3 Generation Trip to Ireland
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought it would be a perfect time to share some highlights of the bucket list Irish Family History trip I took with my mom and great-aunt, Sherla in October 2018.
Sherla’s mother, Margaret (my great-grandma Bergman) was a Cavanagh. After working on our Cavanagh Family line that originated in Longford, County, Ireland, the two of them had always dreamed of visiting the Emerald Isle to see our ancestral homeland. After the passing of my great-uncle Raphael the year prior, Sherla didn’t think she would ever get the chance to go. I visited Dublin and the area surrounding the city in 2015 and couldn’t wait to return and spend more time exploring the Island so I decided it would be an incredible opportunity to take them and make it a 3-generation family history trip too!
The best part of the trip was that they had a couple of things they for sure wanted to do and see but they wanted the actual itinerary to be a surprise. This made the planning and execution SO MUCH FUN for me! I had the opportunity to choose all the places we stayed, sites we saw and routes we took. I spent months looking through books, reading various blog posts and Airbnb reviews until I crafted an incredibly customized two week itinerary full of adventures that we would all enjoy. I knew how much my mom loved castles, afternoon tea parties, gardens, cottages with open fires, riding horses, beaches, and rocks! I was interested in seeing the ancient sites such as Boyne Valley and New Grange, as well as cemeteries, ruins of old abbeys and the renowned natural beauties of the Cliffs of Mohr, Dark Hedges, and the Giants Causeway. Sherla was most interested in spending time in Longford where she could see the church our ancestors likely attended and places that would have been familiar to them that were still standing and visiting the local Longford Country Library. If you can believe it, we did all the above and MORE on our amazing adventure in Ireland.
Below is the itinerary by day along with select photos of our various adventures.
Day 1
After an overnight flight that began in Chicago, we arrived in Dublin at 8am. We then rented a car and ventured 180 miles to the other side of the island to the small coastal village of Doolin in County Clare. Roughly halfway across, we stopped and toured the stunning Charleville Castle located just outside of Tullamore.
As we neared our Airbnb, the roads became narrower and more treacherous and when we were just miles away from our cottage, we ended up in the ditch when trying to avoid a collision with a van. Thankfully, the driver of the van had a tow rope and pulled us right out so we could be back on our
way. We arrived at our lovely “Yellow Cottage” by the sea at 7pm. Just in time for a beautiful sunset. After a long day of traveling, we were starving and ready to take the edge off with a pint of Guinness at a local pub, so we did just that at McDermott’s Pub in Doolin. The place was packed with locals and tourists alike and had wonderful live musicians who played a variety of Irish ballads and Celtic songs with their fiddle, flute, guitar and accordion. A perfect way to wrap up our first full day in Ireland!
Day 2
After a lovely stay in our cozy cottage, we ventured out for a delicious breakfast at the Doolin Café. Sherla spent the day exploring the village while I took my mom to the Mountain View Horse Riding Center in Lisdoonvarna for the first big surprise excursion of our trip. A three-hour trail ride where we trekked into the heart of the Burren where we saw ruins of forts and homes left behind by the plight of the Irish Potato Famine back in the 1840s and panoramic views of the Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands and Connemara Mountains.
We wrapped up our riding adventure in the early afternoon, picked up Sherla and headed to the famous Cliffs of Mohr. It was chilly and incredibly windy but absolutely STUNNING!
After an entire day of being outdoors, we were chilled to the bone and ready for some warming up! We had some warm drinks and dinner at a local restaurant and headed back to our cottage where my mom made a cozy fire in our woodstove.
Day 3
Our stay in Doolin had come to an end but on our way out, we did a little shopping in their adorable shops in town that included a village craft store and incredible sweater shop where I picked up a wool sweater for my husband. We had a traditional Irish breakfast in a local pub and then ventured out for a jam-packed day of site seeing and experiences on our way to Galway. We made a quick stop at the Hazel Mountain Chocolate Factory and then explored the Dunguaire Castle. This 16th century Tower House had a medieval banquet hall and little hat shop at the top of the tower.
