Craic in Cork: Ireland, You Continue to Amaze Me!

Saturday was a busy day, filled with lots of site seeing. The weather was incredible, thank goodness. We would be outside for a majority of the day, so, a day without rain was perfect.

We left the hotel at 9:30, and out first stop was Valentia Island. This is a very small island off of Co. Kerry, which is home to about 600 people! Today, there is ferry or a bridge that provides access to the island, but back in the day, you could only get there via boat. It had gained notoriety as being one of the first places to receive transatlantic communication to America, pretty neat! Valentia was a really pretty area, with gorgeous vistas of the water and surrounding mountains. I could not get over how gorgeous the weather was!

Our next stop was Geoghan Mountain and the Fogher Cliffs. This is the highest point on the island of Valentia, and let me tell you, it was quite a hike. But, it was so worth it. When we got to the top, I was in awe. The view was unbelievable, with the greenest mountains and rollings hills I have ever seen, surrounded by the ocean. The sky was crystal clear, and it was pretty warm out! When I reached the top, I had one of those moments where I could not believe this was actually my life. Ireland is unbelievable. After the hike, we went to a little farm at the bottom of the mountain. It was time to meet some baby cows! They were so cute, a little restless, but adorable! A local farmer told us all about their dairy business, what they sell, how many cows they own, etc. It was really neat, and totally something that is classic to Ireland.

We then hopped back on the bus and headed to Ballinskelligs, a village in Kerry, where we saw a film about the Skellig Experience. The Skellig Islands are very remote, right off of Co. Kerry. At the top of this island, which resembles a mountain, there is am old monk village. There are over 600 steps to the top, which took hundreds of years to build, all done by the monks. Also, their new claim to fame, part of the new Star Wars movie was filmed there! After the film, we headed to the beach in the village. We were meeting the Lifeboat team, kind of like the Coast Guard. We even got to take a tour of the boat! It was really interesting, and I am alway happy when I am back at the beach :).

We had one stop before lunch, a the Ballycarbery Castle. This was in the town where our hotel was. It was huge! Supposedly, some movies have been filmed here as well. It is so interesting to see how many castles there are in Ireland, and I still am so fascinated by them! After this quick stop, we went to the hotel for a quick lunch, and we were off touring again!

The next stop was the Cahergal Stone Fort. This reminded me of some of the stuff we saw during my Early Start class. It was really old, but still in great condition. We got to climb around to fort for a while and have a little fun. It was still so sunny out, so everyone wanted to stay in the sunshine as long as they could. Once we were done with the fort, my favorite part of the trip occurred. We got to hold some lambs!!! They were so tiny, one was only two weeks old!! They were so soft and cuddly. I was loving this so much!

We then went back to the hotel to rest up before dinner. We had another long night of leaning about Irish culture. We lean red lots of Irish songs and did a little trivia! It was really fun getting to know more of the kids on the trip and hanging out with them. I was having a blast!

Be back soon with more details of the weekend!

XO,

Caitlin

HC! At the top of Geoghan Mountain and Fogher Cliffs: