Galway, Connemara National Park, Abbeys, Castles and Dingle

---

Saturday, July 4 -Galway, Connemara National Park.
We have been so busy. I’m just catching up with our journal. Saturday morning we spent time relaxing around the breakfast table with our hosts, Liz and Joe. At 10:00, Liz led us into Salt Hill so that Dean could use the pool. It is a lovely facility with 3 pools, a gym, mini-golf, midway rides, etc. While he swam, Liz, Jackie, Jeff, and I strolled the “prom(enade)”-a walkway running the length of the strand at Galway Bay. When you reach the end, it is tradition to kick the rock wall.
Next, we all went into Galway for market day- stalls selling produce, fish, cheeses, and crafts lined the streets near the old church. It was fun to wander around through the crowds. Before Liz left us for the day, we ate lunch together. She and I had “foccaccia sandwiches with grilled vegetables hummus and goat cheese”. It should have read- grilled vegetable with a hint of cheese and hummus. Panera at home is better. This was the first skimpy meal I’ve had in Ireland.
In the afternoon, we wanted to hike in Connemara National Park. En route, we passed Sweeney’s hotel and reception establishment, where a wedding was taking place, white limo and all. We had purchased Heritage Ireland cards which give entrance to all the OPW historic sights in Ireland. In the guidebook, we noticed a listing on our way for Aughnanure Castle, and drove into the grounds of an exclusive golf club onto a narrow road to find it. It was all a castle should be. The O’Flaherty clan’s 6-story tower house was situated on a rocky island on the river Drimneen, approaching over a stone bridge spanning the stream. O’Flaherty’s wife was Grace O’Malley, the famous Irish pirate queen.
The rest of the drive to Connemara was filled with gorgeous scenery- lakes, hills, and LOTS of sheep. A friend had told me about hitting a cow on an Irish road once, so I approached the sheep grazing by the roadside with caution. They all seemed pretty street-smart though, I guess the ones that weren’t had already been eliminated. I became more proficient at pulling over to let the wild Irish drivers pass. I think that many of them could compete in the Grand Prix with no problem.
We stopped to take a picture of the Benedictine nuns’ home, the Kylemore abbey, which until recently had been a young women’s boarding school, but now the nuns have closed that part of it. It sits on the edge of a lake what a beautiful place to go to school! Next up was Ashford Castle, former home of the Guinness family, now a golf club and exclusive hotel- the guard at the gate let us peek over the bridge and take a picture.
We arrived at Connemara Park in the late afternoon. It was awe- inspiring. We walked through a peat bog and up one of the smaller hills, for a beautiful view of lakes and mountains.

Sunday morning, July 5- Athenry and Kilmacduagh
Sunday started out bright and sunny, but clouded over by noon. We left the Nolan’s in Moycullen, Galway about 9:30 so Dean could go to the pool. While he was swimming, I walked on the beach to touch the water, pick up shells, and dodge the millions of jellyfish on the sand. I can’t believe Jessie and her friends swim here with all those jellies! When Dean finished, we walked the beach and prom before we began our drive back to Corbally.
On the way, we stopped in Athenry, the walled city of the song “Fields of Athenry”. It is pouring (rain). We find a parking place, and go to the castle. It is a typical tower house building, but the guides here are not as informative. The guide leads us into a room to watch a video, which doesn’t work. We make a run for the car in the rain, and drive off to our next stop.
We were beginning to get hungry, so we stopped for lunch in Gort. Making a tactical error by choosing a “pub food buffet”. We should have known it would be more like hometown buffet than a local pub- oh, well. Then we had some narrow road encounters, construction detours, and wrong turns before we finally arrived at Kilmacduagh, an ancient 7th century monastic settlement. The present abbey with a defensive round tower and church ruins in a graveyard dates from the 11th century. The area was surrounded by a stone wall, and we had to climb through narrow openings to enter through the graveyard, full of standing celtic crosses. Unfortunately, the heavens had opened at this point, so we cut our exploration short and jumped back in the car for Corbally. En route, we hit a detour, so more narrow roads. Was I ever glad to finally arrive home. Now we could relax, take our time, and pack to be ready to leave for Dingle Monday morning.

