6 July 2024 Connemara and the Kylemore Abby

  6 July 2024     Connemara and the Kylemore Abby

Today we continued our exploration of Connemara with a visit to a sheep farm.  I have to admit that I was not very enthusiastic about this visit – we visited several sheep farms in Australia and New Zealand.  But it turned out to be one of the best stops.  The sheep farmer was also a shearer and sheep dog trainer.  The sheep he raises are mountain sheep that he brings down every winter as they would not survive in the harsh mountain conditions.  In late spring after the shearing ends (around the end of June) he lets them return to the mountains as by then the spring lambs are strong enough to survive.  There was also a pen where the orphan lambs are kept.  They are hand fed until they are old enough to join the rest of the herd.  There was one poor lamb that kept bleating for his mother – so sad. 

Dog Herding Sheep

Orphaned Lamb Bleating for its Mother

Shearing the Sheep

Shearing the Sheep

Sheep's Wool After Shearing

Mussel Farm

Orphan Lambs

Sheep Waiting to Move to the Mountain

 

Foxglove Wild Flower

The farmer then told us of the struggles the sheep farmers face and the fact that this may be a dying trait as not many young people are willing to stay on the family farms and continue the sheep farming traditions.  He shears all his sheep by hand and can do one sheep in about 5 minutes.  We also had a demonstration of how a sheep dog is trained to interact with both farmer and the sheep.  It takes about 3 years to train a dog.  It was amazing how far away from the trainer the dogs could be and still understand the commands the man is giving them.  The farmer has a brother that does help him when he is not working on the mussel farm he owns out in the water.

Leaving the sheep farm we traveled to the Kylemore Abbey, built in 1868, on the peaceful Kylemore Loch.  The castle (as it was referred to then) was built by a successful financier, Mitchell Henry, after his bride Margaret, while on their honeymoon to Connemara in the mid 1840’s, gushed over how beautiful the area was and how wonderful it would be to live there.  Mitchell heeded her words and and in 1867 he began construction of the castle was built.    He not only wanted to show his love for his wife, but also to showcase what could be achieved in the remote wilds of Connemara.  The couple then spent much of their time adding all the modern-day innovations to the 70-room estate and expanding the gardens to include 21 heated glass greenhouses where they grew exotic fruits and vegetables.  During the building process, Henry helped the local community recover from the potato famine by hiring local workers and providing homes and schooling to the local population. 

 Unfortunately, on a visit to Egypt in 1874, Margaret contracted a fever and died.  Broken hearted over her death, her husband built his wife an elegant memorial, a neo-Gothic church nestled in the nearby mountain.  After her death, Mitchell hardly spent much time at Kylemore.  When Mitchell died in 1910, he was buried next to his wife in the church. 

 In 1920 the 1,000 acre estate was gifted to the local monastic order and became an Abbey for Benedictine Nuns who fled Belgium during WWI.  Surrounded by a beautiful 6-acre, walled Victorian garden, the Abbey remains today as a working abbey.  The Abby also has a partnership with the University of Notre Dame that offers unique opportunities for reflection, creativity, and learning, hosting a variety of programs that enrich the Notre Dame community.

After eating lunch at one of the Abbey’s cafes, we first walked around the beautiful Victorian Gardens.  The flowers were in full bloom and the garden is flanked by woods and water on both sides.  We next walked down along the lake to the small Neo Gothic Chapel.  Along the way we saw the new dormitory for the Notre Dame students, a small waterfall and the ruins of the old Boathouse.  The Churchis tower was under renovation, so we did not get a complete view of what the exterior of the chapel looked like.  The inside seemed rather plain, but it has beautiful stained glass windows and marble columns.  Near the church was the mausoleum where the couple are buried. 

Back at the Abbey we walked through some of the rooms in the on a self-guided tour.  The rooms were as they were when Mitchell Henry built the castle.  We finished at the gift shop where we tasted some Irish Crème that is made at the Abbey.  It was delicious – it now be my go-to for coffee.

Beautiful Irish Countryside

Kylemore Abbey

Kylemore Abby Sacred Heart Statue

Gardens

Gardens

Gardens

Gardens

Gardens

Gardens

Waterfall near Church

Ruins of Boathouse

Neo Gothic Church

Inside the Church

Stained Glass Windows

Marble Columns in Church

Cemetery Near Church

Living Room of the Henry's Family

Wedding Dress Worn by Henry's 3rd Daughter

Dining Room

There are several legends or fables surrounding Connemara and the Kylemore Estates.  