We arrived in Galway around 4pm in time for another special surprise for my mom, afternoon tea at an original Irish Tea room, Cupán Tae. There was a beautiful display of tea cups hanging from the large front window providing a touch of whimsy to the experience. The tea sandwiches and variety of scones and cakes atop the vintage floral china was just like having tea at my mom’s former tea shop, Sophies Tea Room in Plainwell, MI.
After tea, we walked around Galway and the piers with their attached fishing boats for views of the city’s colorful houses from the water.
We would have spent the entire evening in the city, but I was dying to get to my next surprise before dark! In Athenry, about 20 minutes out of Galway, is Brookeen Hall, a 200-year-old restored Church of Ireland Chapel built as part of the Dunsandle estate and where we were going to stay!
After meeting the owners of our unique Airb&b and their dogs, we had a tour of the place, our living quarters and tower room.
We only had one short night in Galway and wanted to make the most of it, so we headed back into the city for a mini pub crawl where we started at the Salt House Brewery and ended at Monroe’s for some Guinness and live music. Thankfully, all three of us were night owls so ending the night at 11:30pm wasn’t too out of the ordinary for our crew.
Day 4
We woke up to an incredible breakfast spread prepared by our hosts and then spent the morning exploring the nearby Irish woodlands and Dunsandle Castle our hosts recommended we see. The castle was built in 1460 and was by far the creepiest place I have ever been to. After we all got the heebie jeebies about the same time, we left quickly and headed to our next destination, our ancestral homeland of Longford!
Located in the heart of Ireland, Longford County was where my 5x great-grandfather Andrew Cavanagh and his wife Margaret Skelly lived and raised their 7 children. Our fist stop was St. John’s Church where we took some photos before heading to the Longford County Library where we met with a local historian. That evening, we got a private tour of the inside of the church and learned all about the local history of the Edgeworth Family. When we had finished the only place in town still open was a small pop up Polish grocery store. We picked up some pierogies and apples and enjoyed a dinner around the dining room table of our Airbnb in Granard.
Day 5
After a hearty breakfast at the Kitty Kiernan Restaurant in Granard, we headed to Tullynally Castle in Castlepollard. The Pakenhams, Earls of Longford, lived at this majestic castle for over 370 years. In 1844, Andrew’s son James (my 4x great-uncle) married Elizabeth Packenham and though we haven’t determined the exact relation, it’s possible that she was related to the family. We spent about an hour admiring the exterior of the castle, beautifully manicured grounds, and large trees but we didn’t tour the inside due to time.
As I mentioned earlier, I was keen to see the ancient Neolithic sites in Ireland and situated on the hilltops of County Meath, was our next stop, the Boyne Valley and the Loughcrew Passage Tombs. The hike up the lush green hills to the site provided breathtaking views of the Irish countryside giving true meaning to the name “Emerald Isle”. Seeing the ancient cairns (3200 BC) and hieroglyphs on the megalithic stones was an incredible thing to experience in person. After we headed down the hill, we stopped to tour Maggie Heaney’s Cottage to see what a traditional late 1700’s cottage would have been like.
Next stop was to see the ancient round tower and Kells High Crosses in Kells. I love an old cemetery and the headstones and monuments there were amazing!
We then strolled through town and had a fabulous dinner at the Vanilla Pod Restaurant inside the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells and then headed back to Granard for our final night in Longford.
Day 6
We were now at the halfway point of our trip and the day started out a bit rough when my mom accidentally backed our rental car into the corner of one of the buildings in the driveway of our Airbnb causing a good bit of damage to the backend. We weren’t exactly sure what to do so we decided that the show must go on and we just pretended like it didn’t happen and went into town for a final visit to the Longford Library to meet with another local historian for a few hours. We could have spent a week there but there were more surprises in store!
