Weekend trip to Ireland!

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I got permission from school to visit my distant family in Ireland this weekend and its been great! I met my distant "cousin" Regina Heavey at the airport in Dublin, and we got off to a great start with a bus tour of the Irish capital. We saw all the major sights including Trinity College, Phoenix park (with the second largest obelisk in the world, right after the washington monument), the Guinness brewery, many different cathedrals and churches and much more. That night we drove down to Waterford, and I learned a bit about the town's history, the famous Waterford crystal company, and Ireland's viking heritage. We stopped for pizza and had the local specialty pizza (topped with everything from pepperoni, to pineapple, to bacon, to corn, and peppers) followed by some great ice cream. Afterwards we finished the ride home to Regina's house in Tramore which is a beautiful town on the south-east coast of Ireland (the beach is amazing in the morning as the sun rises over the ocean. Also, there are storybook pillars built on the cliffs of both sides of the bay (one with a tall metal man pointing out to the ocean) to warn ships looking for Waterford harbor not to enter Tramore). The house itself was beautiful as well, with a great view of the ocean from their back porch. It was also really nice to have a real bed to myself instead of a bunkbed with three other guys in the room, and I slept very well. The next morning we took a trip to Kilkenny, where we saw the local castle, gardens, and more cathedrals. Though the castle was good, a quick trip through the Rothe house was actually really nice. The Rothe house is an old merchant's house with parts dating back to 1597 and a number of interesting local relics including a viking sword, the propellor from a local flying machine that predates the Wright brothers, and a prehistoric deer skull and antlers that must have been over 6 feet in span. The weather that day was incredible, we woke up to rain, followed by incredible sunshine for a tour of Tramore (this was before we left for Kilkenny), and then later rain, hail, and even snow, but always alternating every five minutes with sunshine. For lunch we ate in an incredible cafe right across from the castle, serving great food buffet style. The food was great (we had seafood chowder and handmade soda-bread), and the place was great, packed with local families and with a great view of the castle's main gate. That night we stopped in waterford and walked around, learning more of the history, trying to get into Waterford Crystal for a tour but finding it was closed, and visiting a bookshop to unsuccessfully search for a book on Irish folklore. The night still turned out a great success as we stopped and picked up some Irish bacon, cabbage, and potatoes for a great Irish dinner followed by more ice cream, and a skype conference with the family back home. Sunday morning we woke up and made pancakes (kind of just to humor the American, but also because it is Pancake tuesday this week in preparation for Lent), and then left for Regina's parent's house in Newbridge (which is closer to Dublin for my flight back on Monday). We arrived at yet another beautiful house and inside I discovered a real treasure, the house is heated by two large woodstoves that burn peat from the family's bogland (it keeps the house really nice and warm after a cold day, and the peat gives off a great earthy smell that I really like). The stoves also work as ovens which the family uses to make their meals including delicious homemade bread. Regina's parents are great as well! Their names are Robert and Theresa and they were great hosts and incredibly friendly. After a great lunch of mashed potatoes, veg, beef, and the delicious homemade bread we went for a tour of local sights; which surprisingly enough was mostly graveyards. First we saw the grave of Wolfe Tone in Bodenstown, followed by a number of family cemeteries (where Robert explained a bit of the family history and helped clear up the confusion of how we are actually related, apparently a Heavey married a Sweeney in America, my great-great grandmother), and also seeing the grave of Richard Nixon's Irish quaker ancestor's which he visited personally. We returned to the house for a dinner of, funnily enough, pancakes! These were much better than the "shake and bake" batch we had made at Regina's house, and were accompanied by sausage and black pudding (blood sausage, which was fried and actually really really good). We are currently enjoying a relaxing evening by the warmth of the oven, watching some Irish TV and sharing family pictures. Tomorrow I will take a coach back to Dublin airport and fly back to Manchester. My stay in Ireland will have been too short, but I'm still very glad I came and I'll definitely have to return someday for a more in depth look at the country of my ancestors and another visit to my wonderful Irish family!

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Comments

[gr'ma & gr'pa Kalsow]

Ireland trip
Hi Isaac, we sure enjoyed your blog about your trip to Ireland, sounds like a wonderful time:) Love you, gr'ma & gr'pa