Lets Go to the Beach

It’s raining in Ireland. Totally typical of the weather here, but that didn’t stop me from checking out one of the many beaches!

 

‘Lil Irish Rabbit

My cousins have little Irish Rabbits behind their house.

 

“The Cows in the US are Nicer”

Whenever people here ask me, “What in Ireland is different from the US?”, as soon as I tell them “The Cows” they look at me like I’m crazy… But they really are! Just to prove that I know what I’m talking about, I found some pictures to back me up!

American Cow

Irish Cow

At the Peak

I decided to journey a little further into the mountains by myself while my aunt and uncle stopped for some tea. After another 30 minutes of climbing over rocks and dodging sheep s@#t I made it to one of the Cooley Mountain peaks looking over Carlingford. I placed my camera on top of a mossy rock and set the timer for the ultimate selfi. I’ll have to go back to take another photo on a day that’s not foggy.

Mountain Mist & Mammals

Took some snaps as we got higher up. After about an hour of hiking it became extremely misty, I’ve never seen anything like that in the US. The fog was so thick that I could no longer see the town of Carlingford beneath us nor the top of the Mountains in front of us. I also ran into a wild ram who didn’t seem too fond of my presence. Although I’ve been told that they are quite docile in nature, the tension definitely starts to build up when they won’ stop starring at you. Wild Rams are also larger than I imagined, much much huskier than I imagined. In the second photo you can see the fog rolling in. Although you can only see 3 peaks in the distance, there’s at least a dozen more!

On Our Way Up

We took a photo looking over the town before it became too misty to see! The Cooley Mountains are a spectacular sight. Just like everything else in Ireland they are covered in green! There’s also a ton of free-range sheep, cattle, and I’ve been told there’s even horses. With my Auntie Julian again, photo credit goes to uncle Ollie!

Leprechaun Hunt

On my way to the Cooley Mountains! Apparently it’s the last place in Ireland with Leprechauns, so I’ll keep my eyes open

Inside the Castle

We were able to enter Roche Castle and have a look around. These are my lovely cousins Rebecca, Niamh, and Sarah and my wonderful Auntie Juliann!

Roche Castle

Castle Roche is an Anglo-Norman castle which was constructed in 1236 AD. I looked into the history of the castle and found some very interesting Irish folklore. This castle was originally built in order to protect the Anglo-Normans from the surrounding Southern Irish. According to the Irish folklore this castle was built by Rohesia de Verdum, a widowed English Queen. After losing her husband, she moved to her lands in Ireland and decided to build a castle. Rohesia then offered her hand in marriage to the man that built a castle to her liking. So this architect comes by, builds her one of the greatest castles in Dundalk, but Rohesia must have had some pretty high standards because according to legend she threw him off one of the towers. They believe the name Roche Castle is derived from Rohesia’s Castle.

Castle Roche

Went to Roche Castle in Dundalk with my Auntie Julieann. The weather was absolutely stunning today! The walk up to the castle was extremely beautiful. Rural Ireland is gorgeous, the rolling hills and grass in vibrant shades of green create quite a landscape. This photo was taken as we made our way up the hills towards the castle! You can see my little cousin in the corner 🙂