Postcards from Ireland - 10.15 - Full Postcard
Hello from beautiful Dingle, Ireland.
Dia dhuit from Ireland!
That’s how we greet each other here in Dingle. "Dia dhuit" literally means "God be with you." "Dia" (pronounced ‘Dee-ah’) means God, and "dhuit" (‘gwit’) means "to you."
We’re so fortunate to live in Dingle, a town alive with festivals all year long. In October, on the first weekend, we celebrate the Dingle Food Festival. Thousands of people fill our charming streets for the weekend. One of my favorite moments is picking up the kids from school on the Friday of the Food Fest. We stroll down the street together, soaking in the first stirrings of the festival. We always grab some delicious chicken and ham pies, and steak pies for dinner. This year, I also picked up some locally made herbal tea and honey—such a treat!
The kids love wandering around, even in the rain, bumping into friends and enjoying the incredible variety of food on offer.
The Saturday of the festival brought rain, but that didn’t stop us! We put on our rain jackets and headed into town. What I enjoyed most was the traditional Irish music filling every corner. So many locals and visitors alike came out to enjoy the festivities, and I was delighted to hear so much Irish being spoken throughout the town. It was such a beautiful moment, and I found myself speaking Irish to everyone I met.
Now, let’s chat about last weekend! As you probably know, Gaelic football is a big part of life here in Dingle, and last Sunday, our men’s senior team played in the semi-final of the county championship against East Kerry at Austin Stack Park in Tralee. After a busy morning at the Dingle pitch—where my kids were training and playing in their own county finals (and winning!)—we made our way to Tralee for the next big match.
Our boys gave it everything. Facing East Kerry meant facing one of the greatest players in Ireland, David Clifford, and indeed his brother Paudie. But our team rose to the challenge! One of the key moments was a brilliant save by our goalie, Gavin Curran, when Clifford took a shot. We won!
I captured a little video of the match so you can feel the excitement of the crowd, especially when we scored!