MacsTravel Blog

Connemara is a beautiful area to the north and west of Galway full of picturesque and peaty landscapes, beautiful lakes and dramatic mountains. Or so we were told. We had our worst weather of the trip during our visit there: misty cloudy conditions punctuated by driving rains and gale force winds, weather which Stevie delightfully referred to as “autumnal” or “tropical”. Planned hiking and cycling outings were put on hold but we did manage to squeeze in a few sites. At times the weather would pause and we’d be treated to dramatically steep and green hills lined with silvery fingers of streams and waterfalls: absolutely beautiful.

The picturesque Kylemore Abbey (formerly a castle, then a vanity honeymoon gift, then a girls school, and now an actual abbey) is a beautiful building set dramatically against the hills of Connemara and in the shores of Lake Kylemore. There are rumours of scenic coastal walking trails. We can’t confirm this. It was particularly “tropical” when we were there, which meant that we took the time to use the washrooms and to snap a couple of quick pics before retreating to the bus.

We had better luck at Aughnanure Castle, a late medieval tower house with remnants of the exterior fortifications and buildings scattered around the impressively preserved tower building itself. The local guide gave a marvellous talk which focused mainly on all the innovative and diabolical ways tower defenders could inflict damage on invading forces (falling rocks, crossbow holes, boiling oil, murder holes, tiny doorways and stairwells designed to force invaders to use their non-dominant hand, etc…). We enjoyed exploring the grounds and the tower and the temporary absence of lashing “autumnal” precipitation.

Perhaps the highlight of our time in Connemara was our stay at the profoundly quirky Abbeyglen Castle Hotel. We were greeted by the effervescent manager Brian who positively vibrated with blarney and Irish hospitality on steroids. He got us our keys, arranged for our bags to be taken to our rooms, invited us to a cocktail reception at which he gave a talk on the history of the property, took photos of us, met us at our dinner table where he presented us with prints of said photos, played music and led birthday greetings and played the piano and finagled people to sing at the bar after dinner. It was an impressive display, and we were shocked to see him appear just as energetic at breakfast the next day.

The mighty craic wasn’t because of Brian though. It was a product of what a nice group of folks were on this trip and how well people got along. It turned out a few of the 20 somethings had been conspiring to pretend it was Robin’s birthday for a few days in order to take advantage of any free cake that the pub or restaurant we were at might provide. They were delighted with themselves for having pulled this off on the final night!

I think I mentioned earlier that our group of 13 was made up of the two of us, a couple from DC and their two adult children, and a couple from Kentucky and their adult kids and partners. They were all great. We avoided politics for the most part (and most of us were definitely on a similar page there) and just enjoyed sharing in a great trip.

Much of the credit for the trip goes to the itinerary designed by the company Vagabond and their emphasis on small group active tours. Our guide Stevie was generous with his time, a great teller of stories, narrated a very entertaining overview of 10 000 years of Irish history and culture over the 8 days, and shared an emotional and riveting account of being an Irish Catholic kid growing up in Derry during the troubles and the peace process. Many thanks to him for, as he would say, the mighty craic on this trip.