People often talk about how rainy Ireland is. They aren't wrong.
I went over to Dublin to work for a week, but had limited time to actually explore the city. So when I was faced with the decision to hop in bed at 8AM after the redeye flight, or suit up in rain gear and go take photos in 40 degree rain I knew what I had to do. Get out there and take photos! The first stop was Trinity College where I went on a guided walking tour of the campus.
The campus was beautiful, but after walking around in the rain with numb toes I was ready to see what I had been waiting for: The Long Room.
Feeling cold, wet and tired, I needed to refuel. So where does a tourist go to get some food and a Pint (or 2)? The Brazen Head Pub. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I think this was my favorite pub of the entire trip. The Brazen Head is made up of many small rooms - some had bars, some just had tables, but they all were decorated from floor to ceiling in traditional Irish decor and advertising signs. After walking through a few rooms, I found a seat at one of the bars and ordered an amazing lamb stew and my first Guinness in Ireland. After chatting with the bartender for a bit, I went back to the hotel, and slept for about 13 hours. Certainly not a bad way to acclimated to the time change!
From Monday to Friday I was working my normal day job at HubSpot so any photo time was limited to after work.
Saturday was my last day to take in some sights, and I wanted to make the most of it. While I would've loved to have made my west to visit the CLiffs of Moher and Galway, I couldn't justify the amount of time that it wouldve taken me to get there and back. Instead, I chose to kick off the day by taking a 20 minute train ride to Howth.
My first stop was the Howth Lighthouse. It's out on a long jetty, but nice and close to the train station. It was SUPER windy out there, but definitely worth going to see.
After the lighthouse I made my way to the Howth Head Cliff Walk. I severely underestimated how far I'd be walking just to get to the trail, but the sun was out, and once I got there I very much thought that the views were worth the journey.
I walked about 10 miles that morning so needless to say, I was exhausted. BUT I had one more thing on my to-do list: The Kilmainham Gaol. I purchased my tour ticket ahead of time and heard amazing things about the tour, so back to Dublin I went.
Despite the exhaustion, I am SO glad I toured the gaol. I was completely unaware of all of the history associated with it, and couldn't believe the conditions that prisoners had to endure. If you're thinking about visiting this place, do it!
When I wrote out my game plan for the day, it included going to the Guinness Headquarters after the Kilmainham Gaol. That didn't happen. In the words of Ace Ventura, "I just couldn't do it captain, I didn't have the power!" My flight was the next morning, so I went back to the hotel, packed up all of my gear, clothes, souvenirs, and brought some Eddie Rocket's (Ireland's version of Johnny Rockets) back to my room before passing out for the night.
This trip was really great - Irish people are incredibly kind, the scenery was beautiful, the food and beer were delicious, and the history makes the United States feel like an infant. I look forward to going back sometime, and highly recommend it if you're thinking of going.