A safe journey home

Highlights from my journey up the west coast of Ireland

There is something rather touching about a governmental agency spending money on signage to wish people a safe journey home. The phrase travelers see as they leave every Irish town is Slán Abhaile. The phrase translates as “Safe Home” and is used to bid travelers goodbye and safe travels. 

Last time I wrote to you, I included my sketch of Slieve League in County Donegal. I’ve been posting one sketch a day, as “postcards from Ireland” on Facebook with a short story about the scene, and on my Instagram Stories. But you, my dear reader, get to see them all in one place in this little video! Enjoy this flip-through of my wee book of watercolor sketches from my trip to Ireland.

Today, I’m sharing some of the highlights of our trip along the Wild Atlantic Way. I’m not an affiliate of any of the places or resources I’ve linked, just a big fan!

The Dingle Peninsula

We spent 11 days on the Dingle Peninsula at the beautiful Greenmount House B&B. We drove the Slea Head Road (a drive not recommended for the faint of heart), visited archeological sites that were featured in the resources from a month’s membership in Tuatha, and hiked to the Eask Tower that overlooks the Dingle Bay. We ate incredible seafood and were entertained with live traditional music at some very lively pubs in Dingle Town!  See my painting of Fergus the accordion player in his pub, O’Flaherty’s.

Aran Islands - Galway - Westport

Leaving the Dingle Peninsula, we drove north along the Wild Atlantic Way to Galway, parked the car, and ferried over to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. On rented e-bikes, we were able to take in most of the quiet island. Returning to the urban bustle of Galway was a bit of a shock after being in such remote areas. It was so people-y! We spent three nights there, ate in two fabulous restaurants, Rúibín Restaurant for tapas and Ard Bia at Nimmos in the Spanish Arch, and made a totally spontaneous visit to Galway Tattoo! 

Triple spiral tattoo from Newgrange’s inner chamber - Image Credit: Mary Coffey

Yes, it’s real! 

By the time we got to Westport, we were ready for a vacation from our vacation. We did loads of laundry, I enjoyed a couple of classes at The Yoga Root, we saw some spectacular sunsets over Croagh Patrick, and we had the most delightful and memorable meal at Sage Restaurant - 10 out of 10 would recommend!

Sun setting behind a dandelion seed head - Image Credit: Mary Coffey

County Donegal

The last chunk of our month away was spent in County Donegal at a little airbnb on Loughros Point outside of Ardara. Every time I post one of my postcards on social media, I fondly remember a story about the place, but Donegal may have stolen my heart. Every spot we visited in Donegal felt like we had driven to the end of the earth, again. Rocky cliffs and jagged rocks, waves crashing and clouds showing off greeted us in every nook and cranny in this far northern part of the world. We climbed Slieve League, ferried to Tory Island, shopped for Donegal Tweed scarves, dined on spicy “peanut ragu” (no relation to the pasta sauce!) at The Corby Pantry and Tearoom in Ardara, hosted my brother for a few fun days, and explored caves, waterfalls, and the most breathtaking beaches nestled in the crevices of protective cliffs and filled with unusual seaweed and shells. I asked my husband how he would describe the cliffs that enclosed so many of the beaches we saw. He said that he wouldn’t have to, he would just show them his tattoo! So here it is for you.

Tattoo of the cliffs along the Wild Atlantic Way - Image Credit: Mary Coffey

And I haven’t even talked about the people we encountered! Their sense of humor blows me away; perhaps it is some kind of learned adaptation that helped them survive the horrible history they have endured.

Living the paradox

Spending a month in Ireland qualifies as living the dream! Now that I have been “safely home” for about a month, I am surprised at how little watercolor I’ve been doing! Living the paradox is different than living the dream! My return to normalcy has left little time for that which brings me so much joy.  What is up with that? It’s pretty easy to preach that we should all do what lights us up, but it’s much trickier to actually weave that into the daily grind. Hence, a paradox. All of my other obligations and activities get in my way as does my old friend, the imposter syndrome. This character shows up even though I’ve spent over a month painting every day.  So, one part of me thinks I’m an expert now and prods me to teach watercolor again, while my inner critic loudly disagrees and insists I’m an imposter!

Nonetheless, I will persist. I’m planning to make many of these little sketches into greeting cards, and maybe calendars. I’ll repaint a few of them in larger formats, too. Would you be interested in any of those?

Would a beginner level watercolor class help you do what more of what brings you joy?

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!