I was trying to put some order on our digital photo collection over the weekend when I came across this photo. It was taken on a visit to Ireland with our children on beach near Kenmare, Ireland in September 2005. Those are my boys looking about the size of a pair of leprechauns in the photo. When rainbows shine so brightly, it’s no wonder there are folk legends about pots of gold!
When you arrive from the U.S., everything in Ireland can seem smaller. And it’s true, even Dublin, the capital city has a much lower profile than even a moderately-sized U.S. city like Seattle. There are no high-rise buildings. But when you leave the cities and go explore the small towns and villages like Kenmare, you start to get used to the differences in scale. And it’s so green and so picturesque.
We go to Ireland a lot. As I work through my photo collection, I’m sure I’ll add more posts with fun things to do with kids there. But mostly, we go to visit family. And sometimes, even with a just-a-family trip, something unusual happens: our 2005 trip was planned so that we could attend a sibling’s wedding. And on the day of the wedding, another sibling had a new baby. How often does your family grow by two on the same day ? Here’s CAM and BigB saying “Hi” to their new cousin Caoimhe.
Specifics
You can fly direct to Dublin (DUB) or Shannon (SNN) from many U.S. cities.
Jury’s Inns is a local mid-priced family-friendly hotel chain with locations in many cities in the U.K. and Ireland. They have family rooms which sleep 4 (not always easy to find in Europe).
Kids will love discovering castles and climbing stone walls. My kids particularly enjoyed the Bunratty Folk Park .
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Information on traveling to Ireland with kids.
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I love Kenmare.
You know the smallest thing in Ireland (to us visiting Americans, that is)? The roads!
We once met a care coming the other direction on a country lane, and one of us had to back up for, like, a quarter of a mile to find a spot wide enough for passing.
It was crazy.
Thanks for steering me to this post Michelle.I’ve only been to Ireland once (Dublin and surrounding area, down the coast as far as Waterford) but it was without the children (our first major trip without them in fact). I’d love to go back and take the kiddos along.
And I agree with Jamie – the road there are a nightmare. I did all the driving and it nearly ended our marriage on more than one occasion.
How completely cool that a new cousin was born while you are there!
I love Ireland. I wish we had family there so I could justify the expense of visiting more often! Thank you for letting me know about your post,
Stacy