My boyfriend joined me on what was supposed to be a four-month stay in Ireland. It was our first trip together. We planned it to be quite relaxed, but instead we had an adventure. Our Ireland plan was to rent a home in Falcarragh, a village in county Donegal. We planned to walk the dunes every day, cook amazing fresh meat and occasionally hike the nearby mountains. We agreed it would be fun to take a few weekend trips when we felt up to it. The Airbnb we reserved was perfect for our stay. The home is only a five-minute walk to the village and about fifteen minutes to the beach. The house was too big for the two of us, but our small dog Mercy was happy to have all the space to run.
The dunes are amazing! We walked everywhere nearby and I even ventured on a bike ride. I wouldn’t recommend riding bikes in Donegal, or Ireland in general as everyone drives over 100 kilometers an hour and there is no side of the road to ride on. It was scary, but to me, without a car- it was worth it.
We had a cute boarder terrier male dog neighbor. He would walk around the house looking for our dog Mercy. Mercy would look out the window and bark at him. A couple of times while Mercy was outside the dog came to visit. She tried to be friends, but he was a little strange about her. The village has two butcher shops with fresh local grass-fed meat. Whenever I asked for meat for the dog they said sure and sometimes even grabbed it out of the human meat cooler. Always free! Evidently dogs eat free in Ireland.
Two weeks into our stay we found water leaking from the dining room ceiling. We let the landlord know, but he didn’t seem bothered to figure it out. After a week of witnessing the problem getting worse we decided to leave early and go to France. Matthew was also fed up with the anti-British sentiments plastered all over the village anyway. We planned to leave after my birthday, we needed another week to pack and plan before the ferry trip to France. However, when we woke up on my birthday Matthew was sick, really sick. I went down to the kitchen and found black mold everywhere! It appeared overnight! I went to pick up a rental car early, packed everything into the car and drove off into the rolling hills and winding roads.
I selfishly took advantage of the road trip to the south east for the ferry to France as an opportunity to see the country. I forced the poor sick man to endure a two-hour detour to drive down the scenic highway along the coast. It was amazing! Mercy puked all over Matthew and he felt so awful, but the scenery was amazing and he appreciated it. We spent the night in Donegal town at The Gateway Lodge. Donegal is charming town. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the stores because we arrived too late. Matthew drank activated charcoal for his tummy and I had a steak dinner delivered by room service.
The next day we set out for Galway. An awesome little city! A rugby championship caused the city to be packed with people. We parked by the church and walked around for a couple hours. Due to the games there were no hotels with dog rooms available. We tried the neighboring towns, but no hotels with dog rooms available either. We finally found one in the country. We stayed in the last room available at the Meadow Court Hotel in Loughrea. The hotel is beautiful, a perfect country retreat.
We woke up early, had some breakfast and headed south. We went all the way to our reserved Airbnb outside of Wexford in one day. The house is a farm house off a quite road. We kept the rental car a couple extra days and drove to some amazing places. Kilmore Quay is an adorable town! If you like scary houses and the paranormal then check out Loftus Hall. It’s really cool! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loftus_Hall
Matthew had great fun filling the wooden stove with cut wood to heat the house. Mercy loved running around the farm. The host gave us yummy cookies and cakes which made the stay extra special. Due to some difficulties with internet we had to move into Wexford town where we found a lovely top floor apartment off the quay. We stayed for two weeks. Mercy started behaving a bit odd. Her belly was getting rounder and her nipples appearing to fill. She had her first heat in Falcarragh. We decided she must be pregnant. Matthew was excited for the puppies. Mercy enjoyed watching people through the wide full room windows of our top floor apartment. She watched them walking down by the quay and growled at them for hours. She learned this behavior in Falcarragh and still does it.
Wexford has a lot of great shopping and nice walks across the bridge. There is a park along the water that offers a walking path where dogs love to roam. We didn’t explore many restaurants while there. The butcher shops and grocery stores provided all the food we needed for us to cook at home in our little kitchen. After the two weeks were over we took the heavy bags down the stairs and headed to the train to the ferry.
