Rediscovering Ireland: From Early Memories to Present Explorations
Last Updated: 7th November 2024
Éire is my country of birth and I still visit the place several times a year, even if time has altered the reasons for doing so. When my parents passed away, that brought considerable changes. The management and maintenance of a property inheritance became the cause of my visits. As I write these words, that is being altered again. Downsizing is ongoing, and I now have a new base in the country that I plan to use for longer stays, mixing work and leisure. Of course, I still have family there anyway, so those longer visits may allow for deepening of connections.
Catching Up
Family and responsibilities can get in the way of exploring a place, so I chided myself about how much of the island that I had left unexplored. Being with people who were not into walking or hiking was one cause, as was the need to get things done, which cuts down on the flexibility to go away somewhere when the weather offers.
Alongside the downsizing and reorganisation of the last few years, I have been getting to see more of the place at last. Day trips making use of public transport have been a pillar of this as much as my explorations of other parts of the world. A few years ago, I spent over a week based in Killarney and Cork for leisure alone. Finally, I spent a few days based in Killarney, relishing what is around there. Bantry, Clogheen, Kinsale and Cobh were other places that I got to see.
The mention of Clogheen brings me to the county of Tipperary and the Knockmealdown Mountains, near which I went again on a day trip to Mount Melleray Abbey, Cappoquin and Lismore. All of those places are in the county of Waterford, and I have got to pottering around its country town on day excursions as well. My native Limerick has featured as well, with section hiking of the whole Great Southern Trail or Limerick Greenway and some walking around near Newport and Murroe that included a foray into the Clare Glens. Speaking of Clare, Bunratty had been revisited along with a first encounter with Lough Derg while about around Killaloe and Ballina.
Returning to the southwestern coast, there was a stay in Tralee that allowed some sampling of the Dingle peninsula and its rugged hill country. Other peninsulas have seen foot fall too. That brings me towards West Cork with Beara, Sheep's Head and Mizen peninsulas gifting some alluring hiking. This was a mix of new and old haunts, and regardless of their classification, they have become stages for melding my own experiences of these scenic spots.
They complement visits to more built-up spots like Doneraile Park, Cahir, Cashel, Kilkenny, Castletown, Blarney Castle, Galway and others like them. Ireland's heritage matters to me as much as its hill country. Even so, it is the latter that really delights. A day spent hiking along the spine of Ballyhoura Mountains fascinated me more than nearby Doneraile Court. There would have been no journey to Clonmel, only for its proximity to the Comeragh Mountains to draw me. Galway would not have been revisited but for there being nearby Connemara; Salthill and its views across Galway Bay of some north Clare hills would not have been enough. One needs a mix to ensure variety.
Prior Dependence on Memories
Before the opportunities offered in recent years, I was all too dependent on fading memories without photographic evidence to refresh them. It may be that ongoing wanderings will help with as well. Listening to music like what I heard while living full-time in Ireland takes me back to those times all the better when I also am ensconced in ambiences like those where the memories were made in the first place. It can be surprising what helps to strengthen what is lying semi-dormant.
Even wandering through hilly areas in other parts of the world can help. After all, my love of mountain scenery comes from driving tours around such places as Killarney, Gougane Barra, the Beara Peninsula. Oddly, the slower pace of travel on foot helps with restoring recollections of those escapades. All this activity acts as a reminder that I might have been underplaying what I have seen already.
For instance, primary school outings took me to Sherkin Island near Baltimore in West Cork and to various sights around Clare, Limerick, Dublin and Cork. The one to Limerick and Clare took in the Belltable Theatre, Craggaunowen and Bunratty Castle & Folk Park. When we went to Dublin by train, we visited its zoo and Kilmainham Jail. The trip to Cork took in Fota Wildlife Park, the town of Cobh and a boat trip around Cork harbour. That is quite a selection, and there were other opportunities for seeing more of the island that I once called home.
School outings were not a major feature of my secondary schooling, though there were trips to Knock in County Mayo that allowed a little time around the centre of Galway. Otherwise, it was the longer trip to France that facilitated a stop in Waterford as well as journeying through Wexford to Rosslare. There were outdoor pursuits' trips to Connemara too, but I never went on these. My love of such things had yet to develop, and I tend to prefer solo explorations anyway.
Other Prospects
On reflection, I now realise that my exposure to Ireland's scenic and historic delights is not as scant as I once might have thought. It also looks less so now. There were snatched opportunities like a circuit of Howth and an ascent of Great Sugarloaf near Kilmacanoge in County Wicklow. A brief visit to Kinsale lay among these too, as much as dalliances in Dublin, Cork and Limerick while en route from the U.K. Changed circumstances means that I have bettered those in recent years.
Now that I think over all the traipsing of the last few years, the old Irish political slogan of "A lot done, more to do" comes to mind. Still, expanding the reach into Connemara, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal remains outstanding; Cork is too far away for these to be day trips. As I know from my own experiences, it helps to be based somewhere for a time in order to probe and savour all that is around it.
For a time, my own parents took longer trips away that got them to Connemara and Wicklow. Those were their own breaks, much like their further forays to parts of Kerry and West Cork that did not work with a day trip from their home. They also were tours, full of their own sense of spontaneity, especially with accommodation.
My spontaneity is about what I get to see, and its fulcrum is the organisation of accommodation and transportation. With those in place, the rest can follow and, thus far, that has been my way of working on two continents. Recent improvements in Irish public transport make it all the more plausible than may have been the case one time. Once the options are clear from journey planners, the possibilities can be winnowed before the weather adds a second stage of that. Too many choices can confuse, so there is a need to reduce them somehow. The remnant always more than suffices.
