Prisoner of Hopes

Tag: Ireland

  • Somewhere Beyond the Sea: Travel Goals Ireland

    We visit Ireland for simple pleasures. Today was a classic Irish adventure. We took our time leaving the farmhouse. I had a nice chat with the sheep in the front yard while packing my roadtrip snacks of oranges and Taytos. Our destination was the west coast of counties Sligo and Donegal. It was overcast as…

  • Along the Byway: Travel Goals Ireland

    Some of my best days in Ireland are simply unplanned drives in rural counties. I use google maps and find an area to which we haven’t traveled. A simple “things to do” or an “attractions”tag in the search bar yields lots of options. It is how I found an awesome Gaelic Warrior statue in a…

  • You know you are in Ireland when….

    Ireland may be one of my favorite places in the world. I feel at home as soon as I step off of the plane. From the moment I hit the concourse I instantly know I am on the Emerald Isle. Certain things are unmistakably Irish. People are greeting each other on the turd (third) of…

  • Nature Heals: Travel Goals Ireland

    The world is in turmoil. Why, I can’t say. Much of the anger and hardship seems to be unnecessary and self induced. Manufactured crisis designed to make cold hard cash for someone….certainly not me. Old wounds ripped open to manipulate strong emotion. Ancient prejudices exploited for power. It is too much to contemplate. The world…

  • Revolutionary Countess: Travel Goals Ireland

    We visit Lissadell house on a warm summer afternoon. The family home of the Gore-Booths, Lissadell sits outside of Sligo, Ireland. It is now owned and lived in by Irish attorneys who allow tours to offset the upkeep. The estate had a great location with both Ben Bulben and Knocknarea mountains in view as well…

  • Home Away From Home: Travel Goals Ireland

    When we travel, we try to rent locally. Ideally, we find a property that has been in the family for awhile. I look for local hosts who have great reputations. We avoid corporate rentals. I love spaces that feel lived in. I want local connections. But it is hard to make a selection from photographs…

  • Feast or famine

    Inequities. The rich get richer and the poor get the scraps. Until the chasm gets so wide the system collapses. It is a tale as old as time. People get richer and over time they lose sight of the labor and infrastructure that supports them. They want more for themselves and take more from those…

  • Arigna: Travel Goals

    We arrive at the Arigna mine without preconceived ideas. It is something to do while staying in County Leitrim, Ireland. The woman at check in shows us to an area where we see a brief film that explains the history of the mine which was shut down in the 1990’s. We look at photos and…

  • Country Roads: Travel Goals

    Detours are what you make of them. My husband has a no back track rule. He doesn’t like out and back journeys. I don’t know why. In his view, we can go out of our way as long as it leads to somewhere we haven’t already been. I, on the other hand, am paradoxical. I…

  • Neighbors come calling: Travel Goals

    When you rent a farmhouse in county Leitrim, Ireland you expect a fair amount of pastoral beauty. The iconic green hillsides, the wild flowers and of course lots of sheep are part of the experience. Having been in Ireland several times prior, we knew what to expect. On our last adventure we spent a month…