Discover the Emerald Isle...

Fáilte go hÉirinn (Welcome to Ireland, pronounced <Fall-che go hair-inn>)

Ireland, the Emerald Isle has an abundance of hidden gems, you just need to know where to look. Despite being a lover of travelling I love coming home again to Ireland. The rolling green hills, coastal paradise of cliffs and sandy beaches bring a smile to my face as I fly in over Dublin Bay.

There is something so quintessentially Irish about the welcoming and homely feel you experience after touching down on Irish soil. There is no shortage of places to explore, everything from bustling cities to quaint countryside.

I have been lucky enough to have visited almost every county in Ireland as the majority of my family holidays have been within Ireland.

Some of my favourite counties Include Donegal, Dublin and Wicklow to mention just a few. Donegal is where I have grown up and it is a county I still love going home to. Donegal is one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland in my very unbiased (of course) opinion! We really do have everything from beaches not unlike the Mediterranean coast to the highest sea cliffs in Europe.

As well as an abundance of coastal beauty Donegal is also known for its mountains, such as Errigal and the stunning Glenveagh National Park set in a glacial valley.

If you’re the adventurous type there is more than enough to keep your adrenalin pumping while staying in Donegal. Go surfing in some of the best waves in the world. Surfers come from all over the world to surf the rip at Rossnowlagh and Tullan Strand outside Bundoran. Surf Co. is my go-to surf company for lessons and rental. They’re friendly and really good value. For the avid hikers there is no shortage of trails along the coast to Fanad lighthouse which is spectacular or through Glenveagh National Park or attempt climbing Errigal and witness the breathtaking views at the summit.

Now for the inside scoop, as a coffee lover there is nothing better than finding coffee that is perfect every time, in Donegal the place to find that perfect coffee is The Counter in Letterkenny, which is the biggest town in the county where you will find all the chain stores as well as the longest Main Street in Ireland.

Just outside Letterkenny is the town of Ramelton home to the best ice cream and fizzy drink in the county. Whoriskey’s 99s are something to write home about and Football Special which is a locally produced drink are musts especially on a sunny day.

There are so many little towns and villages in Donegal that have maintained their traditionally Irish feel and are full of Irish knit and tweed shops. Many of these are in what is called the Gaeltacht which is an area where Irish is still the native language of people there, so you could try a few phrases such as thank you, ‘Go raibh maith agat!’ (<Go row my-h ugg-it>). Another place to visit is Derry which is a bordering county where you’ll find lots of history surrounding Northern Ireland as well as a wonderful craft village.

Travelling south-east to Dublin, the heart of the country you will find more than enough tourist tours, attraction information that I don’t need to tell you about. I have lived in Dublin for the past year while at University and have grown to love the city life in contrast to my country life. Temple Bar is a must in Dublin, the atmosphere is wonderful and Irish traditional music can be found on every corner. Murphy’s Ice Cream shop is amazing. Despite having some unusual flavours such as Soda Bread and Guinness, their ice cream is fabulous!

For a really Irish pub, Doyle’s near Trinity College is my favourite spot, quite a cosy pub with old furnishings and great music.

Dublin by night is magical!

Circling back to coffee, you have to try F&B They have taken off where Bewley's on Grafton Street (the high street) used to be. A great buzz in here when you pop in for a coffee and always know it will be just what you needed!

Be adventurous when in Dublin and go off the beaten track. The Grand Canal is a very picturesque part of the city and is usually nice and quiet and an escape from the bustling city. If you follow the canal down to the dames, cross a few bridges you will stumble across the old Grand Canal sign that overlooks the docks and is quite a cool place to take photos.

For any history buffs out there Dublin is not lacking in fascinating exhibitions of Art, History and Architecture. Kilmainham Gaol is a must see for anyone interested in Irish history and our harrowing past.

The Botanic Gardens are another lovely place for quiet meanderings and a breath of fresh air.

