Dia dhuit! Hello from one of the greenest countries I have ever seen! Except Dublin. Dublin isn’t green. This trip all began a year ago when I asked my grandmother how she would like to celebrate turning 80 years old. She said she wanted to get back to Ireland to see family and she had never been to Paris and would love to see the Eiffel Tower. So as her wonderful granddaughter, I made it my mission to convince my father to make that happen 😁. After throwing out a bunch of ideas the trip destinations were finalized and we just had to patiently wait for June to arrive. Ireland here we come!
We started our adventure with a red-eye flight landing in Shannon, Ireland, and began our journey south towards the Ring of Kerry. After an initial heart attack in the van before remembering that they drive on the opposite side of the road, we were off. I don’t know what tour company she was affiliated with but our tour driver, Loraine, was one of the best tour guides I’ve ever had. She was so knowledgeable of Ireland, the Ring of Kerry, Killarney and so much more. Was just a lovely human who put up with six very tired Americans. She took us through some incredibly charming towns and eventually to the Cliffs of Kerry. The Cliffs of Kerry are just as stunning as the Cliffs of Moher with half the people. I would love to be able to go up and down the west coast of Ireland. Impeccable views all around.
In Killarney, we stayed at The Lake Hotel and my family and I all agreed that it was our favorite stay the whole trip. You may mind yourself drastically younger than the average age of the other guests but I think that adds to the charm. It’s located right on Muckross Lake and even has its own castle ruins right on the property. It’s the kind of place where you step outside, take a deep breath, and just take in the nature surrounding you. It’s located perfectly between the main Killarney town and Muckross House. There are bicycle trails located all throughout the town and would highly recommend renting some bikes and riding to these different destinations, especially Muckross House.
Muckross Estate is this massive land area in Killarney that has something for just about everyone. It reminded me of the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, North Carolina. If you are a history lover, you have the ability to walk through some of the different buildings in the Estate and have a guide show you around. If you are looking for some exercise, there are hiking and biking trails all around that you could easily spend multiple days and not find yourself repeating. And if you want to see the many gardens and paths without walking or biking, you can hop on one of the many horse carriages that will lead you around.
From Killarney, we ventured our way via train to the other side of the country to the big city of Dublin. Friendly tip, make sure you book your train tickets for the correct day or you may find yourself standing between cars lol. After arriving at our hotel we headed up to the town of Duleek where a lot of my grandfather’s family still lives. It was a little surreal meeting these relatives I only have known via Facebook all my life. But I think I can speak for my sisters and myself that it was one of our favorite days of the entire trip. Also got to discover while we were up there, that at the end of the road, there’s a massive abandoned castle just in their backyard. Am I royalty??
I think my family realized on this trip that while it was nice to visit these big cities of Dublin and Paris, we would much rather like to find ourselves in the countryside. Dublin was nice to check out but I don’t have a strong desire to go back. It just kind of felt dirty and I was missing greenery. We stayed right across the street from Trinity College and that was cool to walk through but was kind of bummed when I went to walk through the Old Library and discovered that I had to both pay for it and it was also booked for the day. But a plus of Dublin is that it is a very walkable city and we were able to walk from our hotel on one end over to the Guinness Storefront. If you do find yourself in Dublin, the Guinness Storefront tour is something I would highly recommend. It is very clear that they have put a ton of effort into it to make it as immersive and enjoyable as possible. I don’t even drink beer and I still enjoyed it.
Finally, our time in Ireland was coming to an end. From here we were making our way to Chamonix, France. Pretty much a 180 of Dublin. Which was a good thing as I was starting to run out of things I wanted to order in an Irish pub. Bring on the French cheeses and bread!
Go dtí an chead uair eile,
The Library Abroad
Hotels:
https://www.lakehotelkillarney.ie/
https://www.trinitycityhotel.com/en/
Food Recommendations:
https://bread41.ie/ (Their Almond Croissant is unreal)
The Library Abroad 
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