It is early; just after 5 a.m. The cottage is completely still and the only sounds I can hear are the occasional rustles of the wind through the trees and a couple of birds beginning their morning song. Even the cows are quiet this morning. It is the type of quiet that begs for self contemplation. It is still dark; my only light is that of my laptop screen and the ever gradual, lightening glow of morning coming in through the cottage windows. I am blessed. I am beyond blessed and supremely grateful. The single, full-blooming, pink rose I see through the window looks happy and ready to face the day already, but I am perfectly content snuggled up on the overstuffed blue couch, in a thick wool blanket, lost in the quiet sounds of early morning in Ireland and my own thankful thoughts.

Yesterday morning our cow friends returned to the kitchen window and the girls had a blast talking to them; simple wonderment at the cows antics while fighting over a stick, their coloring and size, facial expressions, and of course, the obligatory naming of them. There is a particular cow we have determined to be Kevin’s spirit animal; he is intimidating in size and always looks slightly angry even though he is not. I suppose the cow might be angry but Kevin, definitely, is not. Kevin joined the fun and named his spirit cow Vinnie. Another hour was spent this morning chatting with them before they left us to resume their grazing. They did, however, return not long after dispersing throughout the field to moo at the closed kitchen window until we opened it again and resumed our conversation. It would seem they enjoy listening to us. At least, that is what I am telling myself. It perhaps seems silly to engage cows in conversation, but being silly brings much joy.

We left our cow buddies and drove into Ardmore after breakfast and picked up a couple of freshly made meat and cheese sandwiches at Quinn’s Foodstore and headed up to the Cliff House Hotel to walk the Cliff Walk. The walk is approximately 4km long and takes you along the cliff-top paths and laneways of the Early Christian St Declan’s Well. Saint Declan is attributed to establishing the first Christian settlement in Ireland (Ardmore) predating Saint Patrick, and building his monastery there. We saw the remains of a shipwreck called the Sampson from 1988, and two lookout posts. One was built during the Napoleonic era and was used as an early warning system if the French tried to invade Ireland and the other was used for observation during World War II. Further down the walk we discovered Father O’Donnell’s Well which is a beauty. I do not know much about Father O’Donnell but will be researching that soon. We stopped here, ate our sandwiches, and marveled at the majestic sight of the cliffs. I can honestly say, I have never seen anything like it and could have sat there for hours but we had much more to see. We could have continued down the well-trodden path to reach the 12th Century Cathedral, Ardmore’s Round Tower, and St Declan’s Oratory but a rest was needed. We headed back the way we came, enjoying the same sights from the other direction and drove to our next stop.

It was a quick drive but a nice break for the weary, which was probably just me and Ellery. The cathedral and round tower are both remains of St Declan’s monastic city and are located within a small cemetery, along with the oratory, which is said to house his remains. The 29m high round tower served as a belfry and place of refuge, and the cathedral includes sculptures depicting scenes from the old and new testaments. There are also two Ogham stones kept inside the old cathedral; one being the longest known Ogham inscription in Ireland. The village of Ardmore has a fascinating history and one I have been obsessed with for quite some time. To see it all in person; surreal. I took a mountain of photos but upon leaving, wondered if it is considered disrespectful to photograph a cemetery. Something else to add to my ever-growing list of research.

After our history-filled afternoon outing, we made a quick stop back to the cottage to clean up a bit, and returned to Ardmore to meet a friend of Kevin’s for dinner at a bar called Urchin. David is from Scotland and happened to be doing his own tour of Ireland in his camper van and it was great fun to meet up with him on our trip as we had never met in person before. He shared some must see places to add to our itinerary while we are here and I am highly looking forward to checking them out. Despite my previous nights, less than stellar experience with cod, I decided to have fish and chips for dinner again. This time it was haddock and it was delicious. Even Ellery, having a “basic” palate like myself, found the haddock to be absolutely amazing. She ordered pizza but snuck a chip from my plate that had some haddock on it and returned asking for more which I, of course, shared. After dinner, the five of us made our way back to the cottage. Kevin and I continued our visit with David over a pint of Guinness on the front patio sharing stories and laughter while the girls read their books with tea before bed. It was a perfect evening.

Ellery was a trooper today as walking in nature isn’t one of her favorite pastimes. She took a slight tumble on the cliff walk, thankfully not off it, but recovered nicely with her comforting thought being: once the cliff walk was over, she didn’t have to do it again. She is also enthralled by her discovery that there is, in fact, a type of fish she actually likes eating. Audra didn’t seem to mind the walk and took more pictures of wildflowers, but longs for the hustle and bustle of a bigger city. I keep telling her we will visit Dublin soon. She has figured out how to use the electric tea kettle though, and is greatly enjoying her many cups of tea. Kevin knew that the day’s activities were something that I have longed to do and were important to check off my bucket list; so, he took on the adventure with much enthusiasm. The man is my rock. I am sure he enjoyed the history of Ardmore and our cliff walk journey, as he loves history and nature, but meeting up with David was, in my estimation, his favorite part of the day and honestly, I cannot say I would disagree. Meeting and spending time with David was a delight and we hope to be able to do it again sometime in the future.

The sky is much brighter now. I am once again hearing the good morning moos from the cows and a plethora of songs from the birds. Ireland is waking up and so is my family. Kevin just turned on the kettle and I hear the girls turning over in their beds probably trying to block out the light filtering in through their windows, to catch just a little more sleep. Morning has reached my doorstep and with it comes a small sliver of sunshine and skies that are promising a future of rain showers and the more than likely soggy escapades to come for the day, but only after I finish my cup of tea.