Day 10 - Connemara, Kylemore Abbey & Cong
It is my tenth day in Ireland, the ninth of our tour, and our time grows short. And yet, there is still much to see and do. Our reconnoitering today includes a trek through the desolate beauty of Connemara and a visit to the Kylemore Abbey, home of the Benedictine Nuns of Ypres. However, Nigel has arranged for a short stop to learn of one of the local “jewels” of the earth - 
Connemara Marble.
The Walsh family has been quarrying the unique green marble from the Connemara Mountains for three generations. First quarried in the 19th century, this rare form of marble can be found in the halls of Trinity College, Kensington Palace and many locations in the US including the Pennsyslvania State Capital building, the Low Library at Columbia University and the NYU Library. Jewelry containing Cannemara marble is exceptionally fine and can be found with little effort. I myself made purchases for Amy, my sister, my sister-in-law and my niece thus “killing four birds with one stone”!
Leaving Connemara Marble, we continued into the Conne-mara countryside. The name Connemara derives from Conmhaicne Mara meaning descendents of the sea and were an ancient tribe that dwelt in the west of County Galway near the sea. The area is barren and windswept and consists of blanket bogs covering most of the region with grey granite mountains carved out by ancient glaciers.
Because of it barrenness, it is reported that, after the Irish defeat at the Boyne,
the Irish were driven from their land and admonished to “go to hell or go to Connemara”. As a result, the Connemara area is a haven of Irish culture and the Gaelic language. It is often the landscape that we envision when we picture Ireland in our minds eye - sparse green hills rolling into the sea divided into small plots of land with collapsing stone fences.
An hours drive brought us to the capital of the Connemara region, Clifden. Sitting near the Atlantic, Clifden is also considered the “gourmet capital” of the West. Unfortunately, our time here was not enough to dine, but I took time to check out a local meat market and a fish market. The small meat market would certainly satisfy my tastes, especially with the lamb loin chops. And the fish market contained fresh sea scallops with its row still attached. I recharged my wallet from the local ATM and we went on our merry way.
A short trip brought us to the Kylemore Abbey on the shore of Lough Polacoppul (the lake of the hollow of the horses). Kylemore Castle, from the Irish words Coill Mhór meaning Great Wood, was built in 1863 by Mitchell Henry,
a wealthy politician from Manchester, England, for his wife. After her death in 1878, he spent little time at the castle though both are buried in the mausoleum near the small church on the grounds. Purchased in 1920 by the Benedictine Nuns of Ypres, it is operated as an abbey and a private girls school. (Unfortunately, the school is scheduled to be closed in 2010.)
The Benedictine Nuns trace their origins to 1598 in Brussels and the Ypres House was founded in 1665. At the urging of James II, the nuns moved to Dublin in 1688 but were forced to return to Ypres with the defeat of the Catholics at Boyne in 1690. Again disrupted by war with the destruction of their community in WWI, they took refuge in England which had once again become tolerant of Catholics. Their journeys took them to County Wexford and in 1920 they finally settled at Kylemore. The grounds also include a neo-Gothic church that is a miniature replica of Norwich Cathedral and employs green Connemara marble extensively.
Taking our leave of Kylemore, we proceeded through the Connemara Mountains to the small village of
Cong, Co. Mayo, on the isthmus between Lough Mask and Lough Corrib. For those that are not fans of John Wayne and particularly of the 1952 movie “The Quiet Man”, Cong was the location of many scenes from the movie. This was not originally in our reconnoitering plans, but was added when Alex learned that we had several ardent fans of that movie including “Shamrock” Steve Brandon.
Amy and I took a brief stroll through the Abbey ruins but quickly navigated to the Pat Cohan Bar. Here we found Steve engrossed in what appeared to be a continuous loop of the movie in the corner. He was swiggin’ Guinness and quoting the movie word for word. A local patron found this quite funny as did many of our troupe.
Not to burst any bubbles, but the bar, at the time of the making of the movie, was actually a store on which they hung the Pat Cohan sign. All of the scenes inside the bar were shot on a set in Hollywood. As late as 2006, it was still reported to be a store though, to our delight, it is now a bar, as it was obviously meant to be.
Reluctantly, we finished our drinks and reboarded the coach to return to Galway. Tomorrow would be our final full day in this verdant land.
Kylemore Abbey
Cong
Connemara Marble.
The Walsh family has been quarrying the unique green marble from the Connemara Mountains for three generations. First quarried in the 19th century, this rare form of marble can be found in the halls of Trinity College, Kensington Palace and many locations in the US including the Pennsyslvania State Capital building, the Low Library at Columbia University and the NYU Library. Jewelry containing Cannemara marble is exceptionally fine and can be found with little effort. I myself made purchases for Amy, my sister, my sister-
Leaving Connemara Marble, we continued into the Conne-
Because of it barrenness, it is reported that, after the Irish defeat at the Boyne,
the Irish were driven from their land and admonished to “go to hell or go to Connemara”. As a result, the Connemara area is a haven of Irish culture and the Gaelic language. It is often the landscape that we envision when we picture Ireland in our minds eye -An hours drive brought us to the capital of the Connemara region, Clifden. Sitting near the Atlantic, Clifden is also considered the “gourmet capital” of the West. Unfortunately, our time here was not enough to dine, but I took time to check out a local meat market and a fish market. The small meat market would certainly satisfy my tastes, especially with the lamb loin chops. And the fish market contained fresh sea scallops with its row still attached. I recharged my wallet from the local ATM and we went on our merry way.
A short trip brought us to the Kylemore Abbey on the shore of Lough Polacoppul (the lake of the hollow of the horses). Kylemore Castle, from the Irish words Coill Mhór meaning Great Wood, was built in 1863 by Mitchell Henry,
a wealthy politician from Manchester, England, for his wife. After her death in 1878, he spent little time at the castle though both are buried in the mausoleum near the small church on the grounds. Purchased in 1920 by the Benedictine Nuns of Ypres, it is operated as an abbey and a private girls school. (Unfortunately, the school is scheduled to be closed in 2010.)
The Benedictine Nuns trace their origins to 1598 in Brussels and the Ypres House was founded in 1665. At the urging of James II, the nuns moved to Dublin in 1688 but were forced to return to Ypres with the defeat of the Catholics at Boyne in 1690. Again disrupted by war with the destruction of their community in WWI, they took refuge in England which had once again become tolerant of Catholics. Their journeys took them to County Wexford and in 1920 they finally settled at Kylemore. The grounds also include a neo-
Taking our leave of Kylemore, we proceeded through the Connemara Mountains to the small village of
Cong, Co. Mayo, on the isthmus between Lough Mask and Lough Corrib. For those that are not fans of John Wayne and particularly of the 1952 movie “The Quiet Man”, Cong was the location of many scenes from the movie. This was not originally in our reconnoitering plans, but was added when Alex learned that we had several ardent fans of that movie including “Shamrock” Steve Brandon.
Amy and I took a brief stroll through the Abbey ruins but quickly navigated to the Pat Cohan Bar. Here we found Steve engrossed in what appeared to be a continuous loop of the movie in the corner. He was swiggin’ Guinness and quoting the movie word for word. A local patron found this quite funny as did many of our troupe.
Not to burst any bubbles, but the bar, at the time of the making of the movie, was actually a store on which they hung the Pat Cohan sign. All of the scenes inside the bar were shot on a set in Hollywood. As late as 2006, it was still reported to be a store though, to our delight, it is now a bar, as it was obviously meant to be.
Reluctantly, we finished our drinks and reboarded the coach to return to Galway. Tomorrow would be our final full day in this verdant land.
Additional photos
To Day 11 -