A short DART (Dublin area rapid transport) journey away from Dublin is Wicklow, and my personal favourite town, Bray. Along the coastline, Bray in the sunshine is as beautiful as a south of France town.

I was recently on holiday there and loved how small and accessible the town is. A walk along the waterfront is the perfect way to spend a relaxing evening. An early morning walk up Bray Head along the coast to Graystones and you will find well known YouTuber’s The Happy Pear café and veg shop. For a healthy breakfast, lunch, dinner or quick snack it is the perfect place for delish food at a great price, with locally sourced organic food and a wide selection of Vegan food available.

For a day out exploring in Wicklow, Glendalough is a must, whether you fancy a hike or a  stroll along the lake this is another beautiful part of Ireland that I visit time and time again.

Top Tip -  While in Ireland a few ‘must have’ foods are the not so traditional Chicken fillet roll (baguette, breaded chicken and your choice of salad etc), Spudbox (featuring a baked potato with your choice of toppings) in MVP and Spicebag (chiecken, chips and veggies in a salt and chilli rub). Despite not being typically Irish they are a firm favourite amongst locals.

There is so much more of Ireland to discover, 29 other counties in fact, so be sure to come explore!

Dxo

Just a spoon full of sugar...

Something I am surprised I haven't written about yet is my love for baking. Maybe that is because I haven't baked in quite some time. I'm not sure when baking became one of my hobbies. While studying it was an escape from stress although my baking was never stress free for anyone involved. The perfectionist in me always had rather elaborate ideas for decorating the cupcakes or cakes I made and when they wouldn't go as planned it would stress me out quite a lot!

I suppose that could have taken the good out of baking for me but I always loved making things for my family and friends' birthdays and seeing the smile it would bring to their faces to see and taste what I had made them. There is something so special about making something for someone, especially those people who have all they want and need and are impossible to buy for. I have made everything from gingerbread houses to a Minnie Mouse cake to Cookie Monster cupcakes. Those being some of the better executed 'masterpieces'! 
There is something so special about making rather than buying, spending time creating something for someone you love, a labour of love!

I'm not sure where my love for baking came from. Growing up, visiting Auntie Madge meant you were in for a freshly baked 'Auntie Madges sponge cake.' I have yet to make one or try one that was as soft and delicious as the cakes she made. 

My mum has also been baking for as long as I can remember. In fact the bread she still makes today is from a recipe she learnt to make on my first summer holiday to Cavan.

The most recent thing I baked was cupcakes for a Fotosoc meeting. They were what I call my go to cupcake receipt from Rachel Allen that I know off by heart. They never fail to impress and are devoured rather rapidly! By adding extra ingredients and putting a twist on this simple receipe I have made everything from classic vanilla to red velvet, chocolate, apple and cinnamon and my favourite, lemon.

6oz caster sugar

6oz margarine

6oz self raising flour

3 eggs

Cream the margarine and sugar.

Sift in flour, add eggs and combine.

Add a drop of vanilla essence or

substitute 2oz of flour for coco.

Bake at 180 for 10-12 minutes.

Christmas in our house is always a time for baking. For as long as I can remember mammy has made her world (or at least family) renowned Caramel Squares, with a perfectly golden shortbread base, a generous layer of silky caramel and a sweet smooth layer of chocolate. Mammy’s caramel squares are a firm favourite in our household and further afield. I think it may very well have been from watching mammy over the years make these as well as wheaten bread and more recently chili jam as gifts for friends and family that I started making gifts.

My imagination more often than not takes hold when I'm baking and I come up with rather unrealistic ideas for decorating the cupcakes or cake I have made. It gives me the oppourtunity to be creative and test how far my imagination can push my creativity. Although I have to admit, this often leads to stress as the perfectionist in me takes over when things are not going as I had pictured them in my mind.

Being away at college for the past year has meant doing almost no baking other than the occasional batch when I'm home and I miss it but I suppose I've found a different creative outlet in my new found love of photography. (Unfortunatly at the peak of my baking days photography wasn't really a passion of mine hence the less than half decent quality of these photos!)

