This was a spontaneous activity I participated in but I do not regret it whatsoever. I had overheard classmates talking about visiting the park and asked If I could tag along. Luckily they said yes. We took a bus shuttle there and back. We ended up spending about half the day there, which still does not feel like enough.
The beginning of the park is home to a derelict medieval tower and a dilapidated stone cathedral. As well as an old graveyard. It’s amazing how these structures that are older than the United States itself still stand even after centuries of neglect. It truly is something you can’t see or experience in the United States.
From there we took a path deeper into the forest. The forest we visited circles the perimeter of two small lakes that rest at the bottom of the surrounding valley. The woods were beautiful and had an ethereal essence to them.
The lakes themselves were my favorite. The water was still and tepid but it created a magnificent reflection of the surrounding mountain range. It helps that the weather that way was amazing. It was warm and the sky was a gentle blue.
After we walked the edges of both lakes we got ice cream and walked back to our pick up point to head back to Dublin.
The park is an amazing place, and as much as I love Dublin, it was a welcome change of scenery when compared to the urban bustling nature of the city we had been staying in.
