Ireland

“Sip at the cup life has to offer”

As my feet touched the emerald island, there was a bubbling excitement within. Ireland was not what I had expected… It was much more. I can honestly admit that. And, I’m not sure if I was just lucky, but for the most part of my two week visit in September, the weather was rather exceptional! What a bonus!

I soon realised… two weeks was too little time with so much to do – I was so glad I had only chosen three locations! I think it literally feels like that when exploring someplace new. Ireland is small, but there there is a lot to see.

Two weeks in Ireland… let’s see what I got up to:

Locations I Visited

Dublin – here I explored the city, obviously, and then ventured further south to Enniskerry and Wicklow
Carlow – from here I also explored other towns such as Inistioge and Kilkenny (Inistioge was the quaintest of towns; and it’s featured in the movie, Circle of Friends. I loved the beauty of the tree-lined river running under the old stone bridge)
Cork – I branched out from this city too – to Cobh and Killarney

Accommodation

Dublin:

Donnybrook Hall Guesthouse
Uppercross House Hotel

Both accommodations are worth mentioning and recommending. They are more in the suburb areas but still close enough to walk or take a quick bus trip to the city center.

Dublin is a compact city, but one can still get a decent amount of walking done!

Cork:

Redclyffe Guesthouse was my choice to stay while visiting Cork.

In future, I would choose to stay more central in the city center. Places of interest in Cork are more spread out and not as convenient to walk to as the places were in Dublin. Being more central would have made my time more efficient (I had walked 20 km in total after a day of exploring and then still had to head back to my accommodation…just to give you an idea!).

The guesthouse itself was absolutely lovely though, and again, worth mentioning.

Carlow:

Here, I stayed with family who very kindly and generously provided their tour guiding skills! They whisked me around to do all sorts of sightseeing: drives along scenic, winding countryside roads, visiting various little towns, and exploring castles and churches. I was so grateful for the whirlwind of effort and the fun during my stay with them.

Movies to Watch for Fun

I have to mention these movies. There are many featuring Ireland, but I chose the ones that relate to the places I visited on this trip. Some I have watched myself and others were simply mentioned by the tour guides. I’ll be mentioning a few of these movies where relevant further on in my blog, so lookout for these!