Yay, I’m finally sitting down to write this final Ireland post! This is truly a favorite way to spend a Saturday morning for me. 🙂
Okay, only 2 days of our trip left…. and I think I saved the best for last! Do not skip the end of this post- our final day was STUNNING!
Friday, December 26, 2025
Friday morning, after the previous two days of holiday festivities, we just had a slow morning around the house.
Ivan and I eventually went for a walk to burn off some wine and cookies. 😉
The views from down my sister’s lane are just gorgeous! I know I already probably shared some similar pics, but I couldn’t help taking more. The lighting and scattered clouds were pretty.
I love this one!
Sheep!! This view is just a ~5-10 minute walk from my sister’s front door. Crazy, right?!
(*Note: She and her husband do Home Exchanges, so if anyone else does that and is interested in swapping for her place in Ireland, email me! I could possibly connect you with her. :))
After showers, etc., we all headed out in the afternoon. The big plan for the day was to have a special ham dinner at my sister’s in-laws’ house (they moved to Ireland a few years ago to be near my brother-in-law + family and they now live just 15 minutes or so away). It was my sister’s father-in-law’s 75th birthday! So we of course had to celebrate that.
First though, we dropped my parents off at her in-laws’ and then the rest of us (me + Ivan + boys + my sister + her husband + all the kids) set out on a nearby “hike”. It was actually mostly a paved path up to a cell phone tower, but it was all uphill and the end part required climbing up a steep (boggy!) incline to the summit for awesome views.
It didn’t take that long and is just kind of a random little spot, but it was nice to get some movement in. And the water views + unique landscape were definitely worth it!
Climbing to the top:
View from the top! The sun went under so the lighting got a little weird- these summit pics didn’t turn out the best. Oh well.
Heading back down:
Back at her in-law’s, we had some appetizers and chatted with everyone while my sister’s mother-in-law finished up the ham. Their house is more in a little neighborhood but still has big windows directly overlooking the water! A very pretty spot.
We had a lovely meal there. My parents and my sister’s in-laws are ironically ALL 75 years old, which, I mean- what a blessing to have them all together and healthy! Definitely worth celebrating. 🙂
I have more photos but they all include too many people, so I’ll leave those out. It was a really nice evening, though. I’ve known my sister’s in-laws for many years now, ever since my sister and her husband got married on St. John in 2007 and we all spent a lot of time together! I think her mother-in-law was tickled to be able to host us all. 🙂
Saturday, December 27
Our last full day!! And we got a gorgeous one- full blue sky and sunshine, in Ireland! Woohoo!! (It was cold, but that’s okay.)
Now that all the holiday stuff was over, I had asked my sister if we could pretty please go out to Achill Island. This is a spot she took me when I visited on my own in… 2018, I think?, but we never made it there with Ivan and the boys in 2022.
It’s a gorgeous spot. It’s a bit of a drive, though- a good hour and then some, depending on if you take the scenic route.
In fact, in 2025, it was named #8 on the “50 Best Islands in the World” list! (Snip from article below):
Top 10 Best Islands in the World 2025
- Sri Lanka
- Mo’orea, French Polynesia
- Socotra, Yemen
- Madeira
- The Galapagos, Ecuador
- Great Exuma, Bahamas
- Seychelles
- Achill Island, Ireland
- Koh Lipe, Thailand
- Milos, Greece
For the complete list of The 50 Best Islands in the World, visit here.
I really, really wanted Ivan and the boys to see it!
On the drive out- example of how sheep are just in the road. Ha.
We took a little scenic bypass, stopping at this great overlook on the way!
This pic of all the cousins turned out SO CUTE:
The kids of course had to go off-roading.
I love this picture of us in our (NOT planned) matching striped shirts. lol.
Much of the drive was like, snaking along the water. So pretty!
Crossing the little bridge to Achill Island.
Ivan LOVED the little town with all the white houses. So quaint!
The main attraction on Achill Island is the BEACH. Which my nieces and nephew affectionately call “the beach at the end of the world”. 🙂
Finally, we made it. It is so picturesque! I love the jagged mountain and stones and water combo.
The only “negative” is that we probably should have tried to get there a little earlier- the sun was already migrating a bit too far behind the hill which meant most of the beach was shaded. This made it COLDER (it really was very cold) and it muted some of the brilliant water views.
It clearly was not true “beach weather” but we still spent a good amount of time just enjoying the views and roaming around. My sister says that in the summer/warmer weather this place becomes just wall to wall people!!! Yuck. I’m so glad we got to see it in this state instead. (I’m sure the new #8 best beach ranking is also driving up the number of visitors….).
