Galway—Wednesday

 April 24th

Yesterday we visited the area south of Galway City and today we took a bus tour up north along Lough Corrib, Ireland's largest lake, around Connemara into the mountainous region called the 12 Bens to Killary Fjord before taking a two hour break at Kylemore Castle/Abbey where we roamed the grounds, gardens, and abbey. The tour ended with a lovely ride along Galway Bay back into the city and we finished our day at Dough Brothers, Galway's best pizza place.

One of 350 islands in Lough Corrib.

Light and shadow playing across the mountains.

Killary Fjord. The tide was out.

Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London whose family was also involved in textile manufacturing moved to Ireland when he and his wife Margaret purchased the land after having travelled in the area on their honeymoon in the mid-1840s. Margaret was so taken with the beauty of the lakes and mountains that Henry purchased the land and had a castle designed and built for her.

Building Kylemore castle began in 1867 and took 100 men  four years to complete. The castle covers approximately 40,000 square feet and has over seventy rooms. There were 33 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 4 sitting rooms, a ballroom, billiard room, library, study, school room, smoking room, gun room and various offices and domestic staff residences for the butler, cook, housekeeper and other servants. 

The views of the castle/abbey from the car park.

Margaret died in 1874, having contracted a fever on a visit to Egypt. Henry spent less time at Kylemore after her death, but built a Gothic chapel and family mausoleum as a memorial. The mausoleum holds the bodies of Margaret Henry, Mitchell Henry and a great-grandnephew.

This tree planted 1851.

The Walled Victorian Garden was built in the sunniest part of the grounds. The walls absorb the warmth, creating its own climate where exotic fruits can thrive in greenhouses and all kinds of vegetables are grown and harvested for the restaurant. The Abbey was completely self-sustaining up until the nuns turned to tourism and joined with the University of Notre Dame to continue their mission.

 

In 1920, the Irish Benedictine Nuns purchased the castle and lands after they were forced to flee Ypres, France during WWI. The castle became their new abbey/home. In 1923 the nuns established a girls boarding and day school until it closed in 2010.

Since 2015, the Abbey has had a partnership with the University of Notre Dame. The Abbey hosts academic programs for Notre Dame students, and the university renovated spaces in the Abbey for its use.

Our seat mates on the train from Dublin to Cork
told us this is the best pizza in town. The pop up at
O'Connell's pub didn't pop up so our friend Google
led us to the brick and mortar restaurant.

They were right. Our pesto pizza
was delish and...

...they even brew their own beer.