Touring Oireland: Day 3…

…Oh, what a glorious day it was here in Oireland–the sun was out and everything!!…It just made my little outing that more lovely, :-)…

You see, today we had another excursion–this time, we went to the Connemara region of County Galway…One of the things that Connemara is famous for is its beautiful, jade-colored marble, which is often used in jewelry and figurines–something that definitely makes for good presents [hint, hint, Mommy and Aunties, :-)]…

…Different shades of marble found throughout Ireland…

After seeing the precious stone, we headed towards Kylemore Abbey…The Abbey’s grounds consist of a main castle, 13, 000 acres of landscape (including walled, Victorian gardens), and a small, Neo-Gothic chapel…

Completed in 1871 and originally known as Kylemore Castle, it was private home for the family of Mitchell Henry, a wealthy London doctor whose family was involved in the Manchester textile industry…After his wife Margaret’s tragic death in 1875, the property was sold to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester in 1909…Unfortunately, the Duke had a bit of a gambling problem, and they were eventually forced to sell the house…In 1920 the Irish Benedictine Nuns bought the land after they were bombed out of their abbey in Ypres, Belgium during WWI…They continued to offer education to Catholic girls, and opened an international boarding school and a day school for local girls…The school was forced to close down in 2010…

Now, I’ve seen my fair share of estates, and while the interior of the castle at Kylemore was not that striking, the magnificence of the setting was unreal…

Oh, and by the way–the food at the little café there is banging, especially considering how hungry I was after missing breakfast because I almost missed the bus!!…