Continually refining your path
Following your passion has been a bit of a theme on my tours this year. I feel like I continue to find people who have re-focused their passions to be exactly where they actually belong.
At the Donkey Sanctuary in Liscarroll, a man named Sean, showed up for what he thought would be two weeks of temporary work helping out with the donkeys. Turns out, his connection to the animals was immediate and powerful. Sean’s been there for 7 years now, and can’t imagine working more with people than the donkeys who adore him.
The woman who runs the tours of aireland’s premiere Water Buffalo farm in Macroom, worked as a professional chef until she stumbled upon Johnny Lynch’s farm and has now created the perfect business compliment there. She leads tours, educates those who come on the differences and benefits of buffalo milk and subsequent cheese…and she gets to use her cooking for novel tastings after the tour.
The newest falconer at Dromoland Castle was working in a hardware store just a couple of years ago. He had a friend who worked at the falconry and has spent a couple of years learning the ropes there. Now he is part of an incredible falconry and can’t imagine doing anything else. Afterall, Jackson works on the castle grounds….in an award-winning falconry that educates those interested and showcases amazing birds and their world.
When you see Wade arrive with his wolfhounds, you’d never guess that he spent time in retails shops until COVID hit in 2020. That’s when he assessed his life and made the decision to use his first love, as a business. He already had a handful of Irish Wolfhounds and decided to share them. Now he takes his gentle giants into Dublin and leads historic tours at St. Stephen’s Green.
And a working priest from Monasterboice, saw a way to blend his personal love of coffee and the role it’s played in his personal life, with liturgy, by opening a small coffee cart in a small cemetery in Drogheda. Unconventional hours, the most peaceful of settings and his own podcast about all things coffee, are offering him new challenges and ways to spread liturgy and caffeine.
I stumbled upon all of those stories and more, over this spring’s 10 day tour of the Wild Atlantic Way and will be detailing them as articles, podcasts and columns over the next few months.
But it also brings me to the conclusion that my own decision to leave tv 10 years ago and turn my writing toward podcasts and articles about Ireland’s real magic, puts me in a category with an amazing set of people. Not that my move has been as momentous, it has most certainly given me clarity on how to use my talents toward things I seriously believe in. And it looks like that’s made me a member of a very impressive group.