My First Visit to Ireland — The 9 to 5 Travel Girl

When my boyfriend, Sean invited me to visit his family in Ireland with him, I was thrilled! I’ve never been to Ireland but expected gorgeous views as I’ve seen in pictures and movies. However, I knew this wasn’t going to be just any vacation since the main purpose of the trip was to attend his twin nieces’ First Holy Communion. I was meeting Sean’s family for the first time and all I could do is sit back and go along for the ride and pray that they liked me.

The first cause of my nerves? The horrible red-eye flight time. We left directly after work on a Wednesday for the airport to catch a 6PM flight. 6PM is probably the worst red-eye departure time I’ve ever had since I don’t normally go to bed until 11PM every night. I knew that by the time I fell asleep, I was going to be left with only two to three hours of in-air time to get some sleep. We were scheduled to land around 5AM Ireland time. Also, despite all of my travels, I am not the best when it comes to jet lag. I’m usually exhausted and cranky. Landing at 5AM and then going straight to meet the family? Not my idea of an ideal first meeting. It was going to be a longgggg day!

We rented a car at the Shannon airport and drove the 2.5 hours to Cahersiveen, the town where Sean’s family currently lives. The town is located in the southwest corner of the country and no picture can do its beauty justice. After a pit stop for food and to make myself look somewhat presentable, we arrived and met his mother who was lovely. Our Bed and Breakfast wasn’t open until 3PM so she graciously let us nap in her guest room while she ran her errands. After our nap, we visited his sister, brother-in-law, nephew and four nieces. Within five minutes of meeting, the youngest, Willow, told us that we were going to get married and have babies… umm I think they liked me? Everyone made me feel right at home and I immediately knew that I had nothing to worry about.

For dinner that night, we went to this Italian restaurant which was located in a transformed old church. Everything in this town was old and quaint and I couldn’t wait to explore the next day!

Day two was spent driving around “The Skellig Ring”. This 11-mile route was filled with mountains, cliffs, and beaches and took us to all of the scenic views surrounding the area. At each stop point I was in awe of the beauty and took all of the pictures, only to make it to the next stop and having that view topping the one before. I don’t think I have ever seen more breathtaking scenery in my life.

The rest of the trip was filled with chocolate factories, fish and chips, board games, dance parties and of course Irish pubs, which by the way are exactly how you would expect them to be - small, old, and filled with old men cursing up a storm.

The view from Sean’s sister’s backyard is insane!

I loved Ireland and can’t wait to go back… and I think the family liked me :-)

xoxo - Kim