Although the roof was gone, there were lots of narrow doorways to duck through to navigate between rooms.
The friary included an old church and bell tower, living quarters for the monks, and an open cloister. There were also a number of grave sites, both standing up and along the floor.
After about 15 minutes or so, we headed back to the bus and continued on towards Cong. Just outside the village, we made a quick detour to see Glebe Stone Circle, just from the bus, as there was no good place to park.
Then we headed into the village of Cong and had some time to explore around this town that was the setting for the movie The Quiet Man.
Ken told us that this movie from the 1950s played a big part in opening Ireland up to tourism.
In Cong, I walked around a little bit in Cong Woods just outside the village, stopping to see the Monk’s Fishing House.
The Cong-Clonbur Trail leads from here to Clonbur Woods, essentially providing a hiking trail between Loughs Corrib and Mask.
But I didn't have enough time for thorough exploring so just got some pictures near the trailhead. However, the forest was very beautiful here with big old trees and an open patch full of wildflowers.
After a few minutes in the woods, I headed back to the town to see some other points of interest, including the beautiful runs of Cong Abbey and the Quiet Man Statue, commemorating the movie that had put Cong on the map.
When we were finished in Cong, we continued west into the mountainous Connemara area. The bus got on R300 and crossed Lough Mask. Along the way, Ken told us some Irish history and the poor conditions that the Irish lived in under British landlords. Much of the hunger and famine was due to the British shipping food back to Britain for sale so that there wasn't enough left in Ireland. We saw the ruins of a tiny little house that may have been home for a family of ten or more. Then, we made a quick photo stop at Lough Nafooey, a beautiful glacial lake on the border between County Mayo and County Galway. After this stop, we got off the main road and continued heading west on L1601 along the lough. On the west side of the lake, we got on L1301 and made another short photo stop in the Connemara mountains. Looking east, we had nice views of Lough Nafooey from here. After a short stop, we continued heading west, getting on N59 and making another short stop at Killary Harbour. Although often called Killary Fjord, it is actually a fjard as the the cliffs are shorter and less steep than a fjord. In the dark waters here of the harbor, we could see many mussel farms. There was also a fairy tree here. According to legend, fairies live under and around these trees and misfortune will befall those who disturb it, while good luck will come to those who hang a bit of fabric. The tree was just about covered in ribbons and other small pieces of fabric. From here, we drove just a short ways further to Kylemore Abbey and Victorian Walled Garden.
Admission to the abbey and grounds was not included in the tour, but we did get a discounted group rate of €8 by buying them from Ken. This was our longest stop and we got a full 2 hours here, but there was a lot to see. Ken recommended taking the shuttle from the entrance to the gardens to save time, but I decided to walk and ended up beating the shuttle anyway. It was a pleasant hike along the Woodland Walk with ancient trees and blooming rhododendron along the way. The Victorian Walled Gardens were absolutely beautiful and so perfectly manicured.
I walked around for a bit getting shots of the beautiful grounds and flowers.
On the hills overlooking the garden, the rhododendron were in full bloom, which complimented the grounds nicely. Once I had walked around the whole garden, I stopped at the tea room to get lunch. There was a line and I didn't want to waste a lot of time, so I passed, and took the shuttle back to the entrance area (which probably took longer than walking it). Back at the entrance, I headed over to the Abbey. Kylemore Castle was originally built in the 19th century as a private residence for Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London. In 1920, the castle was purchased by the Benedictine Nuns and has been an abbey since. Although not particularly old by Irish standards, this was one of the most beautiful buildings we had seen on our trip.
It is truly a fairy tale castle. And not only was the castle gorgeous, it was in a most beautiful setting, with the calm waters of Pollacappul Lough in front of the abbey and rhododendron covered mountains behind it.
Only a few rooms are open to the public for touring as the nuns still live here, but it was beautifully decorated and a delight to walk through.
Although the abbey had been damaged by fire, much of the interior had been restored to its original glory. Once done in the abbey, I continued on towards the Gothic Church, walking along beautiful Pollacappul Lough. More rhododendron were blooming along the lake's calm waters. The Gothic Church was a small cathedral built by Mitchell Henry in memory of his wife Margaret.
Mrs. Henry had dies of dysentery and her husband wanted a suitable memorial built at her beloved Kylemore. Although small, it was beautiful inside and out.
There were two more quick spots I wanted to check out on the way back just past the church. The first was the mausoleum where Mr. and Mrs. Henry are buried.
Despite the extravagance of the castle and church, the mausoleum was not show showy. Right past here was the ironing stone, a large iron-shaped rock.
According to legend, it was thrown by the giants Cú Chulainn and Fionn Machuail on the surrounding mountains. Those who can successfully stand with their backs to the stone and throw a pebble over the top will be granted a wish! There were five pillars sticking out of the ground near the stone that kind of looked like giant's fingers sticking up out of the ground. I got a couple pictures, but was starting to run out of time. I swung by the cafe and grabbed a sandwich and drink to have on the bus ride back. We turned off the main road onto R344 to make our way back to Galway. We had to stop once for some sheep that had gotten into the road and then made our last stop of the tour at Inagh Valley near Lough Inagh. It was a beautiful little spot, nestled among the Twelve Bens Mountains whose summits were covered in clouds. There was even a scenic little cascade right along the road. From here, it was a little bit over an hour back to Galway and the last part between Salthill and downtown Galway took the longest as the traffic was bad. Ken dropped us off at the coach station and we headed to the King’s Head Pub to have a drink on our last night in Galway. The 800 year old pub gets its name from a former resident - Peter Stubbers, an English colonel under Cromwell who is suspected to be the executioner who beheaded King Charles I. After a beer, I headed back to the hotel to check on Sandy. She had rested all day, but was a little hungry, so we walked down to Salthill and got Chinese. She had a wonton soup, which was good for her stomach, and I had spicy chicken. Then we headed back to the hotel and got our stuff packed up. Before going to bed, I headed out to the beach to get some pictures of the almost-full moon over Galway Bay. There was a rather rowdy Irish wedding reception at the hotel, but I can usually sleep through loud drunk people. But not through a fire alarm. Apparently, some idiot smoked a cigarette in his room and set off the fire alarm at 2 in the morning. Not a pleasant way to wake.
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