Gratitude for Living in Ireland

In this first blog on my new website, I begin with thoughts of gratitude for living in Ireland. I am so grateful for the opportunity to live in County Kerry, on the Dingle Peninsula, in the Irish speaking part (Gaeltacht) of the Dingle Peninsula (Corca Dhuibhne). I am also very grateful for my husband, Gerhard, who shares my love of Ireland.

Together we have turned our dream of living here into reality.

Now every day is magical. Whether it is rainy and windy, partially sunny, or (occasionally) completely calm, blue and cloudless. We live in a rural part of the peninsula, just an eight-minute walk from the sea. White lilies are already growing on the pond in front of our home that two short months ago was nothing but an idea. And hares and pheasants regularly meander over the thriving wildflower meadow that surrounds our house. Just six months ago the meadow was nothing but a boring, lifeless, boggy lawn.

Before and After

We moved here from Vienna, Austria, which is a beautiful, clean and safe city filled with magnificent buildings, music and culture. I loved Vienna (and Austria) and was extremely grateful to have been able to spend five wonderful years there.

And yet…we lived on the sixth floor of an apartment building whose windows overlooked more apartment buildings identical to ours. The shouts of people and the noise and smells of cars rose from the street all night long. For the sake of privacy, our bedroom curtains were always drawn. Both Gerhard and I worked in office buildings, hunched over computers for eight to nine hours a day.

Now we live in a home that is surrounded by a wildflower meadow edged by a pine forest. On the horizon, we can catch glimpses of Binn an Tuair Mountain and the green of farmers’ fields. When we go to bed at night, all we can hear is silence. When the wind blows just right we can catch the smell of the sea. And–best of all, as far as I am concerned–the moon and stars shine down on us throughout the night because our drapes are never drawn.

Gerhard has the freedom to cycle, stand-up paddle, kite surf and kayak according to his mood and the vagaries of tides, winds and weather. I can walk along lovely rural roads, putter in the garden, experiment with cooking, and take time to write this blog.

Experiencing the Wheel of the Year

We arrived on the Dingle Peninsula as residents on 24 December 2019 and are now happily experiencing the changing wheel of the year. In the winter came gales of wind and pelting rain, with tinges of snow in the mountains. And then spring arrived, bringing a myriad of new wildflowers, grasses and colors.

This included heavenly-scented hawthorn trees covered in white blossoms and myriads of small yellow flowers–dandelions, buttercups, spearwort. Bright yellow flag irises soon added their beauty to the mixture. And then came the tall, glorious spikes of purple foxglove.

Now, at the beginning of August, the sides of the roads are thick with bright orange spikes of crocosmia (montbretia), masses of dangling red fuschia flowers, and the purple spikes of loosestrife.

Final Thoughts of Gratitude

These things and many more fill me with gratitude for living in Ireland. At the age of 69, this is the best period of my life, and I intend to treasure it for as long as I can.

One of the ways I want to express my gratitude is through this blog, in which I plan to share stories of the nature, people and culture that make Ireland (in general) and County Kerry (in particular) so special.

If you would like to read these stories, please be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter, which will include highlights and updates from the blog as well as other interesting tidbits of information.

I look forward to meeting you!