Farewell to An Nead
Today we said our farewell to An Nead cottage in beautiful Connemara. It was ten years since our last stay… hopefully it won’t be another ten before we get back there!
Read MoreNight on the Galway Coast
After a scenic cruise through the Connemara countryside, we settle in by Galway Bay for a sunset, great seafood, great music in a fun pub, and we even got to make a new friend!
Read MoreOmey Island and the Sky Road
We drove the full way around Sky Road for amazing views and great driving. We decided to keep going along the coast, and found ourselves taking a very unique way to get across the sea to Omey Island!
Read MoreClifden Castle
From the famous Sky Road you can look down on the ruins of Clifden Castle, but this time we found a way to actually go into the ruins and see it up close! We set off down the trail to explore the castle ruins, from the crumbling old walls to the towering turret and the overgrown outbuildings!
Read MoreClifden
Our return to Clifden brings us back to a favorite cafe in search of good coffee and the apparently famous carrot cake, before hitting a proper whiskey pub along the main street of town. We make our way out to the famous Sky Road for incredible sunset views that lead into an amazingly clear Irish night!
Read MoreCnoc Suain
Cnoc Suain was the center of our honeymoon ten years ago. It was where we made our home base, it was the site of the little village on the hill with our cottage An Nead. It was where we woke every morning to the stillness of the Irish countryside or the thrill of running through the fields with the dogs and pony. Today, we revisit the land of Cnoc Suain, walking those same bogs and fields, passing through those amazing buildings, and learning of how they’ve grown since our last visit.
Read MoreTraditional Music and Local Pubs
We hit a couple of Connemara pubs on an amazingly clear Irish night! First we stopped in Ougtherard where we had a great meal with beers and music. After a bit of a craft brewing rant, we found our way back to Spiddal on the coast to check out a place we heard had quality session music… and were treated to a performance by one of the greats!
Read MoreCoral Beach and the Connemara Seaside
The Connemara seaside is a wild and rugged coast, full of rocky shorelines, sprawling bogland, and small natural beaches. We went seeking some of these beaches today. We returned to Coral Beach, with its rocky micro-environments and grainy coral instead of sand, before exploring the textures and colors along the White Strand!
Read MoreThe Gaeltacht and the Coast
We head west along the Galway Bay coastline toward the sea, stopping in the seaside town of Spiddal and talking a bit on the preservation and resurgence of the Irish Language as we venture along the coast!
Read MoreOur Heart in Ireland, Pt. 2
Ten years had gone by since out honeymoon, ten years since we left our heart rock with a message in the box at the seaside grotto. We’ve often wondered what became of that stone. Was it moved or taken out? Was it still there? Today we will find out for sure!
Read MoreOur Heart in Ireland, Pt. 1
In September of 2008, on our honeymoon in Ireland, we found a personal treasure on a hike up a mountain… a wedding gift from the lovely Emerald Isle herself! We returned to a seaside grotto with our gift, and left it to absorb all of the powerful energy of this place, and also some of that Irish luck! And so began our heart’s ten-year stay in Ireland…
Read MoreThe Wild Atlantic Way
Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way… a route stretching along the west coast of Ireland that shows off the most rugged, natural, stunning wild landscape the country has to offer. Over the next week of our anniversary trip, we will explore the nature and history of this beautiful area!
Read MoreCelebrating our 10th Anniversary in Ireland
Ten years ago we embarked on the biggest adventure of our lives when we were married on September 27, 2008. Immediately after, we took off for our next adventure in Ireland! We loved our time there, and have been thinking for years about when is the best time to go back… and what better time than for our 10 year anniversary?
Read MoreThe Sand
Ten years ago on our honeymoon in Ireland, on the advice of a local we met in the town of Athenry, we found our way to Coral Beach. It was a beautiful, rugged, wild coastline full of sea life and dramatic rock formations, truly an amazing place to see... but where was the coral that gave the beach its name?
Read MoreThe Day I Thought I Was an Irish Rally Car Driver
A little Nissan Micra, an intense Irish road full of hills, hairpin turns, and free-roaming sheep, and an insanely high speed limit all combine to make the wildest drive we were never expecting to take!
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