Baking is something I really look forward to doing with my kids one days just like I have done with my mammy. Although being a little more realxed and open to a less than perfect result may be necessary when it comes to baking with kids so it could be a good lesson in life for me too!

Dxx

A nation of compliment refusers in "Penneys best"...

Why do we, as a nation, and in my case as a woman, find it so difficult to accept a compliment without dissecting it to give praise or thanks to a third party (Penneys being the commonly praised!). Recently I have been told to just accept the compliment instead of in a way refusing to be complimented. I do think I have improved slightly, instead of saying ‘Penneys best’ or similar, I now laugh it off a little and then just say thank you. Receiving a compliment more often than not embarrasses me and I have no clue why. Maybe because I don’t believe the compliment to be true or just because not accepting a compliment is the ‘done thing’. I have begun to think about how people would be perceived particularly in Ireland if we were quick to accept compliments without hesitation would we be seen to be overly confident?

One compliment that I really cherish is when I met my Granda on the main street in town after my Prom last August and he said he's seen a picture of me in my dress, all dolled up and ready to go out and he told me he though I looked beautiful. Its compliments from people like my Granda that are really special to me as I know they are completely genuine. 

It doesn’t seem to matter what I’m being complimented on, my outfit/ how I look/ my photography/ an idea I had or an event or trip I organise, I’ve always been quick off the mark to deflect the compliment away from me and sing the praises of the shop I bought my outfit, the luck I had in taking a photo that actually turned out ok or everyone else that chipped in ideas or helped plan something even if just by being my sounding board. I’m aware of how frustrating it can be to give someone a compliment and for them to refuse to welcome the compliment and not explain why or how they look the way they do and hence why they feel they are being complimented, it seems almost like an automatic response!

Who decided accepting a compliment was simply not to be done without a fight of sorts? Can we not just say thank you instead of tearing the kind gesture apart? We don’t in fact work on commission for Penneys or any other clothes brand so making the hard sell to ensure that it is the outfit that deserves the compliment and not you as a defense mechanism when complimented is entirely unnecessary, although I do think I would make a rather good sales rep of ‘this old thing - was on sale in Penneys - wear it all the time!’

The next time I am complimented be it for my photography, what I’m wearing or anything else, I am simply going to thank the person with sincerity and not be my usual sales rep for Penneys or laugh it off. I think its about time this nation was less dismissive about compliments and be less negatively wired, presuming that someone would compliment you when they don’t mean it.

D xo

Stop & smell the roses...

A few years ago rather unexpectedly, my paternal grandmother died. I didn’t get to see her and my Grandad as often as I saw my maternal Grandparents as they lived in Scotland, when they came to visit it was a cause of great excitement. Often on their visit we would go to the local garden centre, where Granny with her wealth of knowledge would help Mammy chose plants and flowers for our garden.

She knew so much about the plants, their name, how to look after them, what little critters loved or tormented them and where would be best to plant them. I can always remember Granny out in the back garden plucking the dead petals off the plants and loosening the soil in the plant pots ensuring the best conditions for growth. I also remember one particular time Granny telling us about the little robin that came and sat on the top of her shovel, unstartled as she pottered about in her garden. 

Since she died I have begun to notice that I think of her or rather am reminded of her when I pass flourishing gardens or watch my mother planting new bulbs and seeds in our garden, often remarking on the fact that Granny would know what would be best for the new addition to the garden. It’s wonderful that in the beauty all around me I’m reminded of my granny and I smile as memories of her flicker through my head.

In May this year my maternal Grandfather died...

Just outside the window in the room he spent the last few days of his life there was a wonderfully vibrant azalea in full bloom, better than it had for years my granny noted. For as long as I can remember the azalea and hydrangea in Granny and Grandad’s garden has come into bloom for several weeks of each year, despite being planted over 50 years ago by my Grandad. 

