I miss Ireland.

I'm homesick.

Alright so I can't really call Ireland "home." But my dad's dad's dad's dad did...so it's close enough.

This time last summer, I was in Ireland for a two week long trip with my parents.

There was no particular reason we went other than that Dad and I wanted to see it and Mom wanted to see it again. In our family, no trip is made without doing a little cattle business on the side. Of course, Ireland was no exception.

This is sort of, kind of the route we took. It looks like a boot. How fitting.

We more or less took a "pub and farm" tour of Ireland. We stayed in a different town almost every night and visited farms referred to us by the Canadian Hereford Association and other agriculture contacts. Liam Philpott and Anne Pounds of Allowdale Herefords welcomed us in for two days to tour their farm. You can follow them on Twitter @allowdale and see their website.

A few shots from Allowdale:

Liam & Anne

I found the Irish style of Herefords to be surprisingly modern with a few differences from the North American herd. For one, more white splashes on the cattle. Here in Canada and North America, people are trying to breed towards a darker red Hereford with as little white as possible while maintaining the characteristic white face, belly, and socks. The Irish aren't nearly as concerned about this. It's a matter of preference and style.

Of course, we had to do a little touristing. Which just happens to be limited to excessive drinking, kissing, and castle-hopping in Ireland. We were perfectly happy with this, the Irish folk that we are.

Kissing the Blarney Stone. Because I needed more gab.

Mobile meat market! Very neat idea.

A lovely town called Youghal. Which is not pronounced "YOU-GULL" but rather "YOLL." Of course.

Pops, Mama, and I

Do you see why I loved it so much? Ireland is a beautiful place with an incredibly vibrant landscape and an innovative agriculture industry with great people behind it. In every town we found new places to discover and friends to make. 

I'd like to go back now, please. 

Have you ever been to Ireland? Or observed different agriculture practices in a foreign country? Or drank Guinness and looked at cows for two weeks straight?