Just got back from Ireland and one of the highlights of the trip was when we travelled to Glencolumbkille, the town in the west coastland of Ireland where my grandmother was from. Rugged and remote, with only one road leading into it, Glencolumbkille is truly a breathtaking experience.

And it turns out that Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick were just two towns away, in Kilcar, on the day we visited! They own a cottage there.

In Glencolumbkille there’s a beautiful beach enclave surrounded by rocky cliffs that is just amazing. And a little Irish folk village full of cottages…each cottage houses period rooms from different eras in Irish history. Let me tell you, the one from the 1700s was pretty destitute, with ten people sharing one room.

I know my grandmother called Ireland “The Veil of Tears” so life was pretty harsh when she lived here. It feels very healing just to go back and enjoy it’s rough beauty.

Article in the British Independent newspaper about Donegal

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Originally uploaded by jpeterstein.

DD and I were recently in Ireland, where we attended our good friends’ wedding. It was a really fun week, even the week leading up to the wedding. In Ireland, you get visitors every night of the week before the wedding. The bride and groom have to entertain them with drinks and food.

The night before the wedding, I went next door to where DD and his friends were celebrating with the groom. Lots of laughter and songs, and a guy playing guitar. I started singing all the Irish songs I knew, and in a room full of Irish folks, I was the only one who knew the lyrics to these songs! Thank God for the Pogues, that’s all I have to say.

The wedding day was really spectacular, I got to ride in the limo with the bridesmaids and take these lovely shots with my plastic camera. They had irish dancers at the wedding and it was brilliant. Then the next day, I was totally dazed and feeling rough, and I walk out of our hotel room and DD and his friend are drinking already at 12 o’clock. The bride and groom came down and then a bunch of DD’s friends were drinking…I had to go home early. I couldn’t keep up with the Irish!