Magical Day.

Today was the reason we came to Ireland for this little trip. Today Earl and I were witnesses to Rick and Helen getting married.

We started out the day by heading to Limerick, where Rick and Helen exchanged their vows in a very brief civil ceremony. The ceremony lasted no more than 10 minutes. While quite nice, I felt like I was watching a wedding at high speed. i don’t think Las Vegas wedding ceremonies are even this brief.

After Limerick, we headed to Gregan’s Castle Hotel, located near Ballyvaughan. This hotel is a beautiful spot tucked away in the Irish countryside. While it has amenities found in your normal four-star hotel, it’s a quaint little place with a decidedly bed and breakfast feel. It is quite comfortable.

We readied ourselves and dressed in kilts of the county colours and headed to the Cliffs of Moher for the blessing. We were joined by Dara, a local monk who performed a pagan wedding ceremony.

Here’s Earl and I waiting for the bride to arrive. Rick was kind enough to snap the photo.

The ceremony was held at O’Brien Tower at the Cliffs of Moher.

The cliffs had a mystical shroud of fog. It added to the ambience.

The crew at the Cliffs were kind enough to provide buggy service for the bride and groom. Earl and I walked the 800 m from the car to the site of the ceremony. We were the subject of numerous tourist photos and had to stop several times as requests were made in several languages.

After the service, we headed back to Gregan’s Castle Hotel. Along the way we stopped along the coast for more photos. I think this snapshot captures the magic that was in the air. I loved Helen’s dress and pagan-esque cape.

After we got settled back into the suite, Earl was kind enough to snap a photo of me in my wedding-witness attire.

Afterwards we all settled in to the hotel for the night, we had a delicious dinner at the hotel restaurant and a nightcap before calling it a night.

Today has been a truly blessed, magical day.