ireland.

i can't believe it's already been a month since my week spent in ireland. those seven days were truly an anomaly when it came to the weather, because it's apparently unheard of to go seven days without rain there. but, it did. just for us. :)

twin and i started our journey through ireland in dublin, where we explored enchanting parks, did a hop-on-hop-off bus tour, ate too much fish n' chips, and even tried some guinness (never again!) but the real excitement of our trip, the part we were most looking forward to, was our visit to tipperary county. this county is the home to enda and miriam, distant relatives of ours. miriam is my grandfather's brother's daughter, and enda is her husband. their beautiful home is nestled next to a farm full of cows, and just seconds away from the infinite green landscape that is ireland. these two welcomed us into their home, having met us once fifteen years go. we talked about family and our ancestors, analyzed a family tree that miriam has been working on, looked at old photographs that we were all in together (so crazy!) and enjoyed some lovely guitar and song by enda himself. 

but it wasn't until miriam drove us two hours west to the cliffs of moher and the house our grandfather grew up in that i knew i would never have the right words to thank her. for as long as i can remember, an image of the cliffs have been the desktop background on my computer. each day i would look at the picture, and wonder to myself how anything could be that beautiful. little did i know that i would have the opportunity to see these stunning cliffs with my own eyes. no picture can do them justice. it will truly take your breath away. 

seeing my grandpa's house was completely surreal. he passed away a year ago, and it was an incredible thing to feel close to him, once again. i only wish that i could have asked him questions, and heard his stories about his time in ireland. from family, i have gathered that my grandpa came to america in his early thirties, where he met my nana. the funny thing is, she was from ireland too. she actually lived right across gallway bay. a little mass of water separated them...that was it. and it took them moving 3,000 miles to meet and fall in love. 

across from the little house, atop a hill, is a cemetery in which many fitzpatricks are buried. so many of my ancestors were right there. miriam explained our relation to many, and told stories of what she knew of their lives. the whole experience felt like it was something out of a movie.

newly renovated, here is grandpa's house. it still belongs to the family. 

a painting of a picture of this house hangs in miriam and enda's home. and now we have a copy, too. 

the cemetery.

grandpa's yard.

the view from the backyard.

the first and only time my mother went to ireland was when she was twenty-one. how amazing that her twin daughters got to go at basically the same age, and explore all the places she did. we feel so lucky.

{photos by laura and me}