From the moment I arrived in Ireland last year, I was scheming a way to get back. This desire was doubled when I had a failed attempt at a small portion of the Wicklow Way. The trail haunted my dreams and I quietly made a pact with myself to go back and do the damn thing in full, ASAP.

I kept an eye on flights, and when one popped up for $400 RT I pulled the trigger. To my homeland I would go, again. I would hike the Wicklow Way, again, but this time, I would not accidentally get way too drunk with jolly Irish people in a pub. I would also go back to Ireland because I found myself part of an international accordion smuggling scheme, but that is a story for next week’s blog post.

The hike would take 7 days, and I needed another day to get my Covid test before I could head home. Even taking advantage of Memorial Day, the trip would be pretty tight, so I got the OK for a remote work week to prep for my hike and adjust to the time change.

I flew out of Boston late Friday night and landed in Dublin. As always, it felt like a dream to stumble out of an airport and suddenly be in a foreign country full of people acting like it wasn’t totally novel that they were walking around IRELAND on a sunny Saturday morning.

I drove straight to 3FE where I was truly giddy to be served by a nice barista who remembered me (am I a local now???) After lingering over my bomb ass latte, I headed to Cork via the Rock of Cashel. Jet lag was a cruel mistress, but I kept on keeping on with the help of Coca Cola and slapping myself as I wandered through historical sites.

I stayed the night in a guesthouse in Cork. It was stuffy and had a gently teasing proprietor who I could only understand about 20% of the time. It was perfect.

Trying real hard to make it to 9pm, I took a long walk around Cork. It’s a college town, and had a beautiful university campus and lots of young people about. There was some sportball game happening causing lots of synchronized pub screaming. I had my first of many many delicious soups at The Oliver Plunkett but accidentally ordered a Swedish cider, major regrets.

After waking up giddy once again, I set my sights on the Ring of Kerry. I stopped in Killarney to grab some hiking supplies, then basked in sunshine at Lough Leane and Ross Castle.

Eager to stretch my legs, I hiked Torc Mountain, which I found on Alltrails. It was a 5.4 mile hike through magical fairy forests and sweeping vistas. It took me about 3 blissful hours.

I carried on along the Ring of Kerry, a famous and winding road. It was beautiful, but I was going the opposite direction of the tour buses… and after a pass so tight my sideview mirror snapped in, I bailed and took a “short cut” across Ballaghisheen Pass. This road was even sketchier than the Ring, but there were no tour buses to play chicken with. I made it to the coast and only almost killed 7 sheep.

My destination was Portmagee, a small fishing village in Western Ireland. It’s the gateway to Skellig Michael, an island where the recent Star Wars movies were filmed (specifically, it’s the island with the Porgs!)

Skellig Michael is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and has a visitor cap of 180 people a day. It’s really hard to get a ticket, and even if you do, boats are often turned away from the island due to rough seas. I managed to get a booking, but was told to call the company at 7am the day of the tour to see if they were going. And at 7am, a gruff Irish seaman told me: no effin way.

*A light breakfast to drown my Porgy sorrows.*

It was a bummer, but I knew what I had signed up for. Unfortch I had taken a PTO day for this Monday adventure and had nothing on the docket. I returned to a roadside attraction I’d seen along the way, Kerry Cliffs. It looked close enough to Skellig Michael that I brought my poor Porg out for some pics.

*Sorry buddy, we will return to your homeland next time.*

The cliffs were super beautiful and totally deserted on a Monday morning. I happily bopped about taking pics and looking as cool as a solo adult carrying a small stuffed animal can look.

I packed up my Porg, my fiddle, and my (temporary) accordion, and hit the road to Galway.

where: cork, killarney, and portmagee, ireland
when: green green green may
how: 5.4 mile hike to torc mountain, casey’s skellig island tour (didn’t work out but they were communicative and refunded me quickly!)

PS: loved the food & sea vibes at o’neills the point seafood bar

porglandia

international accordion rescue

congaree to charleston