Tuesday morning I flew over the Irish Sea to Knock, Ireland. Coincidently enough, Knock is a religious pilgrimage site for us Roman Catholics. On August 21st, 1879, the Virgin Mary, St. John, and St. Joseph appeared with a lamb in front of 15 people. Many of the pilgrims come to Knock to be healed of physical illnesses. Mary-Thérèse (my step-mom) told me that when she came back in the late 80's, there were crutches and wheelchairs piled up along the pathway to the shrine. After visiting the shrine, we filed up a water bottle with holy water to take home and share with friends and family. The only down side was when we were riding around Knock a few days later and rummaging around the rental car in search of unopened water bottles. "JUST DON'T DRINK THE HOLY WATER," Mary-Thérèse kept shouting.
From Knock, Steve (
my brotha from another motha) drove us to his home away from home, Galway. I can tell that this city has a special effect on him as Lyon does on me. He was so excited to point out all the cool pubs, explain some of the local history, and just show us around. Unfortunately he had exams the next day, so he left Mary-Thérèse and I to venture on our own. After walking down shop street in the on-again-off-again rain, we ducked into a quaint little tea room called
Cupan Tae. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect discovery as we were wet from the rain, tired from the traveling, and sniffly from the change in temperature (apparently back in Philly it was a warm 80 degrees). Two or three or maybe four (who's counting) hours later, we met up with Steve, recollected ourselves, and went back out in the town for a nice Irish Guinness stew.
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| Yes, that's one portion of chocolate cake and I ate it all by myself. |
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| So comfy inside. |
The following day Steve headed to school to take his Irish history exam. Mary-Thérèse and I decided to check out Salt Hill, the local beach. I could have spent all day just watching the clouds float by us (had the rainstorm not attacked us on the return journey).
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| Salt Hill |
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| The clouds are about to attack us with a hail/rainstorm! |
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| Risk takers plunging into the water for about 1.2 minutes |
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| Do you see what I see? |
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| I kicked the wall and it changed my life (foot). Maybe I should have had a pint before kicking so hard. |
We also headed to the Galway Museum where we learned some interesting history, saw some neat ancient artifacts, and found this baby.
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| Yes that's right, U2 payed here back in the day for one pound and some pence. |
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| The Spanish Arch, Galway |
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| Galway |
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| Galway Pub street, where you can stumble from one pub to the next quite easily thanks to this Western city having the most amount of pubs in the smallest square area. |
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| Home of the first ever Cladagh ring. |
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| So green |
That evening we headed off to Dublin to meet with our Dowling cousins (Mary-Thérèse's mom's side). We arrived, exchanged quick introductions and then, Steve and I were pushed out the door again to catch Emer's Irish dancing show. Nothing says spontaneous hospitality like eating a homemade pot pie dish in the car on the way to a free show (let alone the drinks.) Of course one of the dancers pulled me up onto stage to see if I had been paying attention to their amazing moves. I have the diploma to prove it! New places, new faces, and so much new fun. Fun fact: Emer won 8th place in the World Championships this year!
Check it out!
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| Oh hey clouds, how ya doing? |
The next day, Paddy (Emer's dad, MT's cousin), took us out to their land in the infamous BOG. I remember learning about
peat back in high school, but (as it always seems to be) seeing it in person was a whole other learning experience. We drove through the fields, watching the trucks do their business.
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| The bog machine. |
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| What you make at the bog., peat. |
Next, we were off to explore Dublin for the remainder of the afternoon. Steve's friend, Josh, was so kind to help us out and show us his new city. My favorite part? The Old Library in Trinity College and the famous Book of Kells. Lord Jesus, my family had to drag me out. Whoever thinks they'll marry me better be ready for a big old DIY library project with the full package of spiral staircases and moving ladders.
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| Trinity College, Dublin |
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| Tried to sneak a picture. |
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| Spring time is in the air |
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| Fountain whereabouts St. Patrick baptized locals in the 5th century. |
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| Cathedral |
Our final day in Ireland was a magnificent one. A good solid 10 hours of road-tripping through Kerry County (where my great-grandmother came from back in the 1900s). Emotions were spiraling out of control as the lush, green country flew before our eyes. Here are a few of the moments captured in time. The rest I will keep to myself locked up in my memory to replay over and over again. I was flat out awestruck by the beauty of Ireland and the generosity of the Irish people.
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| Stupid car ruining perfect pictures. Sweet little old castle on the way to Dingle |
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| Walls that the English made the Irish build for no good reason, just to keep them busy during the famine. |
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| Irish countryside = heaven |
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| Stupid lorry (truck) blocking the view! Taken on the way through Kerry. Amazing blue water |
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| BAhhhh, I'm a sheep in the middle of the road strutting my stuff. |
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| Amazing "oh sh*t" moment where we have to slow down after barreling down country roads all morning. |
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| And magically the storm clouds reappear. |
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| And disappear |
I must admit I was quite bummed to leave. Each day went faster then the last. Now I can say that I truly understand why Americans are so into their Irish heritage. Who could not be wrapped up in it all? I may not have seen a leprechaun, but I have fallen under a spell and will be following a rainbow back here in the future.
