Ireland Part 6: Our last days there

After finishing our drive along the Wild Atlantic Way, we settled into Kinsale for two nights. This colorful harbor town is a favorite with travelers, known for its good food, lively waterfront, and wonderful places to walk. After spending so many days in the car, we were more than ready for a no-travel day, and Kinsale was just the place to slow down.

Our Airbnb was conveniently located next to a parking area and right in the middle of shops and pubs. Within just a few blocks, we could walk along the waterfront, enjoy the busier parts of town, or wander down quiet paths leading away from it all. It was an easy and relaxing place to explore on foot.

A Day in Kinsale

Master of the Hatchback

One thing I haven’t mentioned about our travels is the daily challenge of packing four people, multiple suitcases, backpacks, and assorted “essentials” into one small hatchback. It was a bit like working a giant jigsaw puzzle—except the pieces seemed to grow every day.

Fortunately, Cassidy quickly proved he had a special talent for making everything fit. And once you demonstrate a skill like that on a road trip, congratulations—you’ve got yourself a job! From then on, Cassidy became our official Master of the Hatchback. Thanks to him, loading up each day went quite smoothly…at least for the other three travelers, who mostly stood back and watched.

On to Our Last Stay in the Irish Countryside

As we headed toward our “castle” Airbnb, we made a stop at the Rock of Cashel—and what a stop it was. This was one of the largest and most impressive ruins of our entire trip.

The site had been important since the early 1100s, partly because its high position made it an ideal place to watch for approaching invaders. In 1101, King Muirchertach donated the Rock of Cashel to the Irish Catholic Church. It was certainly a generous gift to the Church, but it was also a pretty clever political move.

Most of the beautiful stone buildings still standing today date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Sadly, like so many historic places we visited in Ireland, the Rock of Cashel suffered greatly when English troops attacked and sacked the site in 1647. Even in ruins, though, it remains an extraordinary place to wander through and imagine all that happened there.

The Winner of the Best Airbnb!

Before we arrived in Ireland, we had looked and looked for an affordable castle stay. Unfortunately, the price was just too much for the four of us—or even for Angelica and Cassidy, with Mike and me staying somewhere nearby.

But Mike found the next best thing: an Airbnb built around a folly tower. As it turned out, it became our very favorite home away from home on the entire trip.

And what is a folly tower, you might ask? In the 18th and 19th centuries, these decorative towers were sometimes built on large estates simply as a show of wealth. They really had no practical purpose, but they certainly added a bit of drama to the landscape!

The owners of our Airbnb lived on the opposite side of the tower, so when Angelica asked if we could climb to the top, our host kindly opened it up for us. We battled a few spider webs and climbed the steep, winding stairs all the way up. A little creepy, a little challenging—and so much fun! The view from the top made it all worthwhile.

Angelica and I were perfectly happy to enjoy a day of rest in this beautiful place, but the two men simply couldn’t resist a climbing challenge. High on a hill near our “castle house” stood a large cross. From where we were, it was hard to judge just how big the cross was—or how difficult the climb might be. That didn’t seem to matter to Mike and Cassidy. They were ready for the challenge!

Sadly, it was time to begin our journey home to the USA. We packed up our little rental car one last time—by now we had the luggage-loading routine down to a science! After dropping off the car in Kilkenny, we found our way to the train station and boarded our final train ride in Ireland. Next stop: Dublin, where we would spend the last bit of our Irish adventure.

Our Last Days in Dublin

You would think Dublin would feel especially exciting after so many days wandering through the Irish countryside, but by this point, frankly, we were all getting a little travel-weary. Still, I felt just guilty enough about being in Dublin and not seeing Trinity College that we rallied ourselves for one more outing.

From our downtown apartment, we walked across O’Connell Bridge and made our way to this famous center of learning. Trinity College, Ireland’s oldest and most prestigious university, is filled with beautiful 18th-century architecture.

And after so much traveling, walking, and trying to decide how to spend our last days in Ireland, there was nothing better than settling down with a gin and tonic. Along the way, I made two very important discoveries: Ireland has an excellent gin that, sadly, I can’t find in Oregon—and dried juniper berries add just the right bit of bling to a drink.

Rather than squeezing in another museum or more sightseeing, Mike came up with a suggestion for something we certainly can’t do in Blue River, Oregon—go to a live theater! So that is exactly how we spent our last afternoon in Dublin.

We attended a one-person play at the Abbey Theatre, the National Theatre of Ireland. As it happened, it was the only performance that fit into our rapidly shrinking schedule, which made the decision wonderfully easy.

Do You Come From Gomorrah was performed entirely by actor Ryan Donaldson, who delivered the story with remarkable intensity and emotion. The play follows a young boy from a dysfunctional family who ends up in an institution for wayward boys in Northern Ireland. As the program describes it, it is a place “where violence, control and desire meet.”

I’ll leave the details to your imagination, but I will say this: by the end of the performance, tears were flowing throughout the audience—including ours. It was a powerful and unexpected way to spend one of our final afternoons in Ireland.

I must say, the play also gave us a deeper understanding of some of the lingering bitterness we sensed toward the English, rooted in Ireland’s long and often painful history under British rule.

For our final evening, we returned to what Ireland does so well—lively pubs, a few games, good food, and, of course, a pint or two. It was the perfect way to end our adventure.

Our memories of the warm and welcoming people, the beautiful countryside, and the wonderful Irish gift of gab will stay with us for many years to come.