Happy St. Patrick's Day!

As a South Dakota raised Lutheran farm girl it has never been a big day of celebration for my family, even if I do love to wear green. Once I became an adult and realized I loved Guinness, I will admit it honestly became a day to justify buying/drinking some. I also like Irish food, but why in the world am I writing my very first blog post today, and why would anyone care? Well, to be honest, I always wonder that about blogs anyway, but I know it is something that I have put off for way longer than I should have. Therefore, I decided that even if I have zero Irish heritage, there is no time like the present to give myself one more thing to do! 🙂

I realized my dream of visiting Ireland last summer, which was my #2 bucket list country. I have plenty to say about our amazing trip, and also about destination photography. Don’t worry, I am not going to write a book here. Who has time for that? I am not even sure who in the world will have time to read this, but I am diving in anyway and trying not to care. 

Sightseeing Ireland 2024

What a trip! I accompanied a group called One Collective to Ireland with my daughter as a model. It still seems like I am dreaming when I think back on it, but my 6000+ photos prove I really was there.

We started our Irish adventure by staying at this country estate, Captain Lysley's. That is also our sporty rental car in front.

First stop (technically second- we went to Aldi for some food first.), the view from St. John's Castle in Limmerick, Ireland. We met up with the leaders of One Collective for a tour here.

Our first location for the One Collective adventure, this sweet castle ruins not far from Adaire, Ireland.

Minard Castle in Dingle Peninsula was one of the four locations we photographed our models.

Dunquin Pier was SUCH a dreamy location for photos of our models!

Following our tremendous time with One Collective, Claire and I became full-fledged tourists. I drove us around as much of the stunning country as I could in our sharp looking, left-handed, stick-shift car. Driving in Ireland is not for the faint of heart, and I had been warned, but since I grew up on a farm I wasn't worried. I will say, however, the first few hours Claire thought I was going to kill us, but I blame her doubt on her lack of sleep. The roads didn't get any wider, nor did the shifter & steering wheel switch to the correct side of the car, but there was less panic once everyone was better rested, and we were able to see SO much of the country this way!

We saw castles everywhere, many of them just ruins in the middle of cow pastures, but we also visited some in great condition. This particular one, Cahir Castle, has been in many movies.

This bakery was also in a movie- a film that one of our Bethany Lutheran College students edited together for class. He did such a great job that when I saw the documentary footage I was inspired to visit, and I can't even eat baked goods! I did take a taste of something, and the whole experience was worth the drive!

Hook Lighthouse, Country Wexford. It was SO cold and windy, but still beautiful.

Swiss Cottage, a fairytale lovers dream. Claire totally fulfilled Cottage Core here!

Kylemore Abby/Castle and gardens. They had a beautiful chapel on the grounds also.

When our hotel ended up being in Waterford one night I realized we could tour the crystal factory. Totally a fun and spontaneous trip. I did not buy this $30,000 saxophone for my musicians who play, but the factory was fascinating.

The parking lot for the Cliffs of Moher had closed before we got there. I didn't do enough research to know I had a specific time limit. I had just wanted to see the sunset there and planned for that. Whoops. We found these cliffs nearby the next morning. We didn't have to pay, nor were there thousands of people, so I consider it all a win.

Yep, we got to live like Hobbits for one night. It was crazy rainy, so we weren't outside much, but isn't it adorable? Plus, it is a goat farm, so Claire got to play with them before we left in the morning.

Quite possibly my favorite memory of the entire trip. Claire and I got to Irish Dance! I was supposed to be wearing a boot for my partially torn Achilles heel, so it hindered my abilities, but there is no video evidence anyway, so imagine I looked like I knew what I was doing. Being immersed in the Irish culture because God put us in the right place at the right time is something I will never forget. SO Fun!

Of course we had to kiss the Blarney Stone. I will say, this turned out to have perfect timing. We got right up to the stone and didn't have to wait in line at all. Obviously a bit windy, but we did it!

We did not spend a ton of time in Dublin, but we enjoyed Vermeer and other art at the National Gallery.

See what I mean? A pretty random blog post, but at least it is all Irish! I could write SO much about our Sightseeing Ireland adventure. We saw so many amazing things in our 10 days there. This is not even a tip of the iceberg. It was fun to spend hours working on this and looking through photos again, but I had better wrap it up before St. Patrick's Day is over.

Just for the record, I never fulfilled my dream from long ago of drinking Guinness in an Irish Pub, because nowadays that would have made me tremendously sick. However, we did get to listen to Celtic pub music, eat traditional Irish food, and just take in the culture, so it was even better than I had dreamed. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!