Connemara, Sky Road, Kylemore Abbey, Ireland
Connemara, Ireland features the Sky Road scenic drive and Kylemore Abbey, set amid beautiful green hills lined with stone walls in the west of Ireland. It is a region of coastal views, rolling farmlands, open meadows, winding country roads, and the big attraction, Kylemore Abbey, which is one of Ireland’s great castles that was a former private estate, then a girl’s school operated by Benedictine nuns.
Kylemore Abbey has become the most popular visitor attraction in the west of Ireland, famous for its beautiful mansion on the lake and extensive gardens all around -- certainly one of the most beautiful sites you’ll ever see.
The Abbey is easily reached on a day-trip from Galway city, which makes an ideal home base for exploring the majestic beauties of this area. You’ll find that Galway is a great town for strolling along its pedestrian main street with many shops and restaurants, including numerous pubs with live Irish music on offer. There are many fine hotels in Galway in a variety of price ranges to give you a good place to rest.
It’s just a quick look at Galway for now, which we show more of in our other Irish movies, then we’ll take you on a spectacular drive through Connemara and around the famous Sky Road, with some of the best views in Ireland, on our way to Kylemore Abbey, the main star of this show.
You’ll see that getting there is half the fun, driving north from Galway through the scenic grandeur of Connemara, passing through the villages of Moycullen and Oughterard, then stopping at Ballynahinch Castle Hotel.
That Sky Road scenic loop follows the famous coastal route west of the town of Clifden, with miles of stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean and shoreline communities. We did quite a bit of stopping and getting out of the van while driving through Connemara to enjoy the landscape, take a good look at and snap some pictures, and stop for some shopping at a traditional Irish gift shop.
Kylemore Abbey is one of the great highlights of Ireland. It was a former private mansion. And then it was a Benedictine Abbey, and became a private school for girls, and now it’s a major tourist attraction as you can see because it's so beautiful here on the lake. There is also a large flower garden, two places to eat, and lovely walking paths to explore the extensive grounds and stroll along the lakeshore. It really is a wonderful spot to see in Ireland.
Probably the best part of the visit is simply looking at the Abbey across the beautiful lake. But you also get to go inside and tour the former mansion, and explore the surrounding property.
The Catholic girl school was operated by Benedictine nuns and it was open from 1923 until it closed in 2010. There's still an order of Benedictine nuns who live here and operate the facilities. We had a chance to speak with Sister Magdalena, one of the nuns who tells us about the Abbey.
You could walk from the Abbey to the gardens, but it is about half a mile. And so they provide a shuttle bus to bring you from the Abbey over to the garden. You can walk around and then take the bus back again.
As described on their excellent website, the Victorian Walled Garden is an oasis of splendor in the wild Connemara Countryside. First developed in the early days of the Castle during the late 1800s it once boasted 21 heated glass houses and a work force of 40 gardeners. One of the last walled gardens built during the Victorian period in Ireland.
In earlier years the garden fell into decline and became completely overgrown, with brambles and trees hiding all traces of it’s former glory. The Benedictine nuns began an extensive program of restoration in 1995 and in the year 2000 the Garden was opened to the public. The Garden is divided in two by a beautiful mountain stream that runs through a small shaded fernery, an important feature of any Victorian Garden.
We then finish with a music video showing more of the scenic landscapes of Connemara and the Sky Road.
Best Tourist Attractions Places To Travel In Ireland | Connemara National Park Destination Spot
Top Tourist Attractions Places To Visit In Ireland | Connemara National Park Destination Spot - Tourism in Ireland - Trip to Ireland.
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The Big Wood Kylemore Abbey Ireland
Not the most popular destination to see in Ireland but this place is worth the visit for sure. One of the big differences between here and a lot of other places in Ireland is the massive amount of trees covering the mountains and gardens in the area. The castle built in Victorian style has stood the test of time, but not without service and upkeep. Because of its location this place gets absolutely pounded with rain but that's also what makes it so enchanting with moss and old growth forest engulfing the grounds. As always when exploring Ireland don't forget your rain gear. The monastery founded in 1920 on the grounds of Kylemore Castle was for Benedictine Nuns who fled Belgium in World War I. Here is a brief history:
Kylemore Castle was built in 1868 as a private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from London whose family was involved in textile manufacturing in Manchester, England. He moved to Ireland when he and his wife Margaret purchased the land around the Abbey, after having travelled there on their honeymoon in the mid 1840s. He became a politician, becoming an MP for County Galway from 1871 to 1885. The castle was designed by James Franklin Fuller, aided by Ussher Roberts. The construction of the castle began in 1867, and took the total of one hundred men and four years to complete. The castle covered approximately 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) and had over seventy rooms with a principal wall that was two to three feet thick. The facade measures 142 feet (43 m) in width and is made of granite brought from Dalkey by sea to Letterfrack and from limestone brought from Ballinasloe. 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. Other buildings include a Gothic cathedral and family mausoleum containing the bodies of Margaret Henry, Mitchell Henry and a great grand-nephew.