Monday, July 6-Carrigafoyle Castle, Listowel Castle, Ardfert Abbey, and Dingle Town
This morning we left Corbally. The wind is whipping the whitecaps so that they crash against the cliffs. We have really enjoyed our time here in the West, and it is hard to pack up and leave. But we have reservations at the Last House B&B, so we pack the car (somehow, our luggage has expanded), and drive up the one lane road away from the ocean and Joe’s cows and head off. We stop at the bakery in town for a loaf of gf bread and chart our course for the Kilimer-Talbert ferry.
It is amazing how my attitude toward driving has changed- anything with 2 normal-sized lanes (with OR without a breakdown lane) feels like a highway-anything more is like heaven! So, today’s ride is pretty good. Our only one-lane road is on the way to Carrigafoyle Castle, on the Shannon River west of Ballylongford. This castle was the stronghold of the Celtic O’Connor Clan. It has a gaping hole due to an English attack in 1649, but we all agreed that it was the most impressive castle ruin we have yet seen. As we climbed the tower’s spiral staircase, the wind was still battering the walls and driving through the arrow-slots with enough force to make our ascent difficult. Jeff and Jackie scaled the outer walls, seeing for themselves what a task attacking the castle would be.
Our next stop was the Listowel Castle, in the center of the town of Listowel, and it was a real contrast to Carrigafoyle. One of Four castles belonging to the FitzMaurice family , it is a Norman-style building with many comparative creature comforts- like fancier windows and a private potty, as opposed to a two seater! Our guide, Michael, escorted us through the four levels and took great pleasure in regaling us with the history of the building in the past, and how the front towers were restored. As with other castles, local children used it as a climbing gym before its restoration, and many of its stones can now be found in the neighboring homes and Churches.
From Listowel, we drove toward Tralee on our way to the Ardfert Abbey, a monastic settlement originally founded by St. Brendan the Navigator. None of those ancient buildings survive, but the present abbey consists of 3 medieval churches built between the 12th and 17th century. The docent was very informative about the whole Celtic/Norman/ Old and New English situations. His young redheaded niece was minding his toddler son for him, along with a few of her elementary-aged friends. She proceeded to flirt with Jeff, and was in evidence where-ever we roamed on through the ruins.
From Ardfert we drove straight to Dingle, crossing the hills above Tralee Bay, and stopping at a viewpoint to take a good look (since there’s no way I can watch the scenery while driving switchbacks with no shoulder). Dingle was a surprise. We expected it to be smaller and quainter, but it is a bit larger and more tourist-y than we expected. We are now at home in the Last Cottage B&B with our hostess, Margaret, and her rescued Kieran terrier, Hazzie. (Hazzie is short for Has No because she was a rescue dog and has no left back leg, due to mistreatment and amputation.) She is friendly with all of us, but Jeff so she must have had trouble with bearded men!
We ate dinner at the Global Café, where Jackie had her favorite shellfish dish, mussels. Jeff tortured us all by ordering chocolate torte for his 2nd course, rather than an appetizer like the rest of us. After dinner, we strolled through the shops, and left J&J at Flaherty’s pub. The music had not yet begun, and the seating was on stools, so Dean and I headed home to catch up on our email. Hazzie is keeping us company as we sit at the lace covered breakfast room table overlooking Dingle Harbor. Tomorrow we hope for good weather to drive the loop. That’s it for today.

---

Comments

[Ed Raftery]

Nothing else to do!!
Sounds like one pub after another. We have had some wild weather. Not a day has goneby without some rain.All the girls at the pool ARE ASKING ABOUT dEAN!! I am glad that Dean has a found pools yo use.,but who does he talk to?We anxiuosly await each episode.Best wishes.