Connemara and Kylemore Abbey Full Day Tour (Connemara/bus/sheep/more sheep)

When looking at tours around the Galway area, I wanted to see Connemara (no real reason, really, other than the name was interesting and I couldn’t find a ton of info on it being a tourist mecca, which interested me). While researching it, I kept seeing tours advertising Kylemore Abbey. Since I love me a good old building, when I found a tour that went to both, I signed up for it. It looked good to Jenn, too, when we talked about her coming over while I was there, so she signed up for the same tour. Did we have a good time? OF COURSE.

And like the previous day when it was beautiful and sunny while we were doing all this outdoor stuff, this day was rainy and gray while we were doing indoor and bus stuff. Perfect!

It was kind of nice to view all this from the inside of the bus. I did have a raincoat that I’d brought specifically to wear on these trips, and getting on and off the bus, putting it on and taking it off, I realized… I hate the raincoat. I actually wound up leaving it in the hotel I stayed in, in Belfast.

You know what I didn’t hate, though? Connemara. It was beautiful and wild and still and silent and full of stones and sheep. It was heavy with history. I fell in love with it.

Oh! And we saw a Fairy Tree! I’m not going to delve into what a Fairy Tree is (or isn’t) because there’s a bajillion other sites out there – actual Irish ones – that can do a better job of that. But. Did I lay my hand on it? Did I tell it my troubles? Did I feel better the next day? You’ll have to go to Ireland and find one, and see if it works for you.

We also saw so many sheep. SO MANY. I already knew the spray paint on the sheep was to indicate who the farmer was who owned the sheep, but I didn’t know it was because there are almost no fences and the sheep pretty much all go wherever the fuck they want. Fields. Other fields. Middle of the street. People’s yards. More fields. SO MANY SHEEP. EVERYWHERE.

There was also water everywhere (bogs… whatcha gonna do). Little streams. Angry streams. Calm streams. Little ponds or lakes. Running water. Standing water. Puddles because of the rain.

Also more sheep in the road!

I don’t really know why Connemara tugged at my heart so much. It was just so wild and barren but full of life at the same time. It felt… full of ghosts. Full of fairies. Full of magic. Not the kind of magic you see when you’re looking for it, but the kind that’s just at the edge of your eyesight. Like something you see move at the corner of your eye and you turn your head and it’s gone. The solid weight of stone and moss. The twisty mystery of trees and gnarled bushes. I could go back there and just stare at things for days.

I’ll leave you with a cute picture of me and Jenn in the cold wet rain….

And coming up next, the Kylemore Abbey!