The Abbey remained in Henry's estate after he returned to England. The castle was sold to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester in 1909, who resided there for several years before being forced to sell the house and grounds because he lost it in a poker game. In 1920, the Irish Benedictine Nuns purchased the Abbey castle and lands after they were forced to flee Ypres, Belgium during World War I. The nuns, who had been based in Ypres for several hundred years, had been bombed out of their Abbey during World War I. The nuns continued to offer education to Catholic girls, opening an international boarding school and establishing a day school for girls from the locality. The school acted as the main educator for most girls from Renvyle, Letterfrack and further afield for almost a century but it was forced to close in June 2010.[1] The nuns have since been developing new education and retreat activities.
The Estate includes large walled Victorian Gardens. Since the 1970s these have been open for public tours and 'nature' walks. The Benedictine community has restored the Abbey's gardens and Cathedral with donations and local artisans in order to be a self-sustaining estate. However the garden is a shell of it's original grandeur, it used to boast 8-10 full time gardeners working on food for the entire estate including 6 full greenhouses, now there are only 2 greenhouses and a fraction of the grounds planted.
Wild Connemara Day Trip with Irish Day Tours
Discover the rugged beauty of Connemara on our day trip from Dublin.Connemara is located in Ireland’s beautiful west with unique and breathtaking scenery. On one side you have the Wild Atlantic Ocean and on the other the majestic mountain ranges of the Twelve Bens and Maumturk. Connemara has enchanted visitors for generations giving them cherished memories for many years to come.
The Top 10 Ireland Points of Interest to Visit in 2016
The Top 10 Ireland Points of Interest to Visit in 2016 -
1. Dublin City
2. Guinness Storehouse
3. Trinity College
4. St Patrick’s Cathedral
5. Cliffs of Moher
6. The Burren
7. Ring of Kerry
8. Skellig Islands
9. Aran Islands
10. Connemara National Park
For more info, you can visit:
Tour of Connemara, West of Ireland
Let Padraig show you his hidden Connemara, a magical place in the West of Ireland with famous hills, valleys, coastlines and fishing villages.
Ireland's West Coast: Galway to Cliffs of Moher, to Dingle
Our scenic drive from Galway to Dingle, Ireland, travels through various small towns with several stops along the way to admire fine Irish views.
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This coastal route is called the Wild Atlantic Way. From Galway City, we drive south to Oranmore and then to Kinvara. Turning right in Kinvara, we went through the Burren in County Clare, down to the Cliffs of Moher. And from the Cliffs of Moher we came down the west coast of Clare. We came down to Liscannor and continued on into Lahinch. From Lahinch we went down the west coast all the way down to Doonbeg. We had lunch in Kilrush and then caught our ferry across the River Shannon. We came into North Kerry, to Tarbert. And from Tarbert we came into Listowel. And from Listowel we went to Tralee, and from Tralee – we stopped in Tralee. We had a look at the gardens in Tralee and the history museum. We went to Camp, Lispole and on into Dingle and the Dingle Peninsula.
Magnificent Ireland 65 years ago
A 16mm film of a visit to Ireland. Great landscapes, Carna, Galway and Clifden are called on in the great old car (make?)
A reviewer report that Newport Mayo is at the start of the clip the Black Oak river he is fishing in. Paul C, wrote: The footage starting at around 55 seconds is of Achill Island, Co Mayo. The shot of the 2 women walking over a bridge is taken just on the island from Achill Sound looking back over the bridge along the road towards Tonragee. The steep roofed building on the left is now the site of the Railway Hostel and adjacent to the building on the right is now the excellent Alice's bar. (At 48 seconds the mountain in the background looks an awful lot like Slievemore to me but it's hard to say..? (Michael:) Incidentally I met lady Mayo in Hong Kong in 1955.
See my other 1100 clips by searching YouTube with 'michael rogge'
Website 'Man and the Unknown'
My apologies for using the wrong kind of music. cannot change it anymore now. See also my other clips by searching with 'Michael rogge + ..........'
Ireland trip - Galway city + Connemara - January 2018
A simple and unpretentious video-diary about our 2 days trip in Ireland, the place where we belong, to celebrate our 10th anniversary.
Locations:
Galway city + Salthill Prom + Connemara region.
Gear:
GoPro Hero6
Filming and editing by:
Filippo De Dionigi
Mara Olgiati
Soundtrack:
Galway Girl by Andrea Rock
Album: Hibernophile (2015, Ammonia Records)
Spotify:
andrearock.it
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filippodedionigi.com
2011-06-28 Ireland day 6, Irish sheep blockade :)
Kasia and Majk are exploring the Green Island :)
Day 6, we are leazily cruising the western coast when suddenly..