Sunday, 13 July 2025
🌊🐚🕶️

“The weather in Ireland is incredible”, is not something I thought I’d ever say, but the heatwave over the last few days has brought some of the best Summer weather and blue skies a girl could ask for.

Dublin is in the middle of a heatwave, reaching temperatures higher than Lisbon, at 29 degrees this last Friday. 29℃ is a pretty standard summer day in Johannesburg, but in Ireland, the heat hits different. Whether it’s the humidity of being so close to the sea, or the way the houses are built, or just acclimatisation, we have been roasting.

Going to the beach was a once-every-few-years occasion for me growing up. However, we’ve pretty much always had a swimming pool in our gardens to enjoy in the heat. So, I was quite surprised to find myself really longing to go to the beach (especially because I am deeply afraid of the ocean). It’s still surreal to me that we can take a quick train and spend a day at the beach and then go home – it used to be such a monumental thing when we’d go to Durban on holidays. But this year, I have been determined to experience Ireland more, and that means doing as the locals do.

And so, we made our way to the beach.

After saying farewell to my newfound friend at church, we caught the Luas and the Dart to a spot in Dublin I’ve never been to before: Howth.

Less than an hour train ride away from Connolly Station, you’ll find yourself at Howth, a quaint beach town at the head of the Dublin Harbour. Our midday train was packed with beach-goers, and by the time we reached our destination, I was sweating profusely. (The way our bodies acclimatise so quickly should be studied.)

We were almost instantly greeted by a couple of seals bobbing away between working fishing boats. It was an exciting thing to see working fishing boats, some big and fancy, some very old and made for a small crew, because I’ve never seen that in South Africa. Usually, working docks are away from public access, and definitely aren’t on show for tourists. This town, however, seems to be built entirely around their fishing boats. Every single restaurant along the dock (bar one) was a seafood restaurant. Which did make me wonder how these tourist-targeted restaurants survive the 360 days without sunshine bringing people in…

The seafood looked amazing! From the classic batter-fried fish and chips to the stacked plates of oysters. Every plate of varying seafood that you come across here will make you understand why fish is famous in Ireland.

We spent the afternoon walking around the bay from one point to another. Howth is home to a pretty famous lighthouse (one that gets talked about a lot); however, there are two lighthouses right next to each other, so I’m still unsure which of the two is the famous one.

We stopped a few times along the docks to take in the breathtaking views of the ocean, boats and little islands surrounding us. I never thought I’d say this, but I did actually get a little sunburnt (nothing like I would have spending 3 hours in the South African sun, but a surprise nonetheless). My feet shall be rocking a sandal tan for the next few weeks. Yay.

The little strips of shops along the coast house a few local coffee shops, one ice cream shop, a few recognisable chains, and two little markets. The first market, to the left of Wrights of Howth, is filled with little stalls of homemade goods, where I spotted some of the best woodwork I’ve ever seen.

There is something truly magical about Howth. This little beach town has now surpassed Bray as our favourite holiday spot, and we look forward to spending more time here. We truly enjoyed just walking around, listening to waves crashing, and feeling the warm sunshine on our faces. The moment we got on the train home, I started thinking about coming back the next sunny day Ireland has, even though the weather this week is looking pretty precarious.

I hope you enjoy exploring something new this week.
With love, from Dublin,
Chey