Wild Atlantic Way

“Out of Ireland have we come, great hatred, little room, maimed us at the start. I carry from my mother's womb a fanatic heart.” -William Butler Yeats

Sheep are the unofficial symbol of Ireland. The woollybacks are either sauntering across the road, nursing a lamb in the middle of the road or behaving suspiciously on the side of the road. Apparently there are nearly as many sheep as there people on the Emerald Isle.

On a two-week roadtrip down the west coast of Ireland, Bob and I and the sheep are traversing the Wild Atlantic Way where, according to a salty Irishman in Paddy O’Leary’s Pub, “when the weather’s bad, the wind blows a hoolie.” With the luck of the Irish apparently (my maiden name is Collins), we’ve encountered exceptionally bright, sunny weather so far.

We began our trek on Achill Island, the biggest Irish isle with a coastline of 120km that includes Ireland’s highest sea cliffs and five of her most beautiful Blue Flag beaches.

⬆️ On the north coast, the stunning horseshoe-shaped Keem Strand Beach is where parts of the movie, “The Banshees of Inisherin” were filmed. ⬇️

On the south coast we discovered the spectacular White Cliffs of Ashleam. ⬇️

Peat makes up 84% of the ground here and we saw women out cutting slabs of it and putting it into white, aerated bags to dry and use for wood-burning stoves.

Rhododendrons are beautiful but invasive and seem to be conquering the island, along with the spring arum lilies which are non-invasive and charming.

After buying an Aran Island merino wool sweater here (had to!), we made our way to Renvyle near Connemara National Park where we hiked up the misnamed Diamond Hill. ⬇️

C’mon! That’s a mountain, not a hill! ⬆️ Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with a few pints o’ Guiness and I discovered Guiness and Black (with a shot of black currant cordial - YUM!)

And then sunset on the beach…

We have found the Irish people to be exceptionally friendly, warm and welcoming. But they are either pretty crap at giving directions, full o’ malarkey, or deliberately misleading because of their grievances with the English (Bob), and me by association. Oh and don’t get on the wrong side of a farmer like I did. (Warning: bad language!)

-How to piss off an Irish cow farmer in one easy lesson. 🤣 I certainly got his ire up! In Ire-land.

“Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy, which sustained him through temporary periods of joy.” -William Butler Yeats

We’ve been in Galway today and are off to Doolin, Dingle, Killarney, Dunmore and Dublin. Stay tuned for more adventures to come!

⬆️ Swans in Galway Harbour ⬆️

“My favorite food from my homeland is Guinness. My second choice is Guinness. My third choice - would have to be Guinness.” -Peter O'Toole

Cheers! Or as they say here, “sláinte,” to your health!