We visited Ireland over Saint Patrick’s Day and before we left I spent a ton of time trying to figure out what in the world to wear in Ireland in March. Mostly because I am slightly obsessive about packing and also because I envisioned a lot of rain. Spoiler alert: there was no rain. In Ireland. I KNOW.
Because we were staying in different bed and breakfasts as we traveled across the country, I wanted to pack my husband and myself in just a single suitcase since we would be moving our luggage several times.
I’ve been working on building a capsule wardrobe for awhile so my goal when packing for Ireland was to create a smaller, travel version of that with basic pieces that I could mix and match to create several outfits. I knew that I had access to laundry in a few places that we would be staying so that helped me be able to pack lighter.
Plus, when it comes to packing for Ireland, dressing in layers is a must because the weather changes so much throughout the day. I had read that bit of advice often in researching what to pack prior to the trip and I can’t reiterate it enough. In our day trip to Blarney I started off wearing jeans, a thermal long sleeve tee, a cable knit sweater, a down vest, my jacket and a scarf. By mid morning I stripped off the jacket and sweater. By mid afternoon I was just wearing the thermal tee. By nighttime I had it all back on again!
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money shopping for the trip. I knew my splurge pieces would be a nice jacket because I didn’t already own one and a good pair of shoes. So first I shopped my closet and mapped out what I could mix and match with a couple of pair of jeans. Then I went on ThredUp, which is an online consignment site for brand name clothing, for the pieces I still needed. (If y’all haven’t tried ThredUp yet, this link will give you a $10 credit!)
Here is basically everything I packed for our trip to Ireland in March:
What I Wore In Ireland: Packing For Ireland In The Spring
{Pictured – some links are affiliates: Scarf: Gap from ThredUp, Bag: Target – sold out, similar here and here. Boots: Hunter (but I got the kids version here), Jeans: Forever 21 and Delias (which no longer exists and made the only jeans I love so please excuse my weeping) Thermal Tee: American Eagle, Striped Sweater: Gap, Lace Tank Top: River Island (pictured, the one I have is this one from Target) Sunglasses: Ray-Ban, Shoes: TOMS ballet flats, Vest: Hollister, Jacket: Eddie Bauer Travex Atlas II (shown below, the one pictured is VersaKnit), Button-down Top: Banana Republic from ThredUp, Silk Top: J.Crew from ThredUp}
The bottom left picture is basically what I wore on the plane: leggings, thermal, scarf, jacket, flats, vest. I, however, did not look as put together as the lady in the Eddie Bauer picture after 20+ hours of travel and a couple of dramamine.
Packing Tips: What To Wear In Ireland In The Spring
I spent eight days in Ireland and this is what I packed:
- 2 long sleeve thermal tees – this one and this one – essential for layering and staying warm. If you don’t have access to laundry and are planning on hiking (you should totally hike in Ireland) then pack a few more.
- 1 quilted down vest – this was perfect for keeping me warm and bonus: it makes a great pillow on the plane!
- 1 comfortable pair of rainboots, 1 comfortable pair of shoes and a pair of tennis shoes if you plan on hiking.
- A lightweight, packable, water and wind resistant jacket – I loved this one because of the hood
- 1 fancy top for a nice dinner out (bonus if it is green and you are there for Saint Patrick’s Day ;)) I also packed a lace layering tank top that I could wear wear under different tops/sweaters to dress them up.
- 2 sweaters. I packed a dressier sweater that I could throw my lace tank under and a warmer cable-knit sweater to layer with my thermals/button down.
- Water resistant backpack or camera bag. I have this camera bag and love it for occasional use but it’s pretty heavy. I picked up this backpack at Target and it worked great for holding my camera and other gear. Like, you know, my selfie stick 😉
- 1 button down top. Lightweight and easy to dress up or down or layer under sweaters or vests.
