The day after. Wow, haven’t slept that long in awhile. Skipping the 9am was essential. Today’s weather says showers, tomorrow’s says rain, and Wednesday’s weather is drizzle. Well, I just walked to get some food and it is sprinkling, but I don’t know how! There is not a cloud in the sky, the sun is blindingly bright, but sure enough there is precipitation. I like it. It makes me feel like I’m running through a sprinkler in the summer. This was one of the most amazing weekends of my life. The only bad part was that it was so good I became paranoid something terrible was going to happen.
Sean, Preston, and I all hooped on a bus Friday at noon bound for Waterford. We were picked up by Daniel, a classic Irish dude who walks with his arms out like he’s jacked and cannot be understood, though apparently what he says is hilarious.
Waterford was…full of Water. Pouring rain. Got a bite and went bowling to pass the time until Niamh could get off work. Daniel loves the Big Lebowski. Then we hit the road for Kenmare, which is about three hours from Waterford. The drive down was just a sign the trip would be great. Sometimes you just get riled up and jam out and each song is perfect. This was a great roadtrip the whole way. We got there and we could not believe where we were staying. Old school cottage, hot food waiting. Thatched roof and all, hot showers, and the Sheep Dog named Mason, who was loads of fun and looked just like the dog from Peter Pan.
After a rest in front of the fire we hit the bars for some live music. Tasty jams. Beer is much cheaper in Kenmare than in Dublin, so we said phewwww, but then Niamh just started buying us drinks. I bet she dropped €200 on us this weekend. Unbelievably generous. The night was great and late and so small town Ireland. Probably 150 people at the bars, everyone knew each other and was friendly. And they were diverse. Musicians, metalheads, gamers, William the old banker who lost his mind and is clearly nuts, 14year olds, 74 year olds, bachelorette party group in devil suits, and guys with jokes. I’m kidding, but seriously. Just a fun night at the Square Pint in Kenmare. And some guys drew a map for us of where in Dublin we’d be most likely to get held up with a hypodermic needle, so I feel safer now…I think… Finished the night by fighting through the whole town at Estes (the only chip bar open that late run by a nice Turkish dude who you can tell can’t wait to close). Amazing garlic and cheddar chips. Best way to finish the night.
My breakfast plate the next morning was an overwhelming spread of bacon, ham, 3 kinds of sausage. Lunch was venison sandwiches and salmon salad sandwiches. Dinner later was chicken and mushrooms. The salmon here is becoming world famous apparently and rightly so. Saturday’s weather was weather was absolutely beautiful. If you can think of the most amazing spring day in your memory, that was it, so we eagerly grabbed hit the road. The drive through the ring of Kerry was full of incredible views. The terrain reminded me of stuff from the Lord of the Rings. It was so rugged looking. We were dropped off at a bridge leading down to the Lakes of Kilarney and took off down the Old Kenmare road (a trail) through Kilarney National Park. The hike was great, though muddy at times. We saw some foxes playing and some menacing vultures, but mostly sheep. Mason came with us and was very photogenic and loved to scare the sheep.
Half way through we stopped in an old building well on its way to being reclaimed by the hillside and took time for a drink and some clementines. Ireland has the prettiest moss in the world I’d bet, and it’s so soft. And there’s such variety and color. I climbed up to the top of the hill we were on and the view was spectacular, you could see the whole valley all the way to the lakes, and you could appreciate the full distance we’d hiked. But it was the hike to come that offered the best views. Even getting out of the park, there was something amazing that all of us had been looking for walking along the old stone lined country roads as the sun set.
When we got back we were exhausted from a long day and we all passed out to Toy Story 2 in front of the fire. We woke for dinner and then we got a surprise offer to go hunting.
So we went hunting! Put on the camo and all. The gun was huge, a 300 Weatherby with a huge silencer on the end. Thing was a cannon, though according to Preston it had very little recoil compared to other guns that size. So basically, we all loaded into a van with Niamh, her dad, and Pat and went out “lamping.” Basically drive somewhere, and then start roaming the hills shining the spotlight looking for those reflecting eyes. They eat a lot of venison, so it gets used. So, I’d never really seen the gruesome practice of killing a deer. Pretty difficult to watch, though afterwards, I didn’t feel affected. I just kinda thought the animal would be dead when we got to it. And if it wasn’t I thought there would be some kindness shown the animal when they do kill it. Way wrong. Looks like a very agonizing death. Rip it up from the belly? Tear its stuff out? Then break the sternum? Then stab its heart? OMG. Watching the heart explode on Pat’s face and them laugh about it felt messed up, and this did nothing more than churn my stomach for an instant, so I feel strange now. I remember being very upset cutting up a live fish at Red’s. This just didn’t bother me much and I wish it did. I can say I felt like I had an epiphany of some kind carrying that deer through the hills. I feel different and I wish I could put it in words.
But the truly unique experience of running through the hills of this rugged landscape at night is something I’ll never forget. I never thought I’d be hopping fences, sneaking up on sheep, and grabbing mud out here. The full moon was in and out of the clouds and we were out there for hours with the wind howling. Truly incredible. Completely unexpected.
The night didn’t end there. We went back to the Square Pint and hit it hard. There was photographic evidence of the shenanigans or I wouldn’t have believed it all. Niamh was just so generous again, and the purple haze shots really did me in. One of the best moments was when her brother came back with no pants on. Apparently some girl had puked on him, and he was hammered so he thought he’d pissed himself, but he was in a fit and I’m not sure he knew his pants were off.
Sunday we woke up late and had to leave by 4:30 to catch the bus in Waterford, but before we left we went down into some very rural spot to a place called the Blackwater Tavern (famous as the place where Big Bertha-the world’s oldest cow-used to have a pint with her owner). Niamh’s dad was teaching some very complicated dance routines to a group of people. It was really cool to be around traditional Irish music and dance. Not everyone in Ireland is like this. Daniel tells me he doesn’t like it and used to sneak out of school when they taught it. But it looked like fun and I wish we could’ve got in and learned a bit. Maybe next time.
The ride back was great, good tunes, several rainbows, and I got two comfy seats on the bus back. And we just made the last bus so we didn’t have to get a taxi from downtown to DCU. Being back in Dublin kinda sucks, but we’re going back down there in a few weeks and have planned a camping trip to the Cliffs of Moher.
Thank you so much to Niamh, Daniel, and the rest of Kenmare!
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