Belfast, Derry, Galway & Dublin

DISPATCHES FROM THE EMERALD ISLE

Belfast was on my shortlist for a spring trip, so when my agency's annual conference landed there this year, I didn't hesitate to stay on a little longer and explore.

Every May, advisors from across Canada and the U.S. gather for the event, and this year, Belfast was the setting. Five days of meeting fellow advisors, connecting with partners and suppliers, a gala dinner at Titanic Belfast, a FAM day through Derry and the Northern Irish countryside. I made a few good connections along the way, including an advisor and her husband from Alberta who I ended up at a pub with one evening, the kind of easy friendship that tends to happen when you put like-minded people in a good city together.

And then I went off on my own adventure.

I've been sharing this trip in pieces over on Instagram — the Dispatches from Belfast, Derry, Galway, and Dublin series — but this is the whole story, start to finish.

Belfast

First impressions: compact, walkable, and immediately easy to be in. I walked everywhere, day and night, on my own, and never thought twice about it. Belfast is the kind of city where a grand old bank building is now a stylish bar, where the Cathedral Quarter buzzes late into the night, and where there's always something worth stopping for just around the corner.

The conference dine-around took us through the Cathedral Quarter — cobblestones, The Dark Horse, The Waterman — and then the week built from there. A walking tour wound past City Hall, through the stories behind those repurposed bank buildings, past colourful murals, through a buzzing pedestrian stretch of shops and bars, and on to St. Anne's Cathedral, home to the largest Celtic Cross in Ireland.

A gala dinner at Titanic Belfast, which is as striking in person as it looks in photos, all sharp angles and textured steel, with a full evening of roaming the exhibits before sitting down to eat. Live bands, performers, the actual story of the ship told where it was built. Not bad for a Tuesday night.

The highlight for me was a quiet lunch at The Merchant Hotel's Cocktail Bar — one of those grand old rooms that does its job beautifully. I didn't stay there this trip, but I'm already planning to next time. It's the kind of place that earns a return visit.

One thing I'd add for anyone visiting Belfast for the first time: take the Black Cab tour. I did this on a previous trip, and it was one of the most memorable few hours I've had in any city. The Black Cabs themselves have an interesting history — brought over from London during the Troubles when transportation across the city became nearly impossible. But what made it was the driver. He took us to the murals and brought them to life in a way no guidebook could — firsthand stories of what it was like to live through that period, told by someone who actually did. It's the kind of experience that stays with you, and the kind of context that changes how you see the rest of the city.

Derry

The FAM day out of Belfast took us first into Derry. We started with lunch at O'Loughlin's before heading out to walk the 17th-century city walls, which still ring the old town completely intact, one of the few in Europe you can circle on foot. From up there you take in the murals, the famous Free Derry corner, the Derry Girls mural that's become its own kind of landmark. Then onto the Museum of Free Derry, which tells the story of this city's recent history plainly and without softening. It's not a light visit, and it puts the city in context.

From Derry we drove out into the countryside, with a visit to Glenshane Country Farm in Maghera to watch the herding dogs work (genuinely mesmerizing) and meet the newborn lambs, lunch at Friels Historic Bar & Restaurant in Swatragh, and a visit to Gorta, Swatragh's Famine Story visitor centre. A quiet, moving look at one of the most defining chapters in Irish history, tucked into one of the gentlest-looking landscapes you've ever seen.

This is the Northern Ireland I'd want you to see. The dogs and the lambs and the history, all in one unhurried day.

Galway

I arrived on a train full of rugby players. A weekend tournament had descended on the city, which meant extra buzz on top of Galway's already considerable energy — and yet it never felt overwhelming. That's the thing about Galway. It hums along at its own pace no matter what's going on around it.

The pedestrian city centre is easy and charming: music streaming out of just about every pub, a wide mix of restaurants and bars to suit any mood (I had genuinely good vegan and gluten-free pizza at an Italian spot one night, and a Latin American place with a clever modern take on guac and chips the next). Cava Bodega, the Spanish tapas bar, is the one to book ahead for — popular with locals and tourists alike, and I'll be making a reservation next time. The Sunday market had everything from art and jewellery to pastries and fresh produce. I walked the Corrib River Path one afternoon in the kind of cool spring quiet that makes you glad you packed a good jacket, a peaceful break from the busy city centre.

I also came home with a beautiful Aran sweater from Galway Woollen Market and a painting by local artist Billy Tyndall, picked up at the Sunday market. I almost always buy a piece of art when I travel. At home I have a gallery wall with paintings from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Florence, and San Miguel de Allende, and now Galway.

The Aran Islands

The day trip out to the Aran Islands was the day I'll be thinking about for a long while.

We drove through the Burren first — that strange, spectacular limestone landscape, the Famine walls running along the hillsides, before reaching Doolin to catch the ferry to Inisheer, the smallest of the islands. It was cold and properly windy waiting to board, which is just part of the bargain out here. On the island I walked the beach, then inland through the dry stone walls and uphill to the old castle ruins. On the way back, the ferry sailed along the base of the Cliffs of Moher — seeing them from the water is a completely different experience than from above, which I also did, after lunch at a pub in Doolin. On the way back to Galway we passed fields of cows, lambs, and horses basking in the afternoon sun."

Dublin

One night in Dublin to close the trip, and I knew exactly how I wanted to spend it.

I stayed at The Dean — a beautiful hotel I'd happily book again and point clients toward without hesitation. Their rooftop restaurant was closed for renovations, which only gives me a reason to return. I walked down to Avoca for a few treats, my non-negotiable every time I'm in Dublin, then crossed the street to the Iveagh Garden Hotel for dinner — a genuinely excellent vegan and gluten-free meal, sweet potato fries, and a Negroni or two to close out the trip properly.

The perfect last night before heading home.

Ireland has a way of surprising you, even when you think you know what to expect. I went for the conference and came back with the kind of travel that stays with you — good food, real history, countryside that makes you stop and stare, and cities that are easy to love.

If any of this has you thinking about your own trip, I'd love to help you plan it.