In the Land of Leperchauns

Seeing as it is March and Saint Patrick's Day is right around the corner, what better way to spend the month than travelling around the beautiful country that I am calling home for four months? All of March I am exploring every inch of this very green country! I had a travel companion for this stretch of the journey... a "friend" of mine from back home spent 10 whole days in Ireland with me! And I say "friend" in the quotations because he didn't leave here as just my friend. He asked me to be his girlfriend sitting in the gardens at the Blarney Castle! Romantic right? Yeah, I'd say I'm pretty lucky. And yes, that's why the first picture is of some cutie giving me a kiss on the cheek in front of a castle! So we started our adventure and travelled to a few places I had already seen, Galway, Dublin, and the Blarney Castle, but everywhere else we explored was new to me and I couldn't have asked for a better travel buddy!

Our first stop was the beautiful Wicklow National Park. Here, we got to visit an old monastic site at Glendalough where they actually filmed scenes from the movie "Braveheart". The ruins were beautiful. Just beyond those ruins were the Upper and Lower Lakes of the Glenalough region. The term "Glendalough" in Irish Gaelic actually means the "valley of the two lakes" and you can see exactly why from the picture. The views were breathtaking. From there, we drove through the Wicklow Gap where scenes from one of my favorite movies, "P.S. I Love You" was filmed (the scene where Hillary Swank meets Gerard Butler for the first time and he holds her to keep her safe from the "wild" dog). It was gorgeous travelling through the countryside of Ireland; a very different view from the thriving city life of Galway.

I didn't think that anything could top the breathtaking views of the Wicklow Mountains; and then we went to the infamous Cliffs of Moher. Now I understand why they are so famous.Never in my life have I seen a more beautiful sight. I really, truly felt as though I was standing both on top of and at the edge of the world. Everything was so green and the ocean crashing against the rock below was as blue as the Caribbean Sea. Get there early enough and you will see the puffins... YES I SAID PUFFINS! I didn't get to see them sadly because I wasn't there early enough before they flew off for lunch and dinner. But, even without the puffins, it was still a magical place.


When the English Cromwell's took over Ireland in the 17th Century, they forced all the natives off their lands in the east and pushed them to the very edge of the west coast. "To hell or to Connacht" was what the English would tell the Irish as they swept their lands up from under them. So out to the west the natives marched to Connacht, specifically in the region of Connemara. Connemara is one of the most native Irish speaking regions of the island because of this. The Irish language was once known for this reason as the poor man's language, and the Irish would attempt to teach their children only English so that they could have better futures. The language was almost lost entirely, but somehow it held on, and now every street sign in Ireland is written in both English and Irish. But despite the rejuvenation of the language, the remnants of the poverty of those Irish people can still be seen throughout Connemara. It can be seen by the rock walls that crisscross the rocky terrain of the region; these walls depicted the perimeter of land each family owned, and the land was barely big enough to build a house on, let alone have a farm, crops, or livestock in order to survive. The terrain is still barren, and you don't even feel as though you are even in Ireland. But, these were the lands of many of my own ancestors and it held its own unique sense of beauty.

Hidden away amongst these rocky mountains is a beautiful castle that was built by a man who loved his wife. Mitchell Henry bought the land for his wife after she fell in love with Connemara on their honeymoon. He built the castle for her and after her tragic death, he built a cathedral as well as a mausoleum to put her remains as well as instructions to lay him beside her when he passed. The castle was owned by one other family who lost it to bankruptcy because they loved to gamble just a bit too much, and finally in 1920 it was sold to the Benedictine nuns and became Kylemore Abbey. The nuns still reside at the Abbey and up until a few years ago, it also acted as a boarding school for girls. But because of low enrollment, the school was shut down and now the Abbey is open to the public for tours. And as beautiful as the castle is, the gardens that Mitchell Henry planted for his wife were just as majestic. Walking hand in hand with my new boyfriend felt like taking a stroll through the scene of a Jane Austen novel.

Our last stop on the list was the gorgeous island of Inishmore of the Aran Islands. Let me tell you though DO NOT take the ferry on a windy day; it is terrifying! We made it safely ashore, but I swear there were a few times I felt we were going to capsize. On the island, there is one ATM, one grocery store, one shop, one tiny police station, three bike rental places, five hotels, and seven pubs/restaurants. It is tiny. We rented bikes for the day at a great price and rode down the old country roads through the farmlands. Of course, I had to pick the pink bike with the basket on the front; it had so much character! The sun was shining and the cows were mooing and everything was so peaceful. I know I say this a lot, but once again I felt as though I had stepped back in time. That's how Ireland makes you feel; it removes you from the stress of every day life in the modern world and brings you back to a time when life was simpler. Ireland really makes one appreciate both life and the land.