Ireland!

Sometime last year, when Mike and I were designing our forever house, my grandmother told us that she'd like us to inherit her and my grandfather's Waterford chandelier. They took a trip to Ireland in the 80's to pick one out for their formal dining room. They came home with a beautiful, crystal chandelier that hung in their dining room until my grandmother sold the house.

She had it stored in her storage unit for years until we went to go get it and realized that the unit had been broken into and the Waterford stolen.

She was devastated and a few months ago, she brought it up again.

This time, she offered to take my mom and I on a girls' trip to Ireland and pick out a new Waterford for our new house. Of course, we were thrilled and planned the trip for March.

My grandmother's health prohibited her from joining us so my mom and I ended up adventuring by ourselves!

The chandelier takes about 6 months to arrive in America so I'll make sure and post when it comes!

Enjoy our trip pictures!

we're off!

Bunratty castle!

the River Shannon, right outside out our first b&b

the grounds

my first Guinness in Ireland!

first Irish breakfast!!! So. Good.

driving on one way roads to tiny, road-side abbeys

an Augustinian abbey

we stopped in a tiny town on the way to the cliffs of moher and met a real-life fairy!
actually, her friend, the owner of the cheese shop we stopped in to get a picnic lunch, told us she was a fairy.

she wove beautiful creations on her huge loom and i had to get a picture with her!

but then, of course, do fairies show up in pictures???

so green.

the Cliffs of Moher!

you could duck under a fence at one point and "trespass" onto a private property to walk the rest of the way

a beautiful old church close to our b&b

there had been Christian worship held at this location for over 1000 years

the next day, we drove south, through the little village of Adare, famous for the Irish thatched houses

another beautiful abbey

Killarney, Ireland! Muckross House

Torc Waterfall

Ross Castle

dinner in an Irish pub!

another huge breakfast!

the breakfasts were included in our b&bs and we would eat so much that we didn't need lunch!

literally. all three pictures was one breakfast! for me!

on our way to the Dingle Peninsula, Slea Head drive, and the Ring of Kerry

so. windy.

Inch Beach

Fairy Forts!

an old Norman ruin

Dingle!

Conde Naste's best ice cream ever!
Sea salt + Irish coffee + whiskey!

Rock of Cashel!

the reason for the trip!
Waterford!

buying the chandelier

this is it!

quick tour of Waterford, the oldest city in Ireland, founded by Vikings!

Medieval Museum - cloth of gold relics

I was obsessed with these old manuscripts

the viking triangle

finally making it to Dublin, late!

fish and chips for dinner!

our little hotel downtown had a pub next door!

with live music every night!

Jameson tour the next day!

our hotel was right in the center of town, by the river, and walking distance to everything!

the famous Temple Bar for lunch!

Galway oysters!

Trinity College, Trinity Library, and the Book of Kells!

being a librarian's daughter, and a book snob, this was one of the most beautiful libraries i've EVER been to!

Sheridan's Cheesemongers for souvenirs ;)

St. Patrick's Cathedral

we caught a beautiful evensong that evening!

Christchurch Cathedral

last night in Dublin!

we had so much soup! and as much irish brown bread as we could eat!

an O'Hara red ale to toast my grandmother on the last night! her maiden name is O'Hara!

flight home!