The next morning we woke up and made our way to the car rental so we could actually get around. The group from the night before had thrown out numbers like "1,000$" and "750$" which made me a nervous nelly about the costs, but ultimately, it wasn't too high and honestly, it was 100% worth it. We rented an automatic which wasn't that much more expensive. The thought of driving stick shift (which I can do) on the left side of the road, on small roads, and with the gear box on my left hand vs. my right, seemed to be a little much. So we drove towards Waterford and Wexford, to see the famed Hook lighthouse where my dads family lived briefly.
The lighthouse is massive and well kept, def touristy but well worth it. The tattoo on my ankle is of the lighthouse, which made for some cool conversations with the folks working there. We didn't do the full tour bc there wasn't enough time, but we did get to see the poster with the names of all the keepers. Sure enough, there was an A.G. Hearne listed at 1955. What up, fam!
Next we drove to Kilkenny to eat dinner at a witchy bar that veronica found. It ended up being more like a theater dinner but the story was pretty interesting and obviously the company was perfect 😉
Next up was meeting my Aunt Phil & Cousin Lynn for the first time. It was so cool to me! Aunt Phil is my dads oldest sister and I think there are something like 20 years between them? And Lynn is actually closer to my dads age than mine, which is weird but cool. We sat at Aunt Phil's dining table and chatted for a few hours over tea. Lynn's husband came too, and brought their jack russell terriers, Kevin and Charlie, who are perfect. Lynn named them by just calling them names and sticking with whatever they responded to, which I found hilarious. Eventually, we went to bed & slept like champions.
I was also floored by my aunts hospitality. She lives in the MOST adorable cottage in a "neighborhood" so small that there are no house numbers; you just write the street & the post person knows where everyone lives. She gave up her bed to me & veronica, both of whom would have gladly slept on the floor. I woke up early the next morning and sat with aunt phil, who had pulled out a stack of pictures of my dad & our family from when everyone was younger. Holy wow, does my dad look EXACTLY like my brother. My cousin came over & veronica joined us for another cup of tea for the road. We left later than we'd hoped for but I think getting to spend time with my family, no matter how brief was sacred.
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