SwissMissMeg

I have always hoped to visit Ireland. Like many who grew up in the Boston area, my family has roots there. My ancestors immigrated in the 1800s, seeking opportunity. We grew up celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (a regional holiday) and listening to my grandmother’s beautiful renditions of “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” as we danced around the Cape house. We were raised to revere the Kennedys and sent loved ones off with bagpipes at the grave followed by a proper Irish wake. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t perk up to the opening notes of a Dropkick Murphys song.

We are lucky enough to have friends from all corners of the country – from Dublin to Doolin, and north to Galway. In planning our roadtrip, we received lots of excellent advice, which helped feel like we had friends at each stop along the way.

After leaving Amsterdam, I flew to Dublin to meet Mom and Dad who had just arrived from Boston. We stayed on the outskirts of Trinity College. While our neighborhood initially struck me as a bit dodgy, I soon realized that it was a fantastic location, surrounded by great restaurants, street markets, and local sights.

To get to know the layout of the city, we took the Hop On, Hop Off bus on our first day out and about. We loved seeing the city from the top of a double decker. We hit up the tourist sights first – the Temple Bar neighborhood, the Guinness Storehouse, and the Jameson Distillery. The Irish Emigration Museum, EPIC, was particularly impressive and touching. For a country with a population of just over 5 million, the Irish diaspora is vast. It struck me that we have no Irish immigration museum in Boston, though I suppose assimilation was more prized (or necessary) in the States over commemoration. Still seems due…

We also visited Trinity College, the alma mater of our good family friend Ed and his daughter Emma. The campus was green and we enjoyed the tales of Oscar Wilde and other famous alums shared by our student guide. Samuel Beckett in particular seemed like quite the handful. Some story about how he didn’t return his master key when he left so they changed every lock on campus. But then he gifted the school a portion of his Nobel Prize money to build a theatre, so all seemed to be forgiven.

In the pubs, we sampled the local fare – stews and red ales and potatoes of all varieties. Our dinner at the The Winding Stair with Emma was a particular treat. A bookstore and a restaurant – what a genius combo.

Checking out of our Dublin Airbnb, we picked up our rental and set off for Cobh, about 2.5 hours to the south. A seaside port at the mouth of the River Lee, Cobh was the last port of call for the Titanic. It also boasts the second deepest natural harbor in the world, the first being Sydney.

At the Titanic Experience, located in the former White Star Line Building, we learned a great deal about the history of emigration from County Cork as well as the boat’s fateful journey. My maternal grandmother’s family, the Buckleys, immigrated from the region to Boston in the 1800s.

Arriving in the afternoon, we checked into the Commodore Hotel. We wandered across the street to John F. Kennedy Park, taking in the waterfront. After dinner, we hiked up to St. Colman’s Cathedral, taking in the charming colorful buildings that dot the downtown. The islands across the bay were reminiscent of Boston Harbor (Georges, Spectacle, and Deer Island).

After a raucous night at the Commodore Hotel thanks to a maritime reunion in the hotel bar, we drove the 15 miles down river to Cork. We were treated to a delicious breakfast with a surprising Turkish flair at SpitJack. Amidst the brick storefronts of the downtown, it was possible to imagine Ireland’s third largest city as it was at the turn of the 20th century, bustling with people and industry.

After breakfast, we struck out for Killarney on the tip of the Ring of Kerry. We stopped first at the Muckross House, a Downton Abbey-esque property boasting lakefront views and huge swaths of land. The estate featured a Sturbridge Village-like heritage center with a 2km walking loop including the original schoolhouse, a blacksmith’s forge, and other traditional farm buildings. The guide in the schoolhouse told us a yarn when he discovered that Mom and I were both teachers.

We set off around the Ring of Kerry and made it as far as the quaint town of Kenmore. Despite the beautiful views, the narrow roads seemed more stressful than it was worth so we stopped for lunch, did a little shopping, and doubled back to Killarney to enjoy dinner at Foley’s Townhouse on the recommendation of a friend. I had fun throughout the trip noting the many businesses which shared the names of my high school classmates, Foley’s included.

Our accommodations for the evening were perhaps my favorite of the entire trip. The Gleann Fia Country House perched just on the edge of Killarney town, alongside a babbling brook. The entry level (above, right) featured sitting rooms open to guests. We awoke to find that Irish golfer Rory McIlroy had won the Masters that very night. Needless to say, our innkeeper, Conor, was quite chuffed.

From Killarney, we took Conor’s advice and hopped the car ferry, the Shannon Breeze, from Country Kerry to Country Clare. En route to the Cliffs of Moher, we enjoyed yet another blue bird day – quite incredible our luck with the weather throughout the trip, really. Upon arriving at the Cliffs, I ran into a colleague from Moscow, Anne O’Toole. Anne guides at the site and lives in the Doolin area now. It was fantastic to catch up with her, completely out of the blue.

Dad and I hiked up to the top of the cliffs, marveling at the view of the 300+ million year old serpentine formations. Certain areas are off limits due to erosion but we were able to see the Harry Potter Cave and the Cliffs of Insanity (The Princess Bride, a Mark Knopfler song).

We stopped in Doolin for lunch at McGann’s where my friend Pol used to tend bar. As we drove on towards Galway, we passed through Ballyvaughn, where my friend Hailey had studied art years ago. This whole area is known as the Burren, a craggy limestone outcropping on the western side of Ireland. One wonders how life was able to sustain here before modern machinery arrived to work the land.

Perhaps my highlight of the trip was our day on Inis Mór, an island off the coast of Galway. The largest of the Aran Islands, Inis Mór boasts a population of just over 800 people, many with lineage stretching back over ten generations.

Once on island, we hired a local guide who told us great stories and drove us all over the island. After a stop for lunch (and sweater shopping), Dad and I hiked up to Dún Aonghasa, a prehistoric fort perched on the edge of a cliff. Human inhabitation at the site is thought to date back to the Bronze and Iron Age, circa 1100 BC.

An extension of the Burren, the landscape of Inis Mór is also made up of limestone along with crisscrossing cracks known as “grikes”. See the shiny black rock below from our hiking path. Those etchings are not manmade but embedded in the rock from the glacial period, revealed by the wear and tear of human footprints.

All too soon we had to catch the ferry and return to Galway itself. We turned our thoughts to the plans of the next day, a visit to see The Corrigans of Castlebar.

The Corrigans are a family who lived for a period of time in Medfield, my hometown outside of Boston. My mother grew to know them as the three Corrigan children came through the Dale Street School where she taught. Thought it had been years since Sheila and the children had moved back to Ireland, the reunion was like no time had passed. The Corrigans treated us to a delicious lunch and started Mom’s birthday celebrations off in spectacular fashion. The visit with them was surely a highlight as well.

Back in Dublin, we began to wind down our trip. We visited Christ Church Cathedral (a fantastic museum) and even stayed in a renovated former distillery. We feted Mom’s birthday properly with a fabulous dinner at Wilde. If you can believe it, the weather held for the entirety of the trip. Don’t know how we got so lucky.

Back home with the Goobs, she immediately made use of my Aran sweater, a cozy reminder of Ireland. As the school year draws to a close, it’s time to say goodbye to students and friends, many moving on to exciting futures elsewhere.

With summer approaching, I’m cooking up some fun travels with friends and family ahead – both here in Europe and in the States. For now, slán go fóill. Thanks for reading.