My Trip to Ireland: Kinvara

The last installment of my Ireland trip! I hope you guys liked following along with my recap! I know travel blogs are really popular, but I’m not a huge traveler, so I tried my best to keep it interesting! Don’t forget to look at the bottom of this post to see my video I put together!

Kinvara, Ireland

I have never heard of Kinvara. You could tell so because at first, I kept calling it “Kilvara”. When we drove up to the town, it was colorful like the rest of the towns (as in, the houses are painted with pink or white or blue or colors of the sort!) but it was so small. It didn’t even seem like a town. We got to our bed and breakfast and it was more like a hotel, which was nice. Outside our window was the front of the B&B and we noticed a pub across the street. Which was attached to a funeral home. A little weird. 

After we got settled in Kinvara, we walked down to a dock by the ocean nearby and watched the waves lapping for a bit. My mom wanted hot coffee somewhere so we went back to the pub/funeral home and while my dad, my grandpa, and I got a pint (THEY HAD ORCHARD THIEVES!! YAY!), my mom got a hot mocha at the bar top. The staff of 2 there was so friendly that we wanted to go back the next night to eat dinner at their restaurant that was in the back of the pub. But we couldn’t that night, because we were going to eat a medieval dinner in a castle.

(Dunguaire Castle)

We set off to Dunguaire Castle, which is a 16^th century tower house near Kinvara. When we entered the castle hall, we got handed a cup of mead by a woman in what I can describe as 16^th century garb. That mead was fruity but very high in alcohol and I wasn’t a huge fan. When everyone was there for the night, we climbed narrow castle stairs to the dining hall. The entertainment staff was so good at their job of acting like we were in the 16^th century and calling me “my lady” the whole night. We were fed great potato and leak soup (which we had to slurp because we weren’t given spoons), chicken with mushroom sauce, and apple pie.

(Me and my soup!)

Then the actual entertainment started, which I wasn’t expecting. The 3 actors took a small stage and sang some songs of old Irish poets and songwriters accompanied by a real life harpist. It was a lot of fun but it was a lot of sitting on hard bench. Still worth it.

After we got up the next day and had an Irish breakfast at the B&B (consisting of bacon, eggs, and a grilled tomato), we set off the the ever famous Cliffs of Moher. Even if you’ve never heard of the cliffs, you’ve seen them SOMEWHERE. It was in Harry Potter 5 and pictures of it are all over. When we got there, it was rainy and FREEZING. I wasn’t too concerned because it looked like a hike and I sweat a lot. But good lord, the cold still got to me. And the wind was so bad that I had to hang on to the wall so I didn’t get knocked over! A rainbow showed up on one side of the cliffs and it was gorgeous. So neat. 

I swore there were pictures of places there without a stone wall around it, so my dad, mom, and I set off to find it. We entered a one way old stone walkway that was a pain in the butt to get through. And it was a long walkway. My mom went back halfway but my dad and I trekked on. We got out of the stones and came upon the place where there was just us and the cliffs. No walls protecting your safety (I found out 66 people have fallen off the cliffs since 1993, I think). But it was such a sight. 

It made me realize how small we are compared to nature. I just stood there quietly for a bit.

The walk down was easier and we got such pretty pictures. I just wish the weather was better. That night was spent at Keogh’s, the pub/funeral home (Shout out to Chris and Haley, our wonderful bartenders!) and I ate Hake fish and chips with seafood chowder which is really popular in Ireland. Hake was new to me but it was fresh and AMAZING. 10 out of 10, would love to eat there again. I had a couple pints to celebrate our last day in Ireland. 

What a vacation.

The next day was terrible with the airport (we have never been through customs before). We got there 2 hours and 45 minutes before our flight. Don’t do that. At least go 3.5 or 4 hours before if you want to be comfortable. We had 15 minutes before our gates closed because there were so many people and SO many checkpoints. My anxiety was the worst.

BUT WE MADE IT HOME! 

And I am so thankful I got to be able to go to something so special. I saved money for a year for it and it was all worthwhile. 

NOW, I took my little old Flip Camera everywhere with me on this trip and recorded little snippets of my time there. The quality isn’t the best, but it’s nice and my mom is the cutest in it!