Fulfilling a Life-Long Dream: An Ireland Adventure!

Oh. My. Goodness!  What a dream come true!!  Beautiful beyond description!!!  Ireland does NOT disappoint!!

On May, 29th, after precious little sleep, Mom and I embarked on a life-long dream to visit the land of our ancestors – Ireland.  It was an AMAZING 14-day adventure (16 counting travel days) and I’m so excited to share it with you over the next several days & posts!  I’ve been processing the almost 4,000 photos and videos I took since we got back!!  Ha!  So, I’ve got lots of great images to show ya.  It’ll almost be like you were there!!

Let’s start with Day 1:

We flew out of Manhattan, KS at about 5:30 AM (CDT) on May 29th and spent the next 24+ hours flying through Chicago and Boston, landing in Shannon, Ireland at about 6:00 AM (IDT – Irish Daylight Time) on May 30th.  Running on “fumes” with precious little sleep before we left (due to packing difficulties and just life in general) and then little sleep on the flight, we grabbed our bags, got settled into our rental car, and made our way to Limerick to pick up a few supplies, and then on to the picturesque village of Adare.

I adjusted to driving on the left side of the road much easier than I thought, and most of the roads we drove on during our first day in Ireland had plenty of space and were easy to navigate – Thank You Google Maps!!

We had a very laid-back day in Adare, enjoying brunch at a little cafe and slowly meandering through a Catholic church, a few shops and a park before our check-in time at our B&B.

Check out this slideshow of our time in Adare!

Around 2:30 PM or so, we headed north to Cahergal Farmhouse B&B in rural Co. Clare.  What a lovely, peaceful place with wonderful hosts!

Here’s a slideshow of photos from Cahergal as well as a video taken just outside the dinning area on the relaxing patio.

Our beds were a welcome sight that evening, but we were so thrilled to be in Ireland.  It didn’t seem real to us, and I’m not sure that it really registered or “sank in” that we were actually in Ireland for several days.  The terrain in County Clare is much like Kansas – lots of fields, but there were more rolling hills, lots of stone walls separating the fields and pastures, and so many different shades of green.  We were also captivated by the lush plants and flowers growing everywhere.  So beautiful!!

Check back for our Day 2 adventures in the next post where we visit a refurbished 15th century Irish Castle/Towerhouse!

God’s Blessings & Joy Be To You,
Gena

PS – Please feel free to leave your comments or questions below.  I’d love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you might have about our trip!