By 4pm, we had arrived at yet another castle. But not just any castle, we were at Lough Rynn Castle Estate and Gardens, a luxury castle hotel located in Mohill, County Leitrim and to my mom and Sherla’s surprise, this time we weren’t just stopping for a tour and photos, we were there to stay! This was another of the surprises I was very excited to unveil. We had made it in time for afternoon tea in the parlor and spent the evening touring the ground and gardens where we were blessed with another beautiful sunset. While staying inside a castle was a once in a lifetime experience, my favorite memory of the night was listening to my aunt Sherla retell a scene from a video of the blue-footed booby bird mating ritual.
Day 7
After a 5-star breakfast, we continued our journey north. Our first stop was Shellin Lace, an Antique Irish Lace Museum & Shop. To say my mom was in heaven would be an understatement! What a unique and beautiful place off the beaten path. We then found a gas station that’s parking lot was next to a cow pasture and I made a friend.
That evening, we arrived to the Lavender Cottage, our Airb&b in Bushmills. With stunning views of the Antrim coastline, we couldn’t wait to go see the main attraction, Giants Causeway! We left the cottage and get to the causeway about 5pm which was a perfect time to go because most of the tour busses had left and there weren’t many tourists in our way for exploring and taking photos. Words cannot express how incredible this place was. The unique landscape of the basalt columns jutting out of the earth and water, were almost otherworldly.
After sunset, we had dinner at the Smugglers Inn and headed back to enjoy a fire in our cozy cottage.
Day 8
After a breakfast of leftovers, we drove about an hour to the Dark Hedges in County Antrim. Made famous from being filmed in the TV series, Game of Thrones, this avenue of beech trees was planted in 1775 and is SO spectacular to walk through.
By 1pm, we made it to Belfast where we went to the iconic landmark, St George Market and walked though the city until the next surprise destination, the Belfast Botanical Gardens. We spent a little over an hour touring the gardens and had dinner at the Crown Bar where we shared a very Irish meal of beef pie, fish & chips and a cherry tomato tarte tartin.
We left the city and ventured to the small village of Greyabby where we stayed in other charming cottage called the “Lilac Tree Cottage”
Day 9
We started the day with a visit to the incredible Titanic Museum in Belfast and then we took a Black Cab Tour to learn first hand about the Northern Ireland “Troubles.” We saw the painted murals, visited the wall and memorial plaque of those who lost their lives during the conflict.
After such a heavy experience, we headed back to the peaceful town of Greyabby where we quickly learned where the name came from. Just across the street from our cottage, were the ruins of Grey Abby, a Cistercian monastery what was founded in 1193.
We had dinner at the Wildflower Inn in Greyabbey and turned in early.
Day 10
On our way out of town, we were intrigued by the pink color of the beach and decided to park and explore. Upon inspection, the color was due to the pinkish-purple color of the kelp. The tide had gone out and l enjoyed photographing all the items left on the shore while my mom enjoyed finding rocks.
We stopped in Hillsbourough and had lunch at the Owl & Pussycat Café and did some sightseeing and shopping.
We arrived to Connell’s Barn, our amazing Airb&b in Duleek just before 5pm and discovered that once again, there was another incredible abbey ruin just across the street!
Day 11
We spent the day in Boyne Valley where I got to see the more well-known neolithic structure, Newgrange. Unlike the previous Cairn we saw, Newgrange was much larger, and I was able to go inside the site. Standing inside something older than the pyramids in Egypt was mind-blowing and an experience I will never forget!
Day 12
We left Duleek and headed south to Dublin for our last full day of the trip. We spent the afternoon at Trinity College where we got to see the Book of Kells and experience their incredible library. Such an amazing place!
We then spent the evening sightseeing around the city and ended the night with a final pint of Guinness in a pub.
Of all the trips I have taken, this one was by far my favorite. Ireland is a stunning place with friendly and kind people who welcomed us and made our experience one to remember forever!