I have wanted to do this trip for a while. Through reasons and excuses, I have missed out on this jewel of an island for a long time. Finally got around to doing it this November. Why November you ask? Well, I don’t care much for bad weather. Rain is part of the charm that makes Ireland. Honestly, Ireland always has the potential to rain every day of the year, summer or winter. Albeit flying horizontal, Irish rain doesn’t generally run non-stop all day. You can always duck in somewhere for a pint of Guinness or some tea. Just bring rain gear and you will be grand.
On the upside, you can also be sure of a more temperate climate in Ireland. Benefitting from the Gulf Stream, the Irish weather doesn’t vary too much. Unless you go higher up in the mountains, you rarely encounter any severe weather.
Enough of the weather, let’s talk about Guinness and pubs. One of the things you can’t miss is the Dublin pubs and traditional music scene. You can choose to cram yourself into THE Temple Bar with hundreds of other tourists or go to a more local/less crowded place like The Brazen Head. Warm yourself up with fresh Guinness before heading into the sing-along sessions of the Trad performances. Feeling peckish? Traditional food like Guinness Beef Stew or Fish & chips can satisfy your taste buds. Cities and towns all around Ireland have these kinds of pub performances, a must-do around Ireland.
The Brazen Head’s Guinness was already delightful. But can it get any better? People usually say that Guinness doesn’t travel well. Time to find that out. Not just offering tours and selling gifts, Guinness Storehouse is where the famous ruby-colored liquid is brewed. (That’s right! The color of Guinness is ruby, not black.) You can literally drink your face off there, literally!
Accompanying the great beers is the killer view from the Guinness Storehouse tower. From there you can see the entirety of Dublin as well as the mountains to the West of Dublin.
If you fancy some less bubbly alcoholic drink, try out the Irish whiskey. There are many brands across the Isle, but the Jameson in Dublin is probably one the most accessible ones. Don’t forget to take the tour and try out some amazing special editions whiskeys.
Another classic way to hide from the weather is to duck into one of the museums, churches, or libraries around Dublin. Southside of Liffey is easier to do this. Christchurch, Trinity College Library, Museum of Archaeology, Chester Beatty, or the Little Museum of Dublin each provide you with a piece of the long history of the Emerald Isles.
If you don’t mind dead bodies, check out the bog bodies at the National Museum of Archaeology. Due to the unique geographical features, not every day that you get to see these kinds of mummified bodies. (Warning! Mummified bodies ahead!)
As much as I want to stay around Dublin, there is just so much to see outside of it. Time to head out. I rented a very small car for the next 2 weeks of my road trip to suit the narrow-sized Irish roads.
With the new wheels under me, I drove out to meet the place that officially made Ireland the Catholic country it is.
From the seat of kings, to church, to a Pope-approved site of pilgrimage, Cashel of Rock is full of stories. I would highly recommend taking a tour through the ruins of the Rock to better your understanding. If you have time, take a quick stroll down to the abbey nearby as well.
Rock ruins are my favorite things about the Emerald and British Isles. The standing walls, elaborate carvings, and decorated window frames let one imagine its former glory. Roofless, the ruins are graced by the sun and rain at their leisure. Instead of man out of nature, it is man and god with nature. The broken buildings have a renewed balance with the greenery all around ruins.
Following the greenery in the countryside, the National road brought me to Cork. A city worth spending a few days. But the mountains are calling, and I must go.
Killarney here I come!
Killarney National Park and the Ring of Kerry are probably some of the most famous sights in Ireland. Rather than sitting in the car for 10 hours each day, I opted for hiking and a tricky drive up some of the narrowest double-lane roads I have driven.
The first day in the Killarney National Park was so great that I decided to go back for it. This time, my mountain bug was telling me that I should head for the highest point – Carrauntoohil.
The Irish weather seems to be the most in character in the hills. The wind was up to 60 km/h and the rain was non-stop flying horizontally. The trails were entirely flooded making the bog ever so hard to get across. The famous scrambling feature “Devil’s Ladder” has turned into 800-1000 feet of running waterfall. And it was clear that this kind of weather is very common around the National Park. Most of the boulders and stones up the “Devil’s Ladder” have dangerously rounded edges with very little to hold onto. Green moss has taken advantage of the situation as well, growing along the surface of the boulders. “Living on a prayer” is the best you can hope for scrambling up this section. Moving between the streams of waterfalls, I could only hope that two of my limbs are onto something with a bit of friction. Recalling my mountaineering experience, I carefully pushed with my feet so that I don’t lose the friction below my toes.
If you were to think you are going to be richly rewarded with the aspiring view of the Emerald Isles at the top, you would be wrong. Typical of this part of the world in winter times, fog, darkness, and nothingness is all you get. The 60km/h wind was way too strong for me to even walk across. I sprinted where I could and crawled where I couldn’t.
Finally, a giant cross at the top greeted me. The top, finally. The highest point of Ireland. Naturally, I took out my phone in the soaking weather trying to commemorate the moment. A few pictures later, it was up to the limit of the waterproof capability of my phone, it was turning on and off by itself.
And that was the last time I used it. Unbeknownst to me, my waterproof jacket’s pockets were zipped up all the way. Water got in while I was scrambling up. I ended up with an inch of water in each of my two pockets. Luckily, my car key survived. Should I head back to Killarney and hope for a new phone or some miracles? Should I change my itinerary entirely to accommodate the change? I debated.
But hey, this is Ireland. I asked for an adventure, I got one.
With no navigation, no phone calls, no reviews ratings from other tourists on camping spots, I began my two-day journey around the Dingle peninsula the old-fashioned way. Relying only on road signs, a guidebook, and the friendly locals, my trip had finally begun.