On The Road to Connemara and Kylemore Abbey
/Guess what we woke up to this morning? Yep, more rain, heavy rain, windy rain! No matter - we had raincoats, umbrellas, wool socks and an indeterminable amount optimism to get us through this wonderful day of sightseeing!
Our first stop - Connemara, an hour and a half drive to the western coast to visit Kylemore Abbey - home to a community of Benedictine nuns since 1920.
Kylemore Abbey originally was originally Kylemore Castle, built in 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London.
In 1874 the Henry Family went on a luxurious vacation to Egypt, where Henry’s wife Margaret contracted Nile Fever and subsequently died at the young age of 45. Mitchell was heartbroken, and upon returning to Ireland, built a beautiful gothic memorial church a short distance from the castle, in her honor.
Mitchell Henry died in 1910 - the castle changed ownership until the Benedictine nuns bought it in 1920. Visitors can tour restored rooms in the Victorian castle and learn about the life and times of the Henry family.
As we left the castle, we must have had “The luck of the Irish” on our side - it had stopped raining, allowing for a much more comfortable walk around the castle grounds!
We spent quite a bit of time at Kylemore, but not enough to see everything - but it was time for our next stop - a crystal cutting demonstration at the family owned Celtic Crystal LTD in Galway.
Were we impressed? Absolutely! Did we shop? What do you think!!!
At this point, not only had the rain stopped, the sun was out! Sara and I knew exactly what we had to do…take a pass on the group tour to dinner, and go back to Shop Street in Galway to get some last minute items before heading to the next town tomorrow!
In fact, it was so lovely outside, we walked back to the hotel, stopping for a fish & chips dinner along the way. The adventure continues tomorrow as we head to Donegal!