The soft lilac and dusky blue of the hydrangeas as we pulled into the drive has always been a symbol of being at Granny and Grandad’s for our weekly cup of tea and a bun (or rather more than one bun, as we were "In our Granny’s"). The lawn at the front was always out of bounds when we were younger and outside playing in their garden. It was a perfectly manicured lawn, or so Grandad tried to make it, the weeds were rather persistent. 

Another poignant reminder of Grandad are the roses that he planted in the garden. I had never really noticed them until after Grandad died and Granny had got the gardener in to tidy up the flower bed where the roses were as Grandad would have liked. 

Again as with my Granny from Scotland, I am constantly called to stop and remember Grandad when I see roses and hydrangeas as I go about my day to day life. I love that it is beautiful, happy things that remind me of my Grandparents and that from the sight of these flowers I recall many happy memories I will cherish forever.

Dxo

(All photos of flowers are taken by me in my Grandad's garden)

From Brussels with love...

On the 24^th  of June I got a message from a friend asking if I’d be interested in going to Brussels to work as an Au Pair for 2 weeks. Almost before I could ask what the details were I said YES. Running in the same vein of my spontaneity, taking full advantage of any opportunities that presented themselves was something I had promised myself I would do this summer. A few days later, with all the details and arrangements taken care of I was packing my bags ready to set off on another adventure.

This trip was different from anything I had done before. I was a little nervous about going to Brussels given the recent attacks there and I was aware of the heightened security presence that would be there. The great unknown of this trip was something that also made me nervous. I knew I was going to look after a 3-year-old, that his dad is Irish and his mother is French so he only speaks Irish and French, but I had never worked as Au Pair before, never been to Brussels nor did I know anyone there and I was going on my own. Unlike the usual purpose of an Au Pair to speak English to kids, I was there to be an Au Pair as Gaeilge.

In my usual, very organised style, I researched places to go and things that were kid friendly in the city. I also planned to make a scrapbook of his trip. As a hoarder of momentoes myself I loved the idea of creating a book of memories of all we did for him to look back on when he was older, and possibly appreciate it more than he could as a 3-year-old. I went about collecting stickers and other arts and craft things to fulfill my scrapbooking dreams. I also bought him a disposable camera for him to take photos of his own.

- Refueling on my exploration of Brussels

On July 6^th I set off on the rather long bus journey from Donegal to Dublin Airport at 7am. I still felt anxious about this trip but was trying to focus on what a great experience it would be and how lucky I was to get to see yet another beautiful place in the world. I arrived in Brussels that afternoon and met the lady I was staying with and then the family I was working for. I was amazed by the beautiful architecture of the streets I walked through that evening and also pleasantly surprised by the calm atmosphere I had stepped into. I felt relaxed and safe, which I was unsure whether or not I would feel.

- My home for 10 days

I decided I would have to brave the world of strangers to talk to people other than the three year old so as to keep my sanity! There were quite a lot of Irish bars where I was staying and true to the Irish stereotype I met some friendly Irish people and even got to speak more Gaeilge, which I loved! Its quite sad how little Irish I speak in my day to day life despite the fact that I’m fluent, I’m doing a degree through Irish and know other fluent speakers. Never the less I took every opportunity while in Brussels to speak Irish which is something I plan to also do back home in Ireland now.

- By architect Gustave Strauven

I loved exploring the city both on my own and with people I met. On my weekend off I went to Bruges and it was even more breath taking than Brussels. I met two girls at the train station who were going there too and we had a great day together exploring Bruges and taking a boat trip. It was so interesting meeting new people and learning about them even if only for a brief amount of time.

- Bruges Canal

- Bruges Street

Although working as an Au Pair was exhausting and stressful at times I had a wonderful time in Brussels and would go back to that city in a heartbeat. A day didn’t pass without several people smiling at me as we passed on the street or asking me about what had brought me to Brussels. The reaction to me being an Au Pair as Gaeilge was wonderfully positive which I’m not sure it would be in Ireland.  Unlike quite a few people I’ve met in Ireland most people didn’t question the fact that I was doing my degree through Irish which was refreshing. 