- 2 pairs of jeans and 1 pair of leggings. If I hadn’t had access to laundry I might have packed more but I just washed everything halfway through the trip!
- A pair of sunglasses – people think of springtime in Ireland as being rainy but it was sunny every day and the glare from the water was pretty strong. I am really petite so my friend Jeanette got me these Aviator Juniors about 6 years ago and I love them. Can you believe I’ve kept up with them for that long? Because I can not.
- 1 blanket scarf – The blanket scarf ended up being the dark horse of my packing! I bought it for $6 from ThredUp and when I tried it on at home I felt like it was too big. It was final sale but it was from The Gap so I tucked it in my consignment box for the local fall sale I do. The day of the trip I decided to throw it in last minute and it absolutely saved me. While the weather was beautiful during the day, it was really cold in the morning and evening and that scarf was SO WARM. And as a bonus, it totally doubled as an extra blanket on the plane.
I spent a ton of time, way more than necessary, searching for the perfect lightweight jacket. I really wanted something that was water resistant with a hood, because you know, IRELAND, but I also wanted something stylish. I had a really hard time finding something in a petite size, I even started looking at kid’s sizes. The unfortunate thing about being the same size as an eleven year old girl is that apparently all eleven year old girls wear are neon colored windbreakers.
Two days before we were scheduled to leave I walked past an Eddie Bauer and saw this Travex jacket in the window. I had passed it over online and it was one of those pieces that is much cuter in person. The only thing I didn’t love about it was that it wasn’t lined but it met all my other requirements: it had a hood, it was water resistant, it was cute, it was packable so I could roll it up to fit it easily in my purse, and best of all it had an adjustable waist so I could alter the fit. It was on sale for 20% off that day so I snagged it. I love it. I ended up buying the gray, which is more like a slate beige/stone color.
So it is a bit ironic that did not rain on us ONE TIME for the entire eight days we spent in Ireland. It rained a few times when we were driving and a couple of early mornings or overnight but not once while we were out and about on foot. I couldn’t believe it.
I also bought a pair of Hunter boots for the trip. I’ve been eyeing them for awhile because I thought they’d be nice to have for springtime in the south so I figured a trip to Ireland was as good as an excuse as any to buy a pair. And this is where being the same size as an eleven year old girl comes in handy because, per my friend Raechel’s advice, I ordered the child sized pair and they were $75 versus $150.
You can tell from the pictures that they still came almost all the way up to my knees so I am really glad I went with those. I usually wear a size 5 and I ordered these in a youth size 4. I was glad I had them because we walked through a lot of wet fields visiting historical sites and honestly they were incredibly comfortable to walk around all day in.
And for my daily shoes I took my TOMS black leather ballet flats. I usually buy these when they are on sale on Zulily because they are comfortable and hold up well. I figured they would match everything and be really comfortable for excessive amounts of walking.
The only thing I wish I had done differently was pack my black Frye boots (tip: did you know you can order these on Amazon?! I also ordered a youth size 4 in these when they were on sale at Christmastime and so they were under $100!) Anyhow, the Frye boots are really comfortable and since it was March it was pretty cold at night and the boots would have been warmer than the TOMS for the few days that we spent in Dublin.
I also packed a lightweight robe, which ended up coming in handy for the night that I accidentally misbooked our room and ended up with a bathroom that was down the hall rather than ensuite. And also for when I couldn’t quite pull myself together in time for early morning breakfast, obviously. I know you want to pin that picture.
And that is what I wore in Ireland! Here is a recap of our visit to Blarney and I’ll share pictures of the rest of our trip + the essential gear I packed soon!
I’m linking this post up with What I Wore Wednesday at The Pleated Poppy because I hope that it is helpful and mostly because it took forever to write it. Seriously, I have no idea how fashion bloggers do it. Also, do they just have professional hair/makeup/photographers follow them around all the time? I mean, my husband did a good job behind the camera but clearly this is real life. I expect Vogue to call any day now.
