The Connemara, Ireland

**For more information about our whole Ireland trip and how we planned, click here**

After we had explored Galway a bit, we traveled north into the Connemara for some more sightseeing.  We chose to take Healy Bus Tours on this journey so we could leave the driving to them and also learn a lot about the area we were seeing.   This is a full day experience (our tour was 10am-5pm) but well worth your time - the historical significance and beauty of this area are both top notch. We really enjoyed the Healy Tour - our driver was knowledgeable, prices were reasonable, and our group was a very manageable size.  If you do get carsick, consider getting on the bus early and grabbing a seat close to the front.

Our first stop was the village of Spiddeal.  This church we saw there was built by a man after his wife died as her wish was to be buried overlooking the sea.  It was tiny, but so poignant and sweet.

The artistic Celtic crosses all over Ireland are definitely something to behold.

These stone fences are quintessential Connemara.  In the mid 1800s, around the time of the Irish Potato Famine, each field here belonged to one farmer.  The small size of land each had to work with forced them all to grow potatoes as a sole crop.  Families often lived along the road so they would have more room for crops.

These days, you might see a cottage more like this.

Everyone has something particular they picture seeing or doing on vacation, and in Ireland, it was my dream to be stopped on the road by herds of sheep.  What can I say?  The heart wants what it wants  :)  These were the first roadside sheep we saw here, and although they weren't stopping our progress, it was still pretty exciting.

Our tour's next stop was Maam Cross, where we could get off the bus and explore the Quiet Man Heritage Cottage, an exact replica of the cottage used in the filming of the John Wayne movie The Quiet Man.  I didn't take any pictures here because, to be honest, it was pretty creepy!  I scare easily, so I may not be a good barometer, but I was unsettled and spent most of the time outside enjoying the garden area.

After this stop, we drove into the Inagh Valley, filled with picturesque lakes and majestic mountains. Great photo ops (our bus stopped to let us get some shots outside) and you never wanted to stop gazing out the bus window.

The piece de resistance of our tour was our stop at Kylemore Abbey.  Constructed between 1861 and 1868 as a private home by Mitchell and Margaret Henry, it was taken over by Benedictine nuns in 1920 and they ran a girls boarding school here until 2010.  It is now largely a tourist destination.  

One of the most common photographs taken in Ireland

The Victorian Walled Gardens.  They were pretty when we saw them, but I could only imagine them a few weeks afterward in full bloom.

Lake overlook

The final bill for construction of Kylemore Abbey was apparently around 1.5 million pounds and the Henrys employed mostly local workers, which helped with relief from the famine.  The Connemara was one of the areas hit hardest.  You can enjoy a self guided tour through several of the rooms inside.

Mausoleum where previous owners Mitchell and Margaret Henry are buried

Neo-Gothic chapel completed in 1878 in honor of Margaret Henry

Inside the chapel

Alongside the lake

After leaving Kylemore, we headed back toward Galway on the second leg of our journey.  We stopped for a quick break in the village of Leenane, which lies at the foot of the Maamturk Mountains and overlooks Killarney Harbor.  Its claim to fame is as the setting for the movie The Field, starring Richard Harris.  We enjoyed an Irish coffee at Gaynor's Pub and the view over the water.

Killary Harbour, Irelands only fjord.  You can see many mussel farms driving along the water.

After leaving Leenane, we all settled back tired and happy for the remaining trip.  I would say the scenery on the way out was a bit better, but the way back was nothing to complain about.  And I got to see more sheep!

If you enjoy learning about history and taking in gorgeous scenery, a trip through the Connemara is definitely for you.  You could certainly also take this same journey in a rental car, especially if you are headed north to continue your vacation.  If you chose a bus tour, Healy is a great one.  I promise you will learn a lot and thoroughly enjoy your day.