I’ve come home from Brussels with an even deeper love for Irish and a commitment to speak it as often as I can and do everything I can to promote the language. A fire has be ignited in me to embrace Irish because of the opportunity that was presented to me because I speak a language that far too many would argue is a ‘dead/dying’ language!

I hope to get back to Brussels soon and I’m considering looking for a job there for next summer now that I’ve made some connections there and would love more time to discover other gems Belgium has to offer…

- Grand Place, by day and night

 Beatha teanga í a labhairt...

D xo

Home-bird turned explorer...

When I was about 10 years old I was on a Cub Scouts camping trip in Killybegs, well by camping I mean sleeping bags on the floor of a parish hall. This is one of the few Cub excursions I remember because of the knock on affect it had on me and adventuring away from home. Shortly after we arrived at the ‘campsite’ I overheard the leaders talking (eavesdropping was one of my favourite pastimes!) and I heard them talking about the hall being broken into several months beforehand. For some reason that freaked me out entirely and for the rest of the evening I felt very anxious and sick to my stomach at the thought of having to stay in that hall. At about midnight, after an underage disco in the local club I decided I could not stay the night in the hall, despite the fact I had my older sister with me I just wanted to be at home with my mammy. 

The phone call was made and my daddy made the long trek to Killybegs to collect me. On our way back we got a flat tyre, just to add to the adventure! From that night on I couldn’t go away from home for anything, school trips and even a family break to Sligo. I felt scared and sick to my stomach. I still can’t quite figure out why I got so scared at the prospect of being away from home but in later years the thought of having to leave home to go to college scared me.

In transition year the opportunity presented itself for me to go to St.Louis Missouri for three weeks with five other people from my class at school. This was something I really wanted to do, but the prospect of being away from home made me feel nervous before I’d even stepped foot on the plane. My daddy drove me to Dublin airport on the morning of the flight. I remember talking to him nonstop for the three-hour journey, despite the fact it was 5am! However, as soon as we drove into the airport car park, I immediately began to feel anxious and worried about the trip. I kept having to reminding myself how much fun I would have on the trip and that everything would be ok. I had a wonderful time on this trip but I did feel quite homesick and talking to my family on Skype made me quite upset.

I had certainly conquered my fear and now I had been bitten by the travel bug! The following summer I worked in Switzerland for six weeks in a summer camp. This time, I didn’t feel as anxious leaving my family and I was more excited than nervous about travelling. I seemed to be too busy to feel homesick, which I was glad about, because six weeks of feeling homesick would have been awful!

Going to Dublin for college had excited me for months before I finally left home in September last year. The closer my move out of home date came the more nervous I felt and I was worried I would feel homesick as I tried to settle into college. Luckily I was too busy making friends and enjoying Fresher’s Week to feel homesick. The ease with which I settled into life away from home definitely encouraged me to spread my wings and be adventurous.

On my 20^th birthday I decided I wanted to be spontaneous this year, to go outside of my ultra-planned comfort zone and live life to the fullest. In the midst of my end of year exams I decided to book a trip to England to stay with family friends. It was such a fun trip as I didn’t plan anything or make lists I just went! 

This summer has been full of adventure, starting this blog has been a big adventure for me, I’ve been very open and honest about my life on this very public platform but I think people respond well to honesty like this. This summer I haven’t had the job I have had for the past few summers but I was confident something would come up, and it has. In June I was a reader for the Junior Certificate for two weeks and next Wednesday I’m off to Brussels, Belgium to work as an Au Pair, helping a 3-year-old with his Irish! Another adventure that I cannot wait for! I have also persuaded my mammy to book a little trip with me and my younger sister to go and visit family and family friends in England at the end of August. It has been a summer jam packed with adventure and me venturing out side of my pre-planned comfort zone.

I no longer feel anxious being away from home because my desire to explore new places and cultures overrides any worry or feeling of homesick I used to experience and I feel alive and free!

Dxo