Arcadia Ireland

Last weekend I embarked on a trip to Muckross House and Killarney National Park with ten students. We left from Cork and most of our non-UCC students spent the night in the city beforehand, either exploring town or sleeping to prep for a day of hiking (which is a tough task when you’re staying in an eight-bed mixed dorm hostel on a Friday night). Either way, everyone made it to the bus early the next morning and we headed off to Kerry.

Kerry is arguably the most beautiful place in Ireland, and Killarney National Park is one of the county’s best features. Ireland, however, is arguably one of the most temperamental islands on the planet as far as weather goes. One of our students noted on the trip that he’d learned you can experience all four seasons in one day in Ireland, which we found to be quite true on our hike.

Upon arrival to Muckross House we were blown backwards by gale force winds and drenched with rain. As I always say, no one comes to Ireland for the weather.

We toured Muckross House and learned about its history, then had lunch and waited for our tour guide Julie to bring us outside once again to face the elements.

Despite the fact that no one comes to Ireland for the weather, there is good reason why people still come for the views. The bright green grass, distant mountain outlines, and sweeping purple hills stand out in both rain and sunshine. Julie did note that the beautiful purple trees and hills were actually a consequence of an extremely invasive species, and she added that most of the wildlife in Killarney is actually not native. So, we got a lesson on reality and a thorough history of the park’s biodiversity.

We ventured through the woods and eventually saw patches of blue sky but were sure to knock on wood whenever something positive was said about the possibility of the rain stopping. Luckily, it did. As we hit the halfway point of our hike the sun shot out from the clouds and the wind quickly calmed. Not only did this encourage everyone to make one last stop to a nearby abbey (rather than heading straight back to the bus), but it also helped us dry off before our long ride to Cork, and for that I am thankful.

Some highlights from our hike were the Torc Waterfall (which was rushing forcefully after all of the rain), the cave everyone crawled through (including myself, after much hesitation), and Muckross Abbey. The first group picture is from the Torc Waterfall when we were still battling rain, while the second was taken at Muckross Abbey once Kerry gifted us with sunshine. I suppose one thing we all learned is that if you stay outside for long enough in this country, you’re going to get rained on and dried off again (well, hopefully in that order).

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