Malinda Lo
Blog
May 20, 2010
What I did on my vacation in Ireland
I’m baaaack! I just spent 10 days in Ireland and wow, it was an amazing experience. Amy and I flew in to Dublin, then drove (yes, drove! the roads are crazy!) to the south, out west, and back to Dublin. We stayed in Kilkenny, Kinsale, Dingle, Ballyvaughan (in the Burren), and Dublin. I can’t believe how much we saw.
I’m sure I’ll blog more about the trip, but while I’m still getting my head around everything we did, here are five things I particularly remember from the trip:
1. The sheep
Ewe and lamb taking a stroll
Yes, there are sheep everywhere. We encountered this ewe and her lamb on a narrow, unnamed road on the way from Kilkenny to Kinsale. The only reason we were on this road was because we rented a GPS from the car rental, which liked to take us on the scenic route. (We soon discovered that a bunch of brand new highways had opened so recently that they weren’t on the GPS, which meant, well, sometimes the GPS was useless. Luckily I brought maps.)
But anyway, isn’t this ewe and her adorable little lamb so cute? They were right smack in the middle of the road!
2. The countryside
Killarney National Park
This is a photo of the yew forest in Killarney National Park — just one of many impossibly beautiful places we visited. Ireland is gorgeous. Even though it’s been inhabited for thousands of years, there is still a wildness to it that I loved to see.
3. Ruins
A castle on the coast of County Clare
Here’s a castle we randomly encountered while following that GPS to the village of Doolin on the western edge of Ireland, in County Clare. I love randomly encountering ruins!
4. The scones
Raspberry scone — yummy!
I swear, scones were everywhere. This one is a particularly fine example of a raspberry scone from the Queen of Tarts in Dublin. We ate there twice. On the same day. 
5. Fairy mounds
A mound at Knowth
Here I am in front of one of the smaller mounds at Knowth, a passage tomb in County Meath. These burial mounds were built about 5,000 years ago, and as they fell out of use, the locals left them untouched due to superstitions that they had been used by fairies. I don’t blame them! Even with all the tourists there, the mounds and stone forts I visited still had an otherworldly quality about them.
I still have hundreds of photos to sort through, so in the next couple of weeks I’m sure I’ll post more of them. It was a fabulous trip! I can hardly believe I’m home.
I went to England two years back, visited the otherworldy Stonehenge, Avebury and the Glastonbury Tor as well as more mundane sites like the Tower of London and Dover Castle, and was AWED at how beautiful it was. Wow. Everything there is so old!
I can’t imagine going to Ireland! It looks like it was great.
I can’t wait to see more pictures!
Yay! Last year I went to Dingle, Doolin, and Killarney. I have a similar sheep picture and I can’t wait to go back.
Queen of Tarts do do lovely edible things.
So. Jealous. Glad you went. Glad you enjoyed. Glad you’re both home safe and sound.
You are brave to drive–I am afraid to even cross the street [in New Zealand where they also drive on the wrong side of the road].
Love your pics! Being from Northern Ireland I’ve spent many holidays in the republic but I still have the visceral reactions many people from around the world have. There are parts of northern Ireland that create the same feelings but some of the more remote parts in the south really are stunning. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to seeing more pics.
I am v. glad you liked my country, but sorry to have missed you! Maybe I will see you at Sirens!
so beautiful! i’m green with mound envy! haha!
Too funny I’m going to Ireland for 10 days with my partner and her very Irish family in August. This made me all the more excited!
One observation I had too: when I was in New Zealand everyone compared it to Ireland. Judging by the photos I can see why!