Ireland Part One – Journey to the Emerald Isle

Dia dhuit friends!

Here in Ireland, that's how you say hello, and the literal translation is, "God be with you." As my red air balloon came in for a landing in Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, I got to fly over the wide rolling hills of Ireland's countryside. The land was so lush and green that I could see why Ireland is called the "Emerald Isle", a name that came from a poem by William Drennan called When Erin First Rose. It was just a short trip from Iceland, the last country I visited, because it is right at the northern tip of the continent of Europe, as part of the British Isles.

Photos by Michael 1952 ((Michael,2009)) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Nestled in the North Atlantic, Ireland's landscape is a beautiful combination of coastal mountains on the west side, and rolling hills, lakes and bogs in the inner lowlands. The island is actually two countries, Ireland and Northern Ireland, which takes up the top 27% of the country and is part of the United Kingdom, which also includes Scotland, Wales, and England.

I wanted to start my visit in Dublin, so I landed near the Dublin Botanical Gardens. There, they not only have many different plants on display, but they actually have a staff of scientists that study plant life, specifically plant DNA. DNA is that stuff inside every living cell that tells the cells what to become, like blueprints for a living body! In fact, there's a sculpture there called What is Life? that was crafted to celebrate science in Ireland.

Dublin Castle Gardens-Photo by Tourism Ireland: View of Dubhlinn and city from the roof garden at Chester Beatty, Dublin.

That's where I met my new friend Caitlin! She was looking at the sculpture and told me all about how her role model was a woman named Rosalind Franklin, a scientist who helped discover DNA back in the 1950's, along with two other scientists named James Watson and Francis Crick. 

I also met her brother, Aidan, who was painting some of the trees in the garden. He wants to become a famous painter and have his art in the big art galleries of Dublin like the The Hugh Lane Gallery, just like Monet and Degas (pronounced "day-gah").

The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin City, By Rwxrwxrwx (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Caitlin and Aidan are both visiting Dublin from their home in County Kerry. They were telling me how much they'd love for me to visit County Kerry and see "The Kingdom of Kerry". I don't play golf, but County Kerry is very well known for it's pretty golf courses and stunning coastlines. There are also several castles there, so when I was done in Dublin, I decided to head there and visit.

National Museum of Ireland-Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Before I left Dublin though, I also had to see the National Museum of Ireland. There, I saw all sorts of fascinating exhibits like swords from 1,000 years ago when Vikings used to rule Ireland, and horns from 5,000 years ago when the people of Ireland were just beginning to use metal. There are even stone tools from Ireland's very first hunter and gatherer societies that are 9,000 years old. Ancient stuff is so cool!

Photo By Superchilum (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons 

County Kerry-Photo by mike990 via Pixabay [CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)]

Later in the week, I flew over to County Kerry to visit my new friends Caitlin and Aidan. I got to see them right after school, so they were telling me all about what they'd learned that day and what school was like there. I asked about the language, and they said that most everyone speaks English, but that Irish is the country's first official language and is still taught in schools. In fact, if you want to use the restroom, or toilet, in school you have to ask in Irish (sometimes called Gaelic, or Irish Gaelic) and it's an bhfuil céad agam dul amach go dtí an leithreas más é do thoil é. Whew! What a mouthful! Better ask ahead of time, huh? Here is a link to some common phrases in Gealic if you want to learn more.

While there in County Kerry, I visited an old site called Ross Castle, built by O'Donoghue Mór over 500 years ago. The castle changed ownership a few times, but it's said that the builder, O'Donoghue, sleeps in the lake there (Lough Leane) and wakes on the first day of May every seven years. If you can spot him you'll have good luck for the rest of your life. Drat, looks like I missed him by a couple months!

Here is a coloring page with me in front of Ross Castle. Try and see how many four-leaf shamrocks (clovers) you can find in the picture! Click on the page below to download and print the page and don't forget to ask your parent, guardian or teacher to send in your finished pages to me at [email protected], so I can share them with my friends around the world!

Aidan told me that the shamrock has been loved in Ireland for thousands of years. It was appreciated by the ancient Druids who worshipped nature, studied astronomy, were excellent poets, and believed that the three leaves gave the plant mystical properties. It was also used by St. Patrick to describe the Holy Trinity, converting the Druids to Christianity. But it became a popular symbol of Ireland only around 200 years ago, when certain political groups in Ireland chose it as their symbol. Ireland was part of England at the time, which forbade anyone from "wearing the green", that is, using the shamrock as a symbol of national pride. Well, Aidan said, that only made the proud Irish people like the symbol even more, and since the shamrock was a natural plant, there was no way for the ruling English to eliminate it! Ever since, just about everyone in the world thinks of the Emerald Isle when they see a shamrock, especially a four-leaf shamrock because they say those bring extra good luck.

Feel free to check out the video below to learn more about the great things you can see in Ireland!

I also included a video that shares some common phrases to say in Gaelic to help you get a better feeling of how the language sounds here in Ireland.

That's all the time I have today, friends. Join me next week, as I explore more of the fascinating culture and land of Ireland!

Tabhair aire (stay safe, take care), friends!

-Joy Sun Bear