An adventure with my dad

I thought, since it was Father's Day, I should finally document my hilarious and memorable adventure with my dad in the south of Ireland. I had started to plan our itinerary months in advance so I was super anxious, waiting for that golden day to come but the day finally came! I was so excited to see him.

We spent the first day in Dublin and I showed him all of my favorite spots. We went to the Jameson Distillery and then just walked around.

Dad did the tasting!

The next morning, we picked up the car and were on our way, road tripping across Ireland! A little side note about the car: it had to be one of the most hilarious and adventurous part of our whole trip. I don't know why but it was absolutely hilarious to me the entire time driving while my dad didn't think it was so funny, given that it was super stressful not only being on the wrong side of the road but that the steering wheel was on the wrong side as well. So, if you can picture it, I was laughing uncontrollably while my dad cringed in the drivers seat. A memory that will last a lifetime. 

That day, our first stop was in Kildare, the town home to Brigid's Cathedral. I don't know if I ever mentioned this in my previous posts but St. Brigid is the reason I chose to spend 4 months in Ireland. I did my whole research thesis on her and how she was such an influential figure in the conversion of the entire island to Christianity. St. Brigit, in addition to the rich religious history that exists in Ireland, came alive to me when I took Celtic Christianity with Dr. Carlson in my first semester at college. 

St. Brigid went through quite a transformation; she went from a pagan goddess to a wholly Christianize saint in a matter of decades, all the while maintaining a unique and distictive Celtic spirit that the Irish people could relate and find solitude in. St. Brigid is such a phenomenal, powerful saint and woman-figure, which was uncommon and basically inexistent in her time, a time that is colored by powerful male figures. Some stories even say that St. Brigid baptized St. Patrick! Overall, the transformation of her represent Christian leaders' efforts to ease the conversion of the people of Ireland from paganism to Christianity. So, needless to say, when I finally feasted my eyes on the cathedral, a location that I had studied extensively, it was a thin space for me and a special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. 

Here, the front structure is where the nuns had stirred the eternal fire in honor of Brigit for decades; St. Brigid started the tradition and the nuns kept stirring it until the reign of Henry VII. Every year on her feast day, February 1st, the nuns come and light it again in honor of her. 

We continued our journey down to Cashel, home of the legendary Rock of Cashel, a highly visited place in Ireland. The Rock was unreal, the tour was fantastic and we even got to see the last Cistercian abbey in Ireland. 

The abbey from the Rock.

Up close to the abbey

Our view of the Rock of Cashel from our B&B!

We stayed in the most lovely B&B in an old, historic building.

The next morning, we were up bright and early and headed to our first stop in Cork. Lots of Irish people call Cork the true capital of Ireland, not Dublin, because it is more Irish I guess! It definitely was a cool city...

After a short stop, we headed down south to Bantry. We were going to be staying in the historic Bantry House, usually a museum where you have to pay to walk around the house and gardens but I researched and found that you can actually stay in the house as a guest! This house was unreal.

The view from the front of the house.

One side of the house

The other side of the house

They had a very impressive garden.

The view from the "Hundred Steps" scenic walk.

Our view from our room.

The town it was in was cool too!

The next morning we headed to drive the Ring of Kerry, probably one of the most famous things to do in Ireland. Many people don't recommend driving it, due to the very narrow roads and then, on top of that, the numerous tour buses that drive it throughout the day. BUT, I had full confidence in my dad's driving and we set out on the most scenic route in all of Ireland. It definitely lives up to the hype...

Bus next to another bus on this road - CRAZY!

A little crooked but the view was unbelievable.

One of the best views I ever seen

I loved when the shadow came over this view.

Those little dots are sheep!

We then stopped in Killarney National Park- beautiful!

We then headed back to our next B&B

We stayed in a little town called Kenmare, at the most lovely B&B with excellent hosts.

Kenmare

So, the next day was interesting. It was definitely our longest driving day because we were staying in Cliften, which is above Galway, so we had a long way to go. What made it worse, I planned to go to the Cliffs of Moher on the way, which was totally off the beaten path and not really "on the way." But, we stopped and it was well worth it because my dad loved seeing them and I didn't really mind seeing them for the third time because every time was different.

It was a beautiful day!

We then were on our way to Cliften but the roads we took to get there were some of the most beautiful views I had ever seen. We went from the scenic route by the ocean to the scenic route through Connemara National Park, filled with random lakes and greenery everywhere. I was snapping pictures from the car every 2 seconds, which is a difficult task! But, instead of the photos, I will always have the memory of driving through beauty on both sides of me with my best friend so that makes pictures not so necessary. What I did get, I tried my best to capture it but it definitely does not do it justice.

The B&B we were staying at was a place that I had been anticipating our whole trip. The house was located on this scenic route called Sky Road (the beginning of it is in the picture above). The house was amazing, with unreal views. 

This was the driveway to get to the house

The front of the house

They had this path that led right to this little beach

They owned this property so I finally got to roll around in the greenery of Ireland.

A welcoming friend

I loved when the sun was blocked by the clouds

An amazing little cave

On our way to dinner

On our last night in the Irish country-side

The next morning, we started our trek back to Dublin but we first made a stop at a much anticipated place to visit of mine. It is called Kylemore Abbey and it is in the heart of Connemara National Park. Nuns still live on the top floor but the bottom floor was converted into a museum that documents the history of the abbey and the school that used to be there. Then, they have some very beautiful scenic routes and the biggest walled garden in Ireland. As I was there, I slowly realized that it was my favorite place we visited on our trip and comes close to Glendalough as my favorite place I visited in my entire time in Ireland. As we drove back to Dublin (across the entire island horizontally), I caught myself daydreaming of living there. The views were spectacular...

It was perfectly nestled in the heart of Connemara

The view from the front of the abbey

A previous owner built this mini cathedral for his wife

The gardens were home to this little guy.

First part of the walled garden

Path to the cathedral

Second part of the walled garden

Every year, the nuns have a campaign to raise money for an environmental cause and they plant these trees for every donation they receive

The last photo I took - definitely one of my favorites.

Overall, my trip with my dad was one for the books. I wouldn't have wanted to experience Ireland's beauty with anyone else other than him (except for my mom). I am so blessed to have gotten the opportunity to travel Ireland with my best friend. God keeps reminding me how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life and all the opportunities for such memorable experiences. 

So, happy Father's Day to my best friend and all the dads out there!

xoxo,

Halle