We have been in Ireland for almost a year and are off on a new adventure. We are leaving Monday for Scotland for the summer months.
For many years, I had hopes of moving to the UK. Since my 20's, I had visited England many times, for holidays and to visit my great aunt Peggy who lived in Salisbury. I thought it a beautiful country and looked forward to visiting Scotland and Wales. In 2010, I had an opportunity to apply for a transfer to my former company's office in Cambridge. I seemed qualified for the position, but it was my pets who kept me from moving. Prior to 2012, pets entering the UK (and Ireland) were required to spend a great deal of time in quarantine upon arrival. According to the UK government, this was to prevent rabies from reaching either of the 2 countries. Since I always had pets, I never made the move across the pond. That changed in 2012 when I read online that the UK and Ireland were eliminating the quarantine requirement.
Upon my arrival in Ireland in early 2013, I applied for a 1 year Permission to Remain under the category of "Self Sufficiency" (retired person, long term visitor - basically anything but a working person). If approved, there was the opportunity to reapply for an extension each year. It wasn't possible to apply for this type of long-stay visa prior to arriving in the country, so it was a leap of faith to move, then apply to stay. Even though I haven't received the approval from the Irish government yet, the immigration officer assigned to my area authorized me to visit Scotland until I heard back with an approval or denial.
When we come back to Ireland in the Fall (or Autumn, as it is known here), I will be looking to live in a different part of the country than where I am located now - farther west and hopefully near the coast. I had originally hoped to find a rental home in County Kerry. I had visited in 2005 and found the area to be very beautiful. However, I was limited to renting a house over the internet in order to have a place to go to when I arrived and there were none available in Kerry at the time. Also, I was limited in my choices, I as required a pet-friendly rental, not easy in many parts of the world. Lastly, I needed to find a private owner, versus an estate agent, who would be willing to let me out of the contract if I wasn't approved to stay in Ireland. I felt lucky in finding the cottage I am letting now, about 40 minutes north of the city of Cork. The owners didn't mind about the dog and cats and the issue with the contract was not a problem.
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| Cottage near Castletownroche |
The cottage has been terrific - modern, located in a quiet area in the countryside, and the perfect size for all of us. It is located 1 mile from the small village of Castletownroche where there is a small butcher, post office (called An Post), Centra grocery store, an auto garage, and 3 pubs. There were 2 larger villages, about 7 miles in either direction, called Fermoy and Mallow. I hoped to find some activities or groups to join there. To date, I have been to a few activities in Mallow, such as a writer's workshop, history lecture, the local farmer's market, and a ceili (a get together with traditional Irish dancing).
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| Village of Castletownroche and the River Awbeg |
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Fishing the River Awbeg at the base of the village, the Virgin Mary at the entrance to the road to our cottage, a beautiful sunset, and view from our back garden.
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My cottage is the last in a row of 5 other cottages out in the countryside. I have made attempts to meet my neighbors, to no avail. I don't think I am that frightening of a person, but those stories I read about the neighbors welcoming you with a cuppa tea or a glass of Irish whiskey just haven't materialized yet.
The young couple living next door acquired 2 pups, a German Shepherd and a very vocal terrier, that have been barking throughout the day. Since I am home during the day, the repetitive barking was starting to wear on my patience. I talked with the couple and offered to exercise their 2 pups during the day while they were both working, in the hopes wearing them out would cut back on the barking. The couple were quite nice, but did not take me up on my offer. The young man's father lives up the road and owns a kennel with 55 beagles he uses twice weekly for hunting, so I think the neighbors are immune to the sound of barking dogs.
I met a lovely young gal who lives with her parents at the end of the row of cottages. She was good enough to check in on my kitties when I took a 2-night trip to the west side of Ireland. However, she is busy attending college and working 2 part-time jobs, leaving her no time to socialize with someone as ancient as myself.
We are out in the country, with farms on both ends of the road. With farms, come farm dogs, and in the case here...not so nice farm dogs. There are 2 Border Collies at one end of the road that guard the entrance to their farm like it is Fort Knox. In the other direction is a rather ferocious looking Rottweiler who is hard of hearing - a little hard for the farmer to call him off when he can't hear a thing.
This has made dog walking a bit of a challenge, so we've explored the area for other options. We have been to Doneraile Park, the Nano Nagle Center, and at the Donkey Sanctuary - all lovely places.
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| Walking in the rain after the Killavullen Farmer's Market |
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| Doneraile Court |
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| Walkies with pals at the Donkey Sanctuary |
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| On the trail around Nano Nagle Center |
I do not place any blame on the nice people of Castletownroche. They are busy working and living. The extent of my conversations with the locals have been like this: "You must be from the States." "Yes, Portland, Oregon." Confusing looks on their faces. My guess is they are not familiar with where Oregon is located. "Are you here on holiday?" "No, I have moved here to live." "Oh." And that's about it. I anticipate I would find others more open to meeting new people if I lived in the city rather than the countryside. For now, I will make the best of where we live. I hope, on our return from Scotland, we can find another area to settle.
On Monday, we will 5 hours north, through Dublin and into Northern Ireland, to the town of Larne where the ferry departs from. Though the trip to Scotland could be made in one very long day, I decided to break it up into 2 days for the sake of my health and sanity. We will stay in a B&B in Larne, then load onto the ferry very early Tuesday morning. The ferry ride takes 2 hours to the small town of Troon. We will then drive 2.5 hour east to the village of Ladybank in The Kingdom of Fife.
Thanks to a virtual friend on Instagram, I was introduced to a couple who have an annex on their house for let. It will be a completely different experience for me, living with close neighbors again. I am much more used to chickens, turkeys, sheep and more recently, 2 voyeur horses across the road. I believe it is time to brush up on my conversation skills!
For the trip, Riles and the kitties will be outfitted in their anti-anxiety Thundershirts. I only wish there was a Thundershirt for humans!
I most worry about the trip and new home for the cats, as their out-of-home experiences have consisted of short trips to the vet and the one very long trip from Oregon to Ireland. Riles won't be a problem, as he goes happily anywhere I go. But, so far so good. You can see from the pictures below, the kitties don't seem too traumatized by the site of their travel crate or one of the suitcases I started packing this afternoon.
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| Liv and Bell looking for their crate training treats. |
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| Livvy says "Here we go again." |
Come Monday, think good thoughts of us driving almost the entire length of Ireland, then across Scotland to our new home on Tuesday. Bon voyage!
