Proverbs 31 Living: Beautiful and Fun Things to See in Ireland

I have been a little unsure of how to truly go about sharing our pictures and about our time in Ireland. There is just so much to cover. This post is picture heavy with some of the fun and beautiful places we saw.

On the first day on our trip from the Airport in Dublin to our AirBnB in Oughterard we did a little extra side trip to see Dunsandle Castle. I had read about in online and was very intrigued because this was owned by the Burke Family and I had read a book series that was set in County Galway (By Brock and Bodie Theone) and the main characters were the Burke family. So though the book was historical fiction it was based on a lot of truth and it was super fun to to visit this castle and imagine how things would have been nearly 200 years ago.

We were very blessed to be able to hang out at the Tuttles (the missionary family) home many times while we were there. It is a beautiful home on the banks of the Owenriff River in Oughterard. They are renting it and are very thankful to have found that home as it is very hard to find places to live there. The photo below is from one of their balconies.

Mara and Malcolm walking near the Tuttle's.

A bunch of us actually went out on a walk in their neighborhood. We crossed over the river on a little footbridge and then came back on a bridge that cars drive on as well.

This bridge is in a little park that we stopped at on our walk. It actually is directly across the river from their house.

Their home, up on the hillside.

The bridge we drove on every time we came into Oughterard from our AirBnB.

A cool place behind the Catholic church building.

Mara and Jess out behind their house.

Primroses grew wild. So pretty!

Thomas in their backyard.
We went on a hike to see Galway Wind Park and the views that we could get up on the hills.

The forest was so cool and super soft with moss.

The view (and us) from up top.

Jonathan and the wind farm.

This was what a lot of the landscape looked like when we were there in April. Very rugged and rocky.

We explored around Lough Corrib some one day. It was a very pretty lake. Super windy too.

Nick and Jess Tuttle

The cemetery behind the Anglican Church in Oughterard was very pretty and interesting.

The boys were trying to stay dry.

Aughnanure Castle in Oughterard. This was a very lovely place!

The toilet.

Malcolm and I by one of the fireplaces.

A more private toilet and a place where prisoners were kept down below the grating.

Aaron, prepared to defend the castle.

There were some fancy details on the stone work.

I loved this place!

One day we drove along the North Atlantic coast.

We saw wild horses.

Sheep are everywhere in Ireland. Most of them have some sort of paint on them.

In Spiddel we went to a group of shops with lots of handmade things. That was really fun.

The basket making place was super cool.

I always love pottery too.

In Galway City we checked out a bunch of Thrift stores. That was interesting. Jonathan wasn't a huge fan but he is a good sport.

This thrift store was selling by weight on this day. Malcolm really wanted the balloon.

We saw entrances like this at several shops. I thought it was very pretty.

A music and art store was fun to explore.

This is a fun shopping area in Galway City.

Kings Head Pub - this building is over 800 years old.

The icecream shop and Megan!

All the wool sweaters were beautiful!

The Spanish Arches in Galway City.

Heather was growing many places.

Blake took us to explore the University in Galway City where he is attending. It was a beautiful campus.

The Galway Cathedral is quite beautiful.

Malcolm loved the pigeons in Galway.

We went to see the Cliffs of Moher. There were pretty views on the way too.

Jonathan heading off to take more videos.

Malcolm and Thomas.

Hiking up to see the Cliffs of Moher. We were really grateful that Blake told us about an alternative parking area to see the cliffs. The main parking area charged 12 euros per adult. Where we went it was 5-7 euros per car for parking.

We went on a great day that was sunny and not to windy. It was beautiful!

We totally just enjoyed exploring, checking out each new view from a different vantage point and truly enjoying God's creation!

Naturally there would be part of a castle here too. :-)

Malcolm and I took the hike back to the care together. We were ahead of the others and had plenty of time to stop and pick up rocks and throw them in every puddle we passed.

We took the long way "home" and went down to see the town of Lahinch which was on the coast.

And then we drove back up to Kinvarra and saw Dunguaire castle on the outside. I found it very beautiful.

We were able to walk around the castle.

There was a very large and cool Thatched roof hotel in Kinvarra.

I found these unique little signs all over and was puzzled by them. I think from my attempt at research that the SV stands for "stop valve" but unfortunately I am still puzzled.

Some of the sheep very near our cottage.

Aaron, Malcolm and I went on an adventure one morning near our cottage. We found a mountain bike trail and explored it. I loved the look of the little farm above.

Views from our hike.

Aaron and Malcolm decided to slide through a culvert.

The "Quiet Man" bridge. It was made famous in the movie "The Quiet Man". We had to cross it every time we came and went from our AirBnB as it was part of the little road that it was on.

We went exploring in the Connemara region and it was gorgeous. I guess we were staying in that area to basically. The picture above is Hillary Fjord.

In this picture you can see mounds of peat that area being harvested.

Family pictures by the Fjord. It was a little chilly but pretty!

The Tuttles there too.

We had a picnic there. We were going to do it on the beach but decided it was just too windy down there so we had a tailgate party instead. Malcolm was happy to have his own bag of chips.

Kylemore Abbey

I thought I should have a picture of Abbi in front of an Abbey.

In Clifden I was very excited to find out there was a music festival going on. I totally enjoyed listening to the traditional Irish music. It is so fun!

Jonathan and Malcolm listening to music.

I don't know the name of this castle but it is pretty cool looking. We saw it from Sky Drive in between Clifden and Recess.

On Sunday afternoon when we were headed to Dublin we stopped in a little town and had Megan's Birthday cake in the green (a place were they used to have markets and sell there stuff many years ago). I think it may have been Kilbeggan or Kinnegad.