This week, we spent most of our time together exploring the natural beauty and landmarks of Ireland, as we visited some of the important hills and tombs of the countryside on Saturday and the cliffs at Howth on Monday. Getting to be in nature and see more of the natural wonders of Ireland was really special. Since I don’t go into nature on walks and hikes very often in the U.S., I have a great appreciation for having that space built into our trip, since it’s not something I would have ever thought to do on my own, but turned out to be a highlight of the trip.
On Saturday, we started by visiting the Hill of Tara, which has a deep historical importance for Ireland in addition to its beauty. Back in the days when Ireland had a High King who ruled over the entire country, he would need to go to the Hill of Tara to become the High King. According to myth, when the rightful High King placed his hands on the Stone of Destiny that sat upon the Hill of Tara, it would begin to scream and the ground would shake. Aside from the history aspect, walking over the rolling hills covered in bright grass here was so beautiful it was almost fairy-tale-like. It was amazing to reach the top and look out across the land, which I imagined is how the past High Kings must have felt coming to that hill to look across the land that they rule over.
Also on this trip, we stopped by the Hill of Uisneach, which is the supposed geographical center of Ireland. From the peak of the hill you can see out across the country in every direction for miles, with over 20 different counties of Ireland visible from that one hill, only 600 m above sea level. Ireland currently has only 35 counties, so from this hill you can see the majority of the counties in Ireland, which I found pretty amazing to see in person. They also had a big statue of Ériu, who is one of the old Pagan goddesses of Irish mythology and is the namesake of Ireland according to that mythology. The name Ériu eventually became the name Erin, which happens to also be my mom’s name, so my takeaway is that Ireland is actually named after her, and it also made hearing that story and seeing the statue all the more special.
On Monday, we traveled to Howth to walk along the cliffs there. I was confused initially as our hike took us through the hills and for most of our journey, there was no water in sight. It turned out that we took the long way to the cliffs so we could come back to the town along the coastline and still have seen the scenery inland. I was grateful for that opportunity, as the nature was lovely, although a little prickly, and it is actually a UNESCO Biosphere, meaning that all of the life there is preserved and protected to stay how it is. In Howth, we were able to walk through and see the heathland, which is a biome I honestly didn’t even know existed, which was covered in heather plants. It was beautiful and not something I had ever seen before, so it was well worth the experience of hiking out there despite the inclement weather.
Also this week, my company said goodbye to the other intern that had been working with us, and we went out to dinner as a last send-off for him. It was a great moment to bond more with my coworkers at the company, since we hadn’t all gone out together for a meal like that since I’ve been here. I also got to meet the new hire who started last week, which was great since we are working at different offices so we hadn’t yet crossed paths. We ate at a Japanese restaurant in the city which was absolutely delicious. The highlight for me was my dessert, a white chocolate miso cheesecake. It sounds like an odd combination, but the flavors surprisingly worked so well together that I have thought about going back for another slice.
Great post Gideon, that white chocolate miso cheesecake sounds like it was delicious! I’m also glad you go to go out with your coworkers, despite an intern leaving, as I feel connection is so important especially when we are thousands of miles away from being in Dublin.