Ireland's Western Coast

There is plenty to see along Ireland's Western Coast. The landscapes alone can fill a trip with multiple photo-stops, but do not forget to save time for visiting some tourist sights. Admittedly my parents and I did not have quite enough time to see all that we could have, but we managed to jam in as much as possible over the course of two days. And now I will attempt to fit it all in one blog...

As we drove down the West Coast we passed through several counties: Doneghal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Clare, and lastly Limerick. We even briefly popped back into Northern Ireland in order to investigate the ancestry of my great-uncle. His family came from Derrygonnelly, a small town with one main street in County Fermanagh. We did not find living relatives, but we did sneak around the graveyard at the Church his family used to attend!

Here are my parents standing near Benmore Church with our rental car, which we affectionately named "Blueberry."

 

Not far passed Derrygonnelly, we entered County Sligo and pulled over to find the grave of W.B. Yeats. The Nobel Prize winning, poet died in France in 1939. His wish was to be briefly buried in France then moved back to Ireland to lay in the churchyard where his grandfather had been rector.
 

Yeat's epitaph comes from the final lines of his poem "Under Benbulben," which he wrote about his plan to be buried beneath the nearby mountain.

 

Elsewhere in Sligo we stopped to visit the Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery, which is the largest and oldest in Ireland. These tombs are standing stone-structures dating as far back as 6500 years. There are 30 visible at the site. It is remarkable Irish ancestors could construct monuments of such proportion and baffling to think of their reasons. Most intriguing is the fact that you can see large tombs on distant hills, directly in line with the central cemetery.

 

Look closely at the above picture. See the small bump on the distant hill. That is "Queen Maeve's Tomb," the largest in the cemetery. It is a cairn, like in the image below (except much bigger), which is made up of thousands of piled rocks.
 





That evening we stayed in the cosy little town of Westport. This town is a gateway to outdoor activities on the west coast and therefore has a lovely downtown geared towards tourism. We arrived on Easter and celebrated by having a delicious dinner at J.J. O'Malley's Restaurant. I ordered citrus duck ... WOW, I'm hooked. Their food was fabulous!

Just outside Westport lies the large holy mountain called Croagh Patrick. This mountain is where St Patrick allegedly fasted for 40 days. Nowadays it is known for its pilgrimage in honour of the saint, which sees one million people climb to its summit each year.

Shortly afterwards we began to enter the mountainous range of Connemara National Park (more mountains I did not know existed). Our blessing of a blue sky was counterbalanced by one of the strongest winds I have experienced in Ireland. Luckily winds do not stop you from taking photos.

Nestled in the mountains of Connemara is a castle turned abbey called Kylemore Abbey. It was quite a surprise to turn a corner and find a stunning castle located in what seemed the middle of nowhere.

The castle was originally built in 1867 as a private home for wealthy London businessman Mitchell Henry and his family. Henry was quite a forward thinking man and made sure the castle was fitted with running water and electricity. He also built an extensive series of walled gardens with heated greenhouses so that his tenant farmers could grow all types of exotic fruits for his family to eat. The castle cost a reported £40,000 annually to maintain, which not unexpectedly led Henry to bankruptcy. In 1920 the estate was purchased by the Benedictine nuns as a peaceful escape from WWI. They used it as a private Catholic school until 2010. Now the Abbey welcomes 250,000 tourists a year to its grounds.

Here is a photograph looking out over the walled gardens of Kylemore.

 

We were just about exhausted after all this exploration and driving. We made one last stop in the city of Galway to tour the main shopping streets and buy some groceries before returning to Limerick. Galway has a great artistic and cultural vibe so I will be sure to revisit it in the future. Here is a picture of my mom and I standing on a side street.

What a wonderful journey I had with my parents (save for brief navigational disagreements...). One day after our return to Limerick my sister arrived at the airport, so we headed off on more adventures with her. Those stories will have to wait till next time.

This week marks the last week of classes for my term. How time flies...
Shannon