I have some bad news about my trip to Ireland, and I’m just going to get it out of the way so I can end this post on a good note:

I lost about 50% of my pictures from my trip. I am still very, very upset about it and it is a large reason why I haven’t talked about Ireland very much up until this point. Obviously losing pictures would make anyone upset, but for me… the level of “upset” I was (and am) is on an entirely different level. Let me illustrate:

1. When asked what I was most excited about for my upcoming trip, I always responded “the pictures!”
2. As I was packing the night before I left, I spent a solid thirty minutes debating over which costume I could bring with me that would look the absolute best in the Irish countryside.
3. When I got the verdict that the SD card was unrecoverable, I didn’t cry… I balled to my mom over the phone as I sat in the parking lot at work that day.
4. I am willing to pay an absurd amount of money if somebody, ANYBODY can help me get the images off of my cracked SD card. AN. ABSURD. AMOUNT.

Now I know I am being very dramatic about this, but I’m an emotional person and so I am most definitely sulking. And moping. Fortunately, after some time I’ve been able to not just accept that I lost e photos (although I am going to make one last ditch attempt to recover them), but also to enjoy looking through the photos that I DO still have.

So, with all of that sadness out of the way:

Ireland. was. INCREDIBLE.

I think it is my favorite vacation I have taken. Ever.

The people were so nice, the food EXCELLENT (I’m a meat and potatoes kind of girl, so Ireland was like a culinary treat the WHOLE time), and the friends I went with were truly remarkable travel companions. All that being said (and as overused as this saying is), pictures truly are worth a thousand words, so I will stop writing, and just let you scroll:

(P.S. These are galleries, so click on the arrows to the left and right of each image to see the rest of the images for each day. Also, if the images are too large for your browser, click on the image and it will appear in a lightbox that will better fit your screen.)

Day 1

Our first day, we arrived around noon and after getting to our Airbnb, we went into Dublin center and toured St. Stephen’s Green, Trinity College, and grabbed ice cream (a must for me), before turning in for an early night after a loooong day of travel.

Day 2

Glendalough Valley. What an introduction to the Irish countryside! And then Kilkenny castle (where ice cream was once again had…) before heading to THE MOST ADORABLE Airbnb. We stayed at a working farm that had stables attached. So many pictures on Day 2. SO MANY PICTURES.

Day 3

Confession: we missed Blarney Castle because we took too much time taking pictures at Jerpoint Abbey and the Rock of Cashel. But we’re not even that upset about it. Because how can you not spend too much time at these places when you almost had the entire place to yourself?

Day 4

And this is where I get a liiiiiiittle bit bitter. I only have about half of day 4, because about halfway through the day is when my camera switched over to using the ill-fated, to-be-corrupted SD card. But the day was spent traveling the Ring of Kerry and I have decided that Killarney National Park is where I will have my future second home. And then maybe I can recreate all those images that were lost (be right back… I’m going to go cry for a bit).

Days 5 & 6

Days 5 and 6 were spent travelling the Dingle Peninsula (my absolute FAVORITE part of Ireland), and then some spectacular cliffs about an hours drive from our Airbnb in Ennis. Seriously, Ireland has so many gorgeous cliffs, I was absolutely enthralled anytime we hit the coastline! This is the portion I don’t have pictures of. So just imagine being in the most beautiful, magical, fantasy-world-turned-real place you can imagine, and that’s the sort of pictures I would be sharing here. I guess that means I will just have to go back to recreate the magic!

Day 7

Day 7 was kind of hard for me, because at this point I had realized my card was broken and was feeling slightly (very) dejected. I owe Nick and Victoria so much thanks though for pushing me to still pull out my camera and take pictures. The LAST thing I wanted was to take more, but I am SO glad I have these pictures now. They’re some of my very favorite from the trip (at least until I get my non-recoverable, recovered images back… how’s that for optimism?!).

We spent the morning in Galway, which is an adorable little town (where I saw some of my favorite street performers of the trip… there were SO many in Galway!), then headed for some more spectacular coast lines… these particular cliffs being slightly more iconic: the cliffs of Moher!

Day 8

Our final day in Ireland was spent driving back to Dublin and just hanging around the town for a bit. After a long week of traveling, we enjoyed our last day in the country, with no particular agenda (except maybe to get a last few servings of our favorite foods: crepes, ice cream, fanta, and real Irish pub food). 

Needless to say, the final verdict on Ireland is, to put it simply: BEST. TRIP. EVER! It’s hard for it not to be when you have beautiful views, great food, friendly locals, and exceptional company.

I’m ready for our next trip, Nick and Victoria!