Connemara National Park

West Ireland has always had my heart, ever since my first visit last year when I went to the Cliffs Of Moher, as well as the coastal towns of Doolin and Dingle. So when the opportunity came to travel there again, I jumped at it! Ireland is one of those places that I know I can visit continuously without ever getting bored with it!

After heralding in the New Year in Dublin with three lovely girlfriends, New Year’s Day was spent driving from the capital to the West Coast of Ireland to a beautiful town called Leenane. This small village is situated on Killary Harbour, which is one of only three fjords in Ireland.

Since we had arrived at night, we didn’t see the town, or the surrounding area properly, so when we opened the curtains the next morning to see mountains encompassing us, I was pretty excited to say the least!

Leenane is only twenty minutes drive to Connemara National Park, which is one of six national parks within Ireland. With my camera at the ready and my wellingtons on, we headed there to explore some of the scenery. What came next was a hike… a pretty serious one… and as I said, I was in wellingtons.

I hadn’t really thought about it properly and in my defense, I didn’t realise we would climb what turned out to be a pretty serious mountain! There were a fair few comments from other hikers along the way about my footwear (and plenty of laughter), but in the end, the boots held up and we reached the top and took in an incredible view.

I’m a huge fan of meditation, and hiking to me is something that can be completely meditative. It’s definitely going to be something I do more of in the future, and Ireland is definitely one of those places that I know I will be visiting again and again. The serenity I feel when there is something I have only ever felt when in Ireland. If that isn’t an excuse to keep visiting the country, then I don’t know what is!

xx