Jeffry and I just got back from our 10-days trip in Ireland. We had an amazing time and drove around quite a bit of the country to explore. We saw so many places including castles, ruins, medieval villages, churches, etc. I will share some of my favorite parts about Ireland that we saw.

Trinity College Long Library & Book of Kells

This library is one of the world’s most famous and beautiful libraries. I have been wanting to go see it in person for so many years. I was in awe when I finally got to see it in person for the first time as it’s so majestic and steeped with grandeur. Jeffry and I spent a quite a bit of time there just to enjoy the moment and we didn’t want to leave this place. We also saw the famous Book of Kells, which you can’t take pictures of, but is a beautiful manuscript with amazing artwork that’s even more impressive after learning the details of how much work it took to make it.

Christ Church Cathedral

After visiting so many beautiful historic churches, I have to say this church, Christ Church Cathedral is my number one favorite. I love the fact that this church has a large underground crypt used as a museum to discuss further on the church’s history. This church was in ruin(roof collapsed) for several hundred years until 1970 when it was restored and returned to its glory day. I’m impressed with how well it was restored and as it still has kept its charm and looked beautiful.

Marsh’s Library

This is Ireland’s first public library and now a historic site. I’ve not heard of this place until Jeffry shared it with me. It is a beautiful small library that hasn’t actually changed at all since it original opened in 1707. There is one part about this library that surprised me - they have personal reading rooms that are like little library prison cells. If you wanted to read one of the rarer books, you got locked into the room while using the book so you couldn’t steal it!

Kilkenny Castle

We stopped in Kilkenny, a town south and a bit west of Dublin, to tour this castle. This castle has a rich history and went though a lot of changes since it got built by the same family that lived there for hundred of years. One of the rooms we toured that stood out was The Picture Gallery. It is Ireland’s second longest room, after the Trinity College Long Library. We were in awe by how beautiful and detailed this room is, especially the intricate sculpted and painted wood ceiling. It is my second favorite long room after the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles Palace in Paris. Fun fact….the glass skylight running the length of the room was originally green glass!

Kilkenny

When Jeffry and I arrived in this town, Kilkenny, I actually got really excited because I love how charming this medieval village is! We walked around and explored this town and had lunch after we toured the Kilkenny Castle. This is my number one favorite European town that I’ve visited so far.

Rock of Cashel

This place was on my must see places list for Ireland. I have been hearing a lot about this amazing ruin. I was in awe by how beautiful this ruin is. It was mixed of castle and cathedral. It was a bit of foggy at that time that we visited so it was a bit spooky, which I loved! When I walked around this ruin, it feels like I was actually in a several horror movies! This is my number one favorite ruin site ever I’ve been to and the hill that it’s on gives wonderful views of the surrounding countryside!

Cahir Castle

We stopped by the town of Cahir to see this Cahir Castle built in 13th century. It is a beautiful castle with amazing restored interiors. I learned that this castle is one of Ireland’s strongest and most fortified castles, having been built on rocky outcropping and surrounded by rivers. It resisted many attacks until it was overtaken in 1599 against artillery fire. I was impressed by how well this castle is built and still having many large and functional rooms. It had very narrow spiral staircases which was a bit of challenging for me to climb up the towers. It was a quite experience for me.

Stay tuned for a second blog post for our recent trip to Ireland!

Mar 12 Our Ireland Trip - Part 1