You may have noticed that the 2020 tour dates have been disappearing from our website in recent weeks. Our schedule is flexing to accommodate a unique opportunity: I have been selected to join the staff at Derrynane House for the summer of 2020 as a tour guide at the historic house and museum. The Derrynane National Historic Park encompasses 300 acres of woodland, gardens, sand dunes, and beaches as well as Derrynane House, which is the ancestral home of the O’Connells, and a museum to Daniel O’Connell, known as the Liberator of Ireland.

It is with a degree of sadness that we are postponing our tours, but that is more than offset by the powerful delight at the prospect of spending six months living and working in County Kerry. Indeed, I wake up every morning thinking, “How could my life be so perfect?!” I will spend May-October providing tours and information at Derrynane House, helping to interpret the site for a wide variety of visitors. I expect to live nearby and on fine mornings will make my way to work along the Mass Path, a trail that winds along the rocky shoreline and through a rhododendron grove. On my days off work and through the long evenings hours, I will have ample time to explore the stark beauty of County Kerry and beyond.

Ample time to explore is the real luxury here. For while my tour partners (aka my sister Kathy and my husband Craig) and I have made amazing use of our visits to Ireland, every moment is a choice. If we stop here, we will have less time there. If we walk through this garden, we may not make it to the beach. If we follow this road, we won’t climb that mountain. Indeed, tempers have flared when I try to cut meals from the day’s itinerary, as they take up valuable exploration time! For six months later this year, there will be time. Time to wander the beaches, climb the mountains, explore unknown roads, pulling off at any stone, or path, or sign, or tree that beckons. I hope to be accompanied by one or both of my tour partners (aka my sister Kathy and my husband Craig) for as long as schedules, work, and visas will allow them to join me. I hope you will follow along on my journey through my occasional blog entries and more frequent facebook postings.

And when we resume our tour schedule in 2021, I hope you can join us in person as we bring our groups on an even more in depth look into the wonders of County Kerry.