Down at the far end we found more sunshine. 🙂
Such a cool pic of Ethan:
The kids brought a kite:
Rugged beauty:
Enjoying my last day of vacation…. 😓
Writing in the sand
My niece and nephew having fun climbing around on rocks! 🙂
My mom had stayed back at the house- as I mentioned previously, she unfortunately was pretty down with a respiratory virus much of this trip. 😦 She had been to Achill Island before, and decided to sit it out. But I got some great photos of me + my sister + my dad, at least!
Finally the sunlight really disappeared behind the mountain, leaving it feeling even colder and signaling to us that it was time to go! Ha. We were also hungry!
We started the drive back and stopped for lunch at this great waterfront place mid-way.
Look at the view from our table!
I had a burger- Ireland has the best beef. And I had a steaming hot cup of TEA. (Did I mention it was freezing on the beach?? ha.) The kids were also all famished after all the playing on the beach + the cold fresh air. Thankfully it was toasty warm in this restaurant. This was a nice little “send off” lunch out and I enjoyed it a lot. 🙂
Back at the house, I’m not really sure what we did. I think my sister and her family had to go to a little gathering at a neighbor’s house? Can’t remember.
I know that later on, I still wanted to try and see if we could possibly squeeze in an Irish music session somewhere! This was high on my “want to do list” for this trip but given the holidays + of course all the family time etc, it just hadn’t happened yet.
Also, finding traditional Irish music out is not quite as simple as you’d think. It’s not like every pub has nightly music, and those that do often start it quite late at night.
I really wanted the boys to experience it though if possible- it’s a unique cultural experience. Also, we still needed to pick up a Christmas gift for one more person (an Irish wool hat and mittens), so we wanted to go back to town one last time. Armed with a couple of possible music spot suggestions from my sister, we set out to try.
The boys in Westport:
We stuck our heads into one pub that boasts regularly scheduled music…. and it was PACKED. It also smelled very strongly like beer in there, ha. (Ethan was not a fan!) Besides, the current music group wasn’t even playing “traditional” Irish music, which is what I wanted. It had a cool vibe, but there was literally nowhere to sit, anyway, so we left.
We decided to finish up our shopping and then try our luck at Matt Molloy’s, which has a little “musician corner” in the back where guys will just frequently show up and play. It’s more of an authentic, organic experience, if it works out. No one was playing when we arrived, but this meant we got seats, so we figured we’d wait and see for a bit.
Fortunately, they also always have a ROARING fire – seriously, it was so hot!.
I got my last beer in Ireland:
Unfortunately, by the time we finished our beers, still no musicians. Darn. Oh well! We tried. We still had a nice time and this was a fun way to close up our time in Ireland.
We headed home for a final dinner with everyone at home plus some packing. I can’t remember if we watched one final Christmas movie by the fire- probably!! 🙂
The next morning, Sunday December 28, it was time to go. Sadly. We had the best time.
Thankfully our flight was later in the afternoon, because we still had a long 3.5 hour drive back to Dublin and to turn in the rental car. My parents left before us and took the bus back to Dublin (we couldn’t fit everyone in the car) and we met up with them at the airport.
We got lunch and looked out at more typical Irish grey skies, thankful that we’d had plenty of blue skies and sunshine during our time there! Go ahead, let it be cloudy on the day we leave. 😉
It was smooth travels home, albeit a long and tiring trip. Whew. That drive back from Chicago to Madison at the end of it all is THE WORST. 😩 Also, if you recall, my turn with that bad respiratory virus was really ramping up by this point, so I spent most of the plane ride semi-frantically trying to suppress my frequent and very annoying need to cough!!! 😬😬 But we made it.
Fortunately, those less fun memories have already faded and now I really just remember the awesome time we had.
This might take the cake as one of the “coziest” Christmases we’ve ever had, which is saying a lot, because I think our typical Christmases are already very cozy! There’s definitely a unique quaintness about Ireland and the setting that made it extra special.
I’m so glad that we were able to fit this trip in. I’m so happy that the boys have now officially spent a Christmas with family in Mexico, AND a Christmas with our family in Ireland!
This trip also nicely bridged the gap between when my sister + family was last home to the U.S., and when they’ll be home again (this upcoming summer!).
Having all my immediate family (all 4 of us) together for Christmas in Ireland was really special, and something definitely not to be taken for granted at this stage of life anymore. 💕 I’m also so grateful to my sister for her impeccable hosting of all of us for a full 8 nights.
Anyway, that’s a long-winded wrap on this trip! Better late than never, I guess.
Hope you enjoyed following along! I enjoyed sharing it. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 