale-force winds.
The next planned stop was Blarney Castle and that guy at Cashel hadn’t been wrong. It was pelting rain and extremely windy. We parked at the bottom of the car park under some trees near a babbling brook. The babbling brook was, by morning, a raging torrent and we were lucky we weren’t washed away.
As I’d already kissed the Blarney stone — can’t you tell — we decided we’d head off to Dingle, my favourite Irish village. We drove along the aptly named Wild Atlantic Way hugging the cliffs all the way deciding to give the Ring of Kerry a miss. The weather was not conducive to beautiful views today. In fact, we could barely see the road in front of us.
Now I know why Ireland is so green — it hasn’t stopped raining! But the rain never dampens my enthusiasm for Ireland.
My love for everything Irish began in 1997 when new neighbours moved in across the road. I’d only just met them when I had to have surgery. They had two little girls one a year older than Keeley and one a year younger and a much younger son. Their mum offered not only to look after Keeley but to make meals for my family while I was in hospital. I barely knew her. How lovely was that?
The Irish People
Twenty-six years later, we are still good friends. I’ve been invited to various Irish events — the Irish Ball, the Irish Gaelic Football Dinner and various birthday parties where I swear I’m one of the few non-Irish people present. I find them so open and friendly, and the people I meet when I travel to Ireland are exactly the same. Coincidentally, it’s her husband’s birthday on St Patrick’s Day so there’s always a celebration after St Paddy’s Day parade.
Irish History
Ireland has some dark and dreadful history and it makes you wonder why they are such a happy group of people. “Let bygones be bygones” (maybe not in Northern Ireland, which is more English than the rest of Ireland.) Yes, it’s a separate country! In Ireland, they use the euro as currency; in Northern Ireland, it’s the pound sterling. In Ireland, the road signs are in Gaelic and English — not so in Northern Ireland.
Irish Castles and Ruins
From memory, I’ve visited Blarney Castle, The Rock of Cashel, Bunratty Castle, Ashford Castle, Dunluce Castle, Dunbeg Fort, Downhill Desmesne and Mussenden Temple and the ancient Beehive huts on Dingle Peninsula. I am fascinated by all of them.
Irish Villages
The historical Bunratty Village and the Kerry Bog Village are reminders of Ireland’s past. My favourite place in Ireland is the little fishing village of Dingle.
If you’d like to know more about my times in Dingle, here’s the link.
It’s a popular spot in summer but I’ve always visited in winter when it’s almost deserted. On my last visit, the only other tourists silly enough to weather Storm Desmond were a family from Tasmania, Australia. It takes more than a cyclone to keep us down.
There’s so much I haven’t mentioned and so many photos I haven’t shared. The Ring of Kerry, Galway Bay, Aran Isles, Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede suspension bridge, Bushmills Distillery, The Dark Hedges, Cong, and the Burren just to name a few.
You can see from Jerry Dwyer’s photos I’m not lying about how green Ireland is. And he’s lucky. He has Irish cousins to show him around whenever he visits.
And TRAVEL STORIES BY GABE moved to Ireland and looks at Ireland as a resident through a totally different lens — and it’s not green.
This is a writing prompt response to our March writing challenge:
Have you been to Ireland or is it still on your wish list? Do you have any Irish heritage? What is your experience of the Emerald Isle? What season did you visit?
Have you been anywhere as green as Ireland? Write about it and share your greenest photographs.
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