Connemara Natl Park & Kylemore Abbey

Today’s drive took us from bustling Galway through lake-filled valleys to Connemara National Park. A 2-mile trail takes you from sheep pastureland, across “blanket bogs” via a boardwalk, and up to the top of Lower Diamond Hill, with spectacular views (if you can stand up in the wind!). The hillsides are dotted with white quartz rocks, looking a bit like distant sheep.

A short drive farther along the road is Kylemore Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in active use by nuns today. The property was originally built in the late 1800s as the Kylemore Castle and Gardens by the Mitchell Henry family. Many of the rooms and outbuildings are refurbished in period design, giving a sense of how the family and its workers lived. The ambitious Victorian walled garden the Henrys designed included hot water heated greenhouses for “exotic” (for Ireland) fruits like bananas, melons, grapes and figs. Outside the walls are quiet woodland trails, lined with rhododendrons (unfortunately past their blooming season). It was interesting (but not surprising) that the head gardener was held in high esteem and his home on the property reflected that. The five under-gardeners lived together in a much smaller “cabin,” which was still considered well-appointed for the time.

Much of the garden fell into disrepair in the early 1920s, but the nuns have been getting grants and working to restore the property.Read more