Weekend Trip to Ennis, Ireland

On the weekends in Ireland, most Irish students return home to their families. This leaves visiting students essentially alone in the apartments and home stays and is the time when most people travel to various countries or other places within their host country. After being invited to stay at one of my friend's house, our CEA group went and had a great weekend in a much more rural Ireland in comparison with the city of Galway. We stayed in the lovely county of Clare, where we were just outside the city limits of Ennis in an area called Inagh. My friend's family was so welcoming and nice, and even cooked us fully traditional Irish meals. We all helped out with breakfast and learned how to make scones, a recipe I will definitely be bringing back to cook for my family!

Our first Irish dinner

The Clare countryside was breath taking; none of us had ever seen such sights! This was the Ireland I had seen in photography, and it was all in Hannah's backyard. Hannah taught us all not only how to cook, but how to dance! We attended a match-making festival in a near by town called Lisdoonvarna, and we had a great time. There we saw couples doing all kinds of dancing, from square to waltz, it was non stop. And they were all amazing! After I asked one of the dancers, I discovered they had been on the floor for three hours, and were only stopping to get a drink of water and then heading back out.  We learned a few steps, but were mostly chatting with locals and listening to the music. Dancing isn't one of my strong skills, so I was pleased to learn the others were not versed in the steps either.

CEA group enjoying the view of Inagh

The next day, Hannah showed us around the area and the surrounding hills. We were all starting to feel like we were really in the heart of Ireland then, with the beauty of the landscape coming to life in rivers and trees and hills around us. It was a great group experience to be able to see outside the city and tour the land a bit, we're definitely planning on going back!

Strolling through Inagh with the CEA group!

Carrie Stinogel is the Fall 2014 CEA MOJO in Galway, Ireland. She is currently a Junior year at school at Western Washington University.

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