Many parents fear the dreaded plea from the backseat: I have to go to the bathroom, now! It can be an even more fraught request while traveling internationally – or at least outside of Montana where there’s typically a quiet road that allows for a fresh air relief station – but on our recent family trip to Ireland the restroom stop turned into one of the most magical parts of our trip to my ancestral homeland.
My husband took on the task of driving on the Emerald Isle, for his job frequently takes him abroad, providing him with the opportunity to drive on the opposite side of the road, so he was most qualified for the task. About halfway through our four-hour drive from County Kerry to Dublin our son hollered for a bathroom break. A frantic search for a stop ensued and within a few panicked minutes I saw an exit sign for a small village. We exited, reminding Charlie to be patient, we’d find something soon, and then as I looked up, scanning the village for a gas station, I saw the towering ruins of a castle looming above. The kids saw it too and the sight enlisted cries to stop there, not at some random gas station. Somehow, Charlie’s desperate cries turned into a more patient request. He assured us that the ruins likely featured a bathroom, and he was correct. We had stumbled upon the Rock of Cashel, a cluster of medieval buildings from the 12th century. Once the seat of the kings of Munster, the Rock of Cashel is a popular tourist destination and luckily provides modern bathrooms. We explored the ruins of the cathedral, the kids enchanted by the various sarcophaguses and intricate carvings in the rock work. Graveyards hold a particular interest for my daughter, so she was giddy to roam through the ancient markers of the dead.
Needless to say, we worked up an appetite after our explorations, and near the parking lot we found a charming pink stucco building labeled “Granny’s Café.” The proprietor directed the kids to the menu of sweets and quickly offered coffee to the parents. We were in a bit of a hurry to make it to Dublin, but what transpired in our unexpected stop in Cashel and the café symbolized the best aspect of travel: a chance encounter with a stranger who filled us with joy, much richer than the cinnamon rolls the kids tucked in to while we listened to Michael ramble about everything from education to American politics, finally treating us to reading from one of his country’s greatest poets, Seamus Heaney. The tour of the Rock of Cashel sidetracked us a bit and once Michael started asking us questions about our life in Montana – and didn’t we have a longtime Senator who was a farmer? – we knew we’d wouldn’t rush out of his cozy café. Enchanted by his Irish brogue, we listened to him speak about American politics, reminding us that our nation has an indelible and important impact on the whole world, his love for teaching, and of course, as his nation is known for, his deep love for poetry. When Cole and I confessed we didn’t know Heaney’s famous poem he wrote for his wife on their wedding day, Michael excused himself and went upstairs to his apartment to find the book. We weren’t the only customers in the café but Michael made us feel as if we were and somehow completed his duties simultaneously.
Rapt, we listened to Michael read us poetry as the kids buzzed around the café and after nearly two hours of coffee and heartwarming conversation, we said we had to leave. Michael walked us to our car. The kids even agreed they could have stayed all night in Michael’s inviting presence and I told them that encounters with people like him showed us the transformative power of travel. His generous spirit buoyed our more hectic days in Dublin before enduring flight cancellations that left us seeking a hotel in Amsterdam at midnight. We finally arrived a day later than originally scheduled but we knew that we had more than the luck of the Irish propelling us safely home.