The Connemara Loop, Ireland
– Day 11, Monday, August 29, 2022Har
This morning Kate at our B&B suggested we take a loop
around the Connemara in northwest County Galway. It was not an area we had
considered, but her wonderful description of sites in that area convinced us to
do so. The Connemara is described as the
harsh west, a harsh land of boggy fields, knobby mountains and savage seacoasts. Dublin school children come here
to learn Irish, as this area clings to its Irish culture and language.
We head up to Killary Harbour, which is Ireland’s only
fjord. Another beautiful site! In the
river we see rows and rows and rows of blue floats. They mark the mussel farms growing on hanging
nets in the cold seawater. Interesting. Continuing on are numerous areas of
peat bog, which once covered about 20 percent of Ireland. When you jump on the
bog, the vibration can be felt as far as 10 feet away. People have been cutting, drying and burning
it for fuel for over 1,000 years. The cutting begins in the spring when it gets
warm, then dried throughout the summer, then piled and stored for the
winter. So instead of seeing stacks of
wood piles in the yards, there are stacks of black peat logs. During World War
II peat was used to power fuel stations, though because of an increased awareness
of its unique habitat, peat is being used less and less today.
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The mussel farms at Killary Harbor
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Next stop, Kylemore Abbey. The stunning view of the Abbey is
set on a beautiful mountain side with Lake Pollacappull in the front. It was
built by an English businessman, Mitchell Henry, in 1860 after he and his wife
honeymooned in the area.
After World War
I, refugee Benedictine nuns from Belgium bought it and ran a girls’ boarding
school until 2010.
The castle itself is
beautiful and tastefully decorated, the Gothic chapel dedicated to Margaret
Henry is very gorgeous and peaceful and the 8.5-acre walled garden of flowers and
vegetable are lovely. The Henry children planted the now very large “Nine Pines”
along the trail to the gardens.
The name
Kylemore is Irish which means “big wood.” Henry worked to reinstate native
woods to the area and also brought in a host of exotic plants from around the
world. The almost half mile walk between the gardens and the castle was very
serene with a Marian shrine put there by the nuns, the trickle of the stream
and a small waterfall and the inspiring statue of Jesus with out-stretched arms
standing halfway up the mountain side as if protecting the entire site.
This is probably my most favorite site of
the trip so far.
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| Kylemore Abbey |
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| The Chapel at Kylemore Abbey |
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The Walled Garden at Kylemore Abbey
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| Jesus, with out-stretched arms overlooking the Abbey |
After lunch we meander back to our hotel in Galway, enjoying the sights and sounds of the rugged seashore along the Wild Atlantic Way. Many stops were made to walk the boulders jetting in and out along the seashore, enjoy the high views of the coast and even linger a while with a pair of horses next to a scenic turnout. Returning to yet another B&B, It was another full day; so dinner, drinks and bed were the next order of business. Another wonderful Blessed Day in the Emerald Isle!
The beautiful mountain sides of Ireland
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The rugged Atlantic coast
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The beautiful mountain sides of Ireland
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