Travel

My Short Twelve Days in Ireland

And the sensation I felt that I belonged there

Author in Keel Bay, Achill Island. Photo credit: Author

“It all makes sense now” is a thought that often came to mind while in Ireland.

My first full day in Ireland was on a tour from Galway to the Cliffs of Moher. While planning my trip, my husband insisted I go to the Cliffs. I had wanted to go straight to County Mayo from Dublin but changed that to include two nights in Galway to do as he suggested.

I am glad I did. He was right.

We had stopped at a place to tour caves, and I decided not to take that tour. I bought a coffee, walked up a hill alongside the parking lot, and looked at Ireland.

I could hear the Irish trad music playing in the parking lot as I sipped my coffee, felt the cold wind, and looked past the green farmlands to the ocean.

I was ecstatic to be where it felt like home. And I had just arrived.

I thought of my grandparents and great-grandparents. I thought about my grandfather leaving County Mayo, traveling south to Cobh in County Cork, and taking a ship to New York City.

I thought about why he decided to emigrate. I was only two when he died and never had the chance to ask him.