Drawing Ireland

I was enchanted

Everyone talks about how wonderful Ireland is. Before I visited, I was warned that I would be completely charmed and easily won over by the people and the countryside. I recently got an opportunity to discover this for myself, traveling to a portion of the west coast, as well as Dublin and surroundings. It was not my first time on the island – I had been to Dublin the previous year – it was my inaugural journey into the hills and small villages.

Of course I drew as I traveled. I saw castles of course, and lakes, cliffs, the ocean and rolling hills. Alarmingly, it was sunny the entire week I was in Ireland; everywhere I went, I was thanked profusely for bringing the weather. The roads were narrow, and the generosity wide. I loved being there.

The drawings here are my journal, my record of some what I saw, and I tried to convey what I felt, and some of the people I met. I ate delicious food, slept in beautiful hotels and met lovely people. It is a country that I will most certainly return to – in part because I have not seen it all, but mostly because the country has me completely enchanted. When I do return, I plan to visit Monaghan County just north of Dublin, where my ancestor Peter Donnelly came from. Peter emigrated to New York City around 1800, and while I may not find his actual birthplace (there are quite a few Donnellys in Ireland and…