One of the most popular legends in Connemara is the story of Grace O’Malley.  She was a 16^th century pirate queen, married to Donall O’Flaherty, one of the ferocious O’Flaherty clan in Connemara.  She would terrorize any English ship that sailed into the waters around Connemara

·     There is another story about Finn McCool (remember him from Giant’s Causeway) and Cu Chulainn, another mythological figure of Ireland.  According to legend, the two engaged in a battle in the mountains around Connemara.  It was during one of those battles, that Cu Chulainn picked up a massive stone and hurled it toward Finn.  It missed Finn, but ended up at an unusual angle on the grounds of the Kylemore Estate.  The stone looks like a traditional clothing iron and is called the “Ironing Stone” or the “Smoothing Stone.”  To the local children it is a wishing stone.

 

Ironing Stone

·       According to legend Finn McCool lives on one of the mountains, known as “The Diamond,” which faces the Kylemore Abby from the south.  The mountain contains quartz which sparkles when the sun hits it.

·      Children love to tell the tale of a white horse that emerges from the lake (or loch) in front of the Kylemore Abbey every seven years.  In 2022, Abbey workers were certain that they had seen the horse, but most people believe that it is more than likely to be wispy white clouds moving across the surface of the lake.

·       And the last legend again revolves around Finn McCool.  High above the church is an unusual rocky outcrop that is called “Leim na h’Elite” (The Deer’s Leap).  As the story goes, Finn McCool’s horse Bran were chasing an enchanted deer through the wilds of Connemara.  Traveling at high speed, Finn noticed that his horse was in danger as it was close to a rocky cliff.  He called for Bran to stop and return to him, but the horse was too involved with the chase that it did not hear him.  When the deer leaped from the cliff, Bran followed him into the lake.  Neither were ever seen again.

On the drive back to the hotel, we stopped by a field where the locals had dug up some of the peat bog to use as a source of heat in the winter.  As this area is dotted with bogs, here is a little more information on peat.  You didn’t know you were getting a history lesson today.  Peat has been the centerpiece of rural life for many centuries where it was used for heat.  The act of removing the peat from the bogs, called turf cutting, has been immortalized in songs, paintings, and poems.  However, now with all the emphasis on and efforts to combat climate change, this may all change.  While in Connemara you still see stacks of peat drying in the sun before it is burned, Ireland is hoping to end this practice.

Peat, a saturated soil, is formed from the accumulation of decaying vegetation over thousands of years.  One of the characteristics of peat is that it soaks up and stores huge amounts of greenhouse gases, storing twice as much carbon as all the forests of the world combined.  Peat bogs account for 20% of Irelands terrain and store more than a billion tons of carbon.  Unfortunately, when this peat is cut from the bogs and then burned, it releases those greenhouse gases into the air, contributing around 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions.  As a result, Ireland ranks as one of the top European greenhouse gas emitters.  The government is now working to preserve the peatlands by ordering all commercial turf-feed power plants to be closed.  If they are successful in preserving the bogs, peat will be like Ireland’s own coral reefs – containing tons of flora, fauna, and history underneath its top layer.

In addition, peat is also a natural time capsule.  From the discoveries made in the peat bogs, Ireland has been able to document some of its ecological and cultural history.  One of the most remarkable discoveries has been the well preserved bodies that have been found, thanks to the high acidity in the soil and the cool temperatures of the bogs.  So far 17 bodies have been found, some dating back to 1000 B.C.E.  We saw four in Dublin’s National Museum, including the Oldcrogan Man dating back to between 362 and 175 B.C.E., that provided the first set of fingerprints known to man.  If you are ever lucky enough to visit Dublin’s National Museum, you can view these four bog bodies.

 

Piece of Peat

Peat Bog Where Peat has been Harvessted

We made one last stop on a hilltop overlooking Clifden Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.  The coastline was beautiful, and Tom had brought some Irish Creme so we could toast another wonderful day in Ireland. 

We also saw two white Connemara ponies which are Ireland’s native horse breed although their earlier origins most probably came from Scandinavia and Spain.  As early as 795 AD the Vikings brought an earlier version of the breed to Ireland, but it wasn’t until 1588 when the Spanish Armada ran aground that the Connemara pony was formed.   They are known for their strong work ethic and friendly personality. Their ability to adapt to the harsh conditions of the Connemara region resulted in a breed with a muscular back, short, strong legs, and hard feet.  They are also great jumpers and have won many championships in competitive showjumping tournaments.

 

Atlantic Coastline

Atlantic Coastline

Atlantic Coastline

 

Connemara Ponies

Ruins of Clifden Castle