My husband is Irish. His grandparents were both born and raised in Ireland; his father born in Ireland before immigrating to America at a very young age. So, of course, he has always been interested in his Irish roots.
To celebrate our wedding anniversary, we planned a 2-week trip to Ireland to dig deeper into my husband’s ancestry. We finally decided on a bus coach tour to see all the sites starting in Dublin before traveling south along the east coast. We continued southwest along the south coast, north along the west coast and then inland to Ennis, where we spent our remaining days on our own tour of discovery.
Dublin was …. well, Dublin. A fast-moving, busy city that was very similar to other large cities in the world — traffic, construction, crime and tourists! But then traveling through the small villages of Ireland is where it all changed. The scenery, the homes, the agriculture…simply beautiful. I was slowly beginning to relax.
No ringing cell phones, no one with their nose to a tablet or laptop. People were actually talking to each other at restaurants, shops and pubs – even on the streets! Television at the hotels was very basic and mostly limited to politics in the U.S.!
We didn’t bring a cell phone, tablet or laptop. There wasn’t even a public computer in the hotels. We had to talk and listen to people and we absolutely loved it! I had forgotten what it was to like to really talk to people; to hear a voice instead of receiving a text, etc. We found information we needed by talking to local residents, not by a Google search or Mapquest app!
By hiring a driver for the day, we were able to explore very small towns in the middle of nowhere. Churches, cemeteries, castles, all just waiting to be enjoyed. My husband was able to see and set foot on property owned by long- gone relatives. Although I was just “along for the ride”, I found myself intrigued by Ireland’s history, food, people and scenery.
We’ve always celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with corned beef and cabbage (and of course, a Guinness and soda bread with Kerrygold butter!) But knowing we were actually IN Ireland makes the meal so much more enjoyable each and every year. This was definitely a once in a lifetime vacation and one I’ll never forget. Hope to get back there ASAP.
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