Trip of a Lifetime Part 1

Blarney Castle in Ireland

An acquaintance on Facebook asked where would I like to go, and without hesitation, I responded, "Back to Ireland!" We had so much fun on our first visi t in June of 2007. The trip included myself, my husband Mike, our son Colin, and our daughter Molly.

Mike, Molly, and I took the train from Albuquerque to Chicago where we met up with Colin. He was attending the Illinois Institue of Technology on a scholarship. We planned to spend the night in Chicago and catch the plane to Shannon the next day. Some friends that we had known forever came to our hotel and we all ate Chicago-style pizza.

One of Chicago's Cows on Parade

We arrived at the Shannon airport where we rented a car to begin our travels about the island. Mike had booked rooms for us, and our first stop was a bed and breakfast on the southern coast. On the way, we stopped at Blarney Castle. I couldn't manage the steps so Mike and I toured the ancient garden while the kids hopped-skipped-and-jumped up the stairs and scouted out the castle's rooms. Yes, they kissed the stone.

Upon reaching our destination of Cahersiveen, we couldn't decide if we were too exhausted by the long trip across the ocean or too excited to finally be here to know what to do first. I walked about on the cove's beach taking photos. The next morning after a traditional Irish breakfast (no blood pudding for me, thank you) we went back into town. The kids had reservations on a tour boat that would take them an hour out into the Atlantic to visit the Skelligs. The ruins of an ancient monastery attract visitors as does the starkness of the islands. A treat was the hundreds of puffins that nest in the rocky crags.

Next stop, Wexford, where we visited the famous crystal factory and viewed an original "Famine ship". Both my husband's and my families came from County Wexford. As a matter of fact, they lived so close together  that they may have known each other! There are several pubs in Enniscorthy that bear my surname, Kehoe.

The Dunbrody

Enniscorthy, Count Wexford. Myles Kehoe's pub

After purchasing some famous (surely you've heard of them!) Wexford strawberries from a roadside vendor, we were on our way to Dublin. But, that's all for today.