I took Grant to my motherland in 2020, I told him a lot about my culture and my origin as he told me about his.So last summer was time for me to visit his ancestor’s land. Ireland, the land of Saints and Scholars. We stayed in Dublin and visited some beautiful sights in the Bourne Valley.
We went to The Hill of Tara where the old high kings of Ireland ruled from, Trim Castle (a lot of the movie Braveheart was filmed here), Bective Abbey, and the prehistoric monuments Knowth and Newgrange. We also got to spend some time in Dublin as well where we walked along the river, visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. Stephen’s Green, and of course stopped at a few pubs (Including the famous Temple Bar) for food, Guinness (and pineapple juice), and live music!
At the Hill of Tara visited a fairy tree. These trees usually stand alone in fields and are considered to be sacred and lucky (or unlucky if you happen to damage one). Here you could leave something or tie something to the tree (thread, personal items, flowers, etc) and leave a wish with the tree, hoping that it will be granted if your intentions are pure.
While in Ireland I was introduced to dowsing rods, you quietly ask them a question and if the answer to your question is Yes or True will turn and cross each other, and if the answer is No or False they will stay still. I did not believe it at first but after asking them several different questions and they got all of them right I was mind blown!
One of the tours we took with @sacredirishtours we decided to renew our vows with a traditional Irish handfasting, our tour guide Liam married us. Back in the day, this would have been more of an engagement ceremony or mark of the first year together, but it is still commonly performed in marriage ceremonies to this day. We wanted to take advantage of the symbolism of being in Ireland and reaffirming our love. It meant a lot for both of us, now we can say we got married both the African way and the Irish way too.
We can’t wait to go back in 2025. We decided we will be doing every other year in Ireland and another every other year in Africa, we still have a lot to see in both places!
