April 29 – Connemara Peninsula and Klyemore Abbey

We have an all day tour into the Connemara region with coastlines and mountains and generally beautiful sights to see. 

But first we had to make it through Galway.

We did see some Connemara ponies.  Most are white or grey and the breed originated in Ireland.

The countryside was gorgeous, even with the dreary weather.  Lots of water- ocean and lakes and rivers...

some little waterfalls...

peat bogs...

and lots of rock walls.

We had a brief stop at the little town of Leenane…

with it's tiny "gas station"

The main reason for the stop here was so that we could view the only fjord in Ireland, the Killary Fjord.

Then it was on to Kylemore Abbey for lunch and a walk around the house and gardens.  The Abbey was constructed in 1868 by Mitchell Henry, a very wealthy doctor, for his beloved wife Margaret.  They had 8 children.  She died young while on a trip to Egypt.  He brought her body back and had a mausoleum built for her body and the Gothic Chapel, a charming jewel box of a church.

The Castle was bought by some Benedictine nuns who founded the Abbey here in 1920.  They ran it as a boarding school for several decades but the school is now closed.  The Abbey is now a major tourist draw.  

The house was undergoing renovations and part of the lower floor (the only part that is open to the public) was closed.

Map of the Ground Floor

We also spent a fair amount of time in the Victorian Gardens.  They used to have 21 glass houses (greenhouses) but all but two are now gone. 

The Head Gardeners home was open for a walk through.

There was a display of old garden tools,

a woodland walk,

and a fair number of flowers in bloom.

We had a nice walk along the lakefront to the Gothic Chapel…

and on to the mausoleum.     

From there it was back to Galway. As usual, the countryside of Ireland is lovely and green.  

While walking around the streets near our hotel we happened across a tea room with an interesting window display.