Adventure #3: Connemara

Today we made of first of what will be many trips to the Connemara region, about one hour northwest of Galway City in County Galway.

We drove the N59 highway, which runs from Galway to Clifden, the capital of Connemara on the coast. Our day-trip highlights included:

- Aughnanure Castle, located just south of the village of Oughterard, was built in the 15th century by the one time powerful ruling clan, the O'Flahertys. It lies in picturesque surroundings close to the shores of Lough Corrib. Standing on what is virtually a rocky island, the castle is a particularly well-preserved example of an Irish tower house.

- Twelve Bens, known as Na Beanna Beola in Gaelic, is a well-known mountain range in Connemara National Park. The park covers nearly 5,000 acres of countryside. Uber-dedicated athletes can hike all twelve in a single day. We just drove through the range this time.

- Kylemore Abbey, today the Monastic home of the Benedictine Order of Nuns in Ireland, was originally called Kylemore Castle. It was built between 1863 and 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy politician from Manchester, England. Henry sold the property after sudden deaths of both his wife and daughter. The abbey was founded here when Benedictine Nuns fled Belgium in World War I. Today it's a girl's school, pottery, restaurant and craft shop. It's also known for its amazing glass-housed gardens.
http://www.kylemoreabbey.com/


- Town of Clifden and the John D'Arcy monument, dedicated to the village's founder. The monument overlooks the town to the west and is well worth a visit for the beautiful views of the town and its two church spires. There is a road near the monument called Sky Road, which winds up and over a hill, opening to sweeping views of the bay and ocean. We stopped here for a few pictures before stumbling across some castle ruins we had to canvas the backroads to reach.
http://www.connemara.net/history/part1.php

- Clifden Castle was built by John D'Arcy (1785-1839) in a Gothic Revival style in the early 19th century. It's visible from Sky Road, but only a couple tiny country roads lead close to it; then walking through pastures past cows and horses is the only way to reach it. Very cool.

Adventure #2: Cliffs of Moher and The Burren

To celebrate our second wedding anniversary yesterday, we took a leisurely road trip to see the Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's top tourist attractions located about one hour south-southwest of our apartment. http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/TheCliffs.aspx




We were fortunate that it was not a windy day, so we could walk past the "point of no return" to get the best pictures. In February 2007, they opened a new hillside visitors center and shops at the Cliffs as part of an European Union-funded National Development Plan. http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/Facilities.aspx

We drove through The Burren on the way to and from the Cliffs of Moher, stopping to take some photographs along the way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burren

The rocky topography of karst limestone was so fascinating.

The two castles we visited along the way were the Dunguaire and Newtown. Dunguaire Castle in County Galway, a 16th-century castle in Kinvarra, overlooking an inlet that opens to Galway Bay. During the summer, the castle hosts medieval banquets twice a night. http://www.castlesireland.com/dunguaire-castle.html

Newtown Castle, located just south of Ballyvaughan in County Clare, is an unusual 16th-century tower house that looks like a rocket on its launch pad. The castle was originally built by a sept of the O'Briens and later passed into the hands of the O'Loughlins (O'Lochlainns) - self-styled "Princes of the Burren." It was still inhabited by the family at the end of the 19th century, but later fell into ruin. In the 1990s the castle was restored as an exhibition centre for the adjacent Burren Art College.

After our adventure, we walked down the Prom and had dinner in Salthill at Osteria Da Roberta, a great Italian restaurant not too far from our home.