A long weekend in Éire (part II)

Okay, so here it is, the second entry in my two-part entry about my long weekend in Ireland with Ashton! I left off on Saturday, February 26th. After going out for a bit in Galway that night, we headed back to our hostel to (try to) get in a good night's sleep before our day-long bus tour of Cong and Connemara the following day.

Day Three: Cong and Connemara

At 10:00am Sunday morning, Ashton and I arrived at the bus station, happily full after a good breakfast and strong cup of coffee and eager to begin our day-long bus tour of Cong and Connemara. Connemara is the name given to the western portion of County Galway, which lies between Lough Corrib and the Atlantic. It's a really beautiful area with lots to see. Our first stop was at the ruins of Ross Errilly Friary. Built in the 14th century, this Franciscan friary is the most extensive and best preserved of all the Franciscan friaries in Ireland, despite having been burned down and subsequently rebuilt a few times throughout its history. While it appeared small from outside, the friary was actually very large with lots of hidden passages, stairways and crevices to discover. After seeing the friary, we boarded the bus again and drove to Cong, a very small village about 45 minutes northwest of Galway. The village is famous for having been the location where the movie "The Quiet man" starring John Wayne and Maureen O'hara was filmed in 1952. For this reason, just about everything in Cong (and there's really not much) is named "The Quiet Man This" and "The Quiet Man That". In Cong we were able to see traditional Irish thatched-roof cottages, the ruins of the Cong Abbey, dating back to the 7th century, and the Market Cross, a cross located in the middle of Cong's main street that was erected sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries. After Cong, we drove through some of the more scenic, quiet areas in Western Ireland. We stopped at both Lough Corrib and Lough Nafooey, two beautiful, large lakes, to take in the breathtaking scenery. We passed through small villages, like Leenane, where there were hardly any houses, just large expanses of valleys and hills that went on for miles and miles as well hoards of Irish sheep and Connemara ponies. Here are some photos from the first portion of our bus tour:

Ashton and me outside of Ross Errilly Friary.

One of the many rivers in the small village of Cong.

A traditional Irish thatched-roof cottage.

Some of the ruins of Cong Abbey.

The Market Cross.

Sheep grazing and Lough Corrib.

A Connemara pony and Lough Corrib.

This Connemara pony, Joey, and Ashton became friends. Note the similar facial expressions :)

Lough Nafooey.

Peaceful country life Leenane, Ireland.

The next place we visited was the main stop of our day-tour: Kylemore Abbey. This castle was built by Mitchell Henry for his wife Margaret and their nine children in the late 19th century after the two fell in love with the area on their honeymoon. The stunning castle was started in 1867 and completed four years later in 1871. Today, Kylemore Abbey is home to a community of nuns pertaining to the Benedictine Order. Only a few rooms of the castle are open for public viewing as the nuns use most of the Abbey for prayer and the like, but we were able to see the inner and outer halls, the drawing room, the community room, the dining room and the rear hall. The following photos are all of Kylemore Abbey.

The very majestic-looking Kylemore Abbey.

A black-and-white shot.

I'm sitting in front of Lough Pollacappul, one of the lakes on Kylemore Abbey's property.

The drawing room.

The dining room.

Kylemore Abbey's Neo-Gothic church, completed in 1881.

The small mausoleum that Mitchell Henry built for his wife after she passed away in 1874 at age 45. His cremated remains were also laid to rest in the mausoleum after he passed away years later in 1910 at age 85.

After walking through Kylemore Abbey and seeing its church, Ashton and I waited for the short shuttle ride that would take us to the Abbey's Victorian walled garden. The garden is six acres it contained twenty-one greenhouses, most of which, unfortunately, are not there today. Two of the greenhouses have been restored to their original condition along with the small Head Gardener's House. We were able to walk through the garden grounds, strolling through the herb garden, the formal flower garden and the nature trails that span the hills to the left of the Abbey. The following are some pictures from the gardens.

Entering the formal flower garden.

The Head Gardener's House.

Overlooking the kitchen garden and the herb garden.

One last photo of the grounds!

After walking through Kylemore Abbey's gardens, it was time to head back to the bus and make our way back to Galway. As you can see from my photos, it's no surprise that Connemara is one of the most scenic regions in Ireland. For me, its hills, peaks, valleys and lakes perfectly exemplify the peaceful solitude and rugged beauty to be found in western Ireland! I absolutely loved everything that I was able to see on the tour and would love to travel back to Ireland to explore even more of its beautiful western coast!

Day Four: Dublin

Since we didn't go out the night before, Ashton and I woke up around 9:30am Monday morning well-rested and ready to spend the day walking around Dublin. We started the day by walking around O'Connell Street and exploring the area near the Spire, a large, stainless steel "monument" that's just under 400 ft. tall. The monument is located on O'Connell Street and it's quite strange... it looks like a giant pin sticking out of the ground. We walked around the area for a bit, doing some shopping on the streets off of O'Connell Street near the River Liffey. We strolled along Grafton Street, one of the two main (and most expensive) shopping streets in the whole city of Dublin. Afterward, as it was such a nice day, Ashton and I headed to St. Stephen's Green, the largest of all the public parks in Dublin's main Georgian squares. St. Stephen's Square is a decent-sized park, full of ponds, trees and patches of flowers. It was crowded that afternoon, full of people strolling and students taking a break from studying; it reminded me a lot of Boston Common. After walking through the park, we made our way to the Temple Bar District, an area famous for its nightlife, live music and fun pubs. It's really popular with tourists and the most famous of all the bars in the area is Temple Bar. We made plans to head back to the Temple Bar area later that night and then we proceeded to wander around the city a little more. We saw the campus of Trinity College, Dublin and stopped for a snack of Irish tea and mixed-berry scones; they were absolutely delicious! Here are some pictures from our day spent around Dublin:

Setting out to walk around Dublin on a beautiful, sunny day!

O'Connell Street.

The River Liffey.

Doing some window shopping on Grafton Street.

Entering St. Stephen's Green.

What a lovely little park!

Irish doors!

Outside the famous Temple Bar.

Snack break! Enjoying my berry scone with fresh butter, jam and cream.

Ashton and her tea.

Trinity College, Dublin.

So collegiate-looking!

We ate a simple dinner back in Ashton's apartment before I packed up my backpack and made sure that everything was ready for my return to Spain the following morning. Backpack ready and stomach full of pasta, Ashton and I got ready and headed out for one last night together in Ireland. We did head back to the Temple Bar District, stopping to have a pint in a pub called the Quays (pronounced "keys"). After listening to some live music at the Quays, we went to Coppers, a popular club about a half an hour away from Ashton's apartment. We spent a few hours dancing and left around 3:00am. Since my plane was set to leave Dublin at 7:10am the following morning, Ashton and I didn't go to sleep after getting back to her place from Copper's. Instead, we waited around for a bit, made some coffee and toast and at 4:00am, we headed out to the airport shuttle bus stop where I waited to be picked up. I spent a few hours waiting in the airport and was able to board my plane without any problems; I was back in Granada by 2:30pm.

Once again, here's Ashton's blog entry about days three and four of my trip to Ireland. What a great long weekend I had! I can't wait to get back to Ireland and see more of the country!