Somewhat Irish Girl

It could just be nostalgia from walking the path for as long as I can remember, but the Clontarf Seafront, down to Bull Island and Dollymount Strand is my favorite place. It’s a little over a mile from the house in Killester where I’ve visited every year since I was born, and is the first place I go after arriving in Dublin and setting down my bags. The brisk air and brisker waves are the best thing when you need something to help stay awake, but the something can’t be too much of anything because you’re barely conscious that first day with the jet lag.

Though just outside the crowds of the city, you’ll hardly see a tourist, at least not the obvious kind. Just locals enjoying a walk or a jog, dogs running free, kite surfers riding the waves depending on the day, and the occasional swimmer braving the freezing cold Dublin Bay. I have this internal pull to join the swimmers one day and even become one of the regulars. This nagging feeling comes randomly. I’ll be perfectly comfortable reading in bed or watching a movie, and out of nowhere, thoughts of jumping into a frigid ocean and swimming consume me. I’m not a great swimmer and while I love being by the water, I don’t necessarily love being in it, which makes this longing all the more obscure. Regardless, it stays. So my next trip, I always tell myself, I will strip down and take the plunge, so long as there is someone with me to sit by my things while I turn blue and numb a few yards away. I think somehow this will save me from something I don’t know about yet. Maybe just my own apathy.

I love walking through the raw and wild marram grass anchored dunes. Most people stay on the main path, so the high grass feels peaceful and untouched. It eventually opens up to a wide beach that is never crowded and has vast ocean views in every direction. None of this is visible from the main road making it seem like a little secret.

My favorite time to visit is around sunset—I am fully aware that this is an obvious statement as sunset is the best time to visit almost anywhere, but cliches are cliches for a reason. I’m sure sunrise there is equally nice, but I doubt I’ll ever see it then, as mornings aren’t my thing and I wouldn’t expose this perfect place to morning me.