Galway and Kylemore Abbey

How to win the heart of an Irish boy: bring him home and cook him up a pot of potatoes! Or as they say in Ireland: spuds. That’s what our first tour guide said anyway. A friend from UVM named Liz (yes it gets confusing with the two Lizs) made the long journey to England and we met at the airport before flying to Dublin and then making our way to Galway. We arrived on Tuesday and realized just how small it is. Especially compared to London, which I am now used to. There are many adorable shops, pubs, and restaurants, including gelato in the area, but not a lot of touristy things to do so we decided that a day tour to Kylemore Abbey was a good plan. So we bought tickets and got up to leave at 10 Wednesday morning. Our bus driver and tour guide was very good at manoeuvring the bus through narrow winding streets while he told us stories and facts about Ireland. He was very funny, threatening our lives if we talked too loudly, left rubbish on the bus, or broke the law.

Our first stop was Kylemore Abbey and the Victorian Walled Garden, the largest walled garden in Ireland located in Connemara, which was right next to . The Abbey was what drew us to go on the tour. It looks like a castle, settled at the foot of a very large mountain. The Abbey has quite the history, originally built by a man named Mitchell Henry for his wife, Margaret, who unfortunately died shortly after and didn’t get to live there long. It was then converted into an abbey and then most recently became a boarding and day school for girls, which closed in 2011.

Kylemore Abbey

Liz and I outside the church 

The garden was huge, with many pathways through the green grass. I can’t even imagine how beautiful the garden would be in the spring and summer months blooming with hundreds of flowers.

The Venetian Gardens 

The Irish countryside reminds me a lot of home, with some added sheep. The roads are like the roads we travelled on in Greece, narrow and windy. Mountains stretch high towards the clouds as far as the eye can see. The people who live in these parts depend greatly on the land. Much of it is bog land full of turf, which can be dried out and used in the wood stove for heating houses. Acres and acres of fields are owned by farmers who grow spuds, which are eaten or sold to make a living.

The bogs of the Irish country side

We also went to a town where much of the movie "The Quiet Man" was filmed. I haven't seen the movie, but I loved the town.

We spent the next day exploring Galway via a self guided walking tour. Our hostel, Barnacles, was located brilliantly in the centre of the town and the sites surrounded it. Galway is home of Claudah, the popular claudah ring is named after this area. This is where the cornamellla marble is found. This is a green stone, which is used to make jewellery, among other things. I believe we went into every jewellery store multiple times to look for the perfect rings. We did finally find rings with the marble in them, all a bit expensive but locally made.

We have this coffee shop in Portland, ME 

The streets of Galway

An older Irish man made my day in Galway. He stopped to ask if we were lost because we were looking for a specific jewellery store and he commented on our American accents. We told him we were okay and he asked where we were from. After explaining where in the states he said he’d been to Maine and liked it very much. He then stated that I looked Irish, more so than Grace and Liz who I was with. I told him I was, and my last name and he replied that he had in fact last met a Curtin in Galway! I did not realize I had such Irish features, but proud to be told as such.  

That evening Liz and I sat in an Irish pub called The Kings Head, had a couple of beers and chatted for a couple hours. It was great to hear some live music being played, even though it wasn’t Irish, and enjoy a Guinness. We decided we did not need another day in Galway, as we’d seen it all so we planned another day tour for Good Friday. So we went to bed on the early side to ensure enough sleep to make the next day enjoyable. 

Have a wonderfully marvelous day, Sláinte! ~Laura