10 Questions About…

Today we traveled via van through Connemara. We thought we were going by big coach, we went on little van. But apparently, we were the bold hounds who grabbed the only seats with tables in the back – even though we weren’t the first to arrive – so we were very comfy. We heard all about the area enroute from our fantastic tour guide, Padraic Moran from Wild Atlantic Way Day Tours.

Connemara is in Western County Galway, much of it on the Atlantic coast. It’s known for ponies, stones and Irish speakers. The Connemara ponies are smaller than most horses so apparently it’s a good starter for horse riders. Connemara stone, or Connemara marble, which comes from the area. It’s a greenish stone. Connemara is the largest Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) in Ireland. There are still many Irish speaking schools and many summer schools or other programs where people might go for accelerated, immersive language lessons. The connection to culture is as close as the language.

Much of day was spent checking out the views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Aran Islands and/or the 12 Pins (aka 12 Bens), which is a mountain range. (The Banshees of Inisherin was filmed on the Aran Islands. So, it’s that kind of stark, creepy, yet beautiful world of lots of nature and few people.)

At one point, we seemed to drive through a rainbow. The weather is wild. It can be sunny and storming at the same time. We had a day where the harder rain really held off until we were on the way back to Galway. Otherwise, there was plenty of mist but nothing to hold us back too much. And we had lot of clear skies to see the Islands and mountains when the views were the best. Skyway Drive was a spectacular view of the coast. My palms were sweating the whole way from the heights.

The big stop was Kylemore Abbey. Actually we had a choice between the Abbey of climbing on of the 12 Pins. On a less rainy day or with better clothes, I might have gone with the mountain hike. One out of eight on our tour did.

The Abbey is majestic from the outside. It feels like it’s in a mystic, foggy valley and deep woods. The building was originally a castle built by John Henry. He gave it up after his wife died and kids grew older. It went from hand to hand until someone lost it in poker game. Eventually, the gambler ran into harder times financially and the sisters were able to buy the abbey for a song. It was a boarding school for the elite. I can only imagine the ghost stories they told. It still is an abbey for the Benedictine nuns.

On the way home, we stopped by the famous bridge from the Quiet Man, a movie I should probably watch at some point although John Wayne doesn’t sell it to ne much.