Cork to Connemara

I quite enjoyed the ferry. I had one bout of sea legs when I got up to use the toilets and realized I was swaying like I’d had a few too many if you know what I mean, but other than that there were no real problems. I got to Rosslare Port a little after 6 in the evening and had a stressful hour involving my lack of cash funds and their dire necessity in the purchasing of a bus ticket to Cork. Silly me, I figured a ferry port bringing tourists from across the sea would possess a cash point but that most definitely was not the case. After identifying that there was a bank in the small village (naturally at the peak of a nice little hill) and that the bus would pick me up near this place I power walked up the numerous stairs and bobbled through the streets until I located the bank and my cash salvation. The next leg was the four-hour plus bus ride from Rosslare to Cork with a 40-minute break in Waterford where you had to pay to use the toilets. Having only crisp bank notes I had to kindly ask a stranger for 20 cents in order to relieve my bladder. Finally arriving in Cork I hailed a cab and made my way to Anne’s house (which is called by a name and not possessing a clearly labeled house number) just before midnight.

I spent a little over a day in Cork so you can ask for my opinion of it but it really wouldn’t tell you much. About half my time there was spent in Anne’s house, I spent a couple hours walking around the University College Cork campus, which is lovely in my opinion, and a short stroll into the town centre where we had some bread and a smoothie from an English market (funny, eh?) After a lovely dinner cooked by Anne of a breaded chicken wrapped in ham (it has a name but I don’t remember it), cornbread and cinnamon carrots, we realized winging the trip was maybe not such a good idea. We then spent the rest of the evening booking hostels and re-arranging itineraries until we had something that looked like it would work. After much deliberation we decided our first stop would be Galway and a tour of the beautiful Connemara region of the west. Of course that also meant another four-hour bus ride…

It started raining the second we got off the bus in Galway and by the time we had consulted a variety of maps, walked in the right direction on the right street we became confused by the numbering system of the houses and ended up calling the B&B to get some help. It was about 2 minutes farther down on the street, of course, but we were greeted by that great Irish hospitality in the mother and daughter that run the B&B recommended by Rick Steves and booked at a rather late hour the night before. After recovering from the rain trudge we re-emerged into the overcast, but not raining, streets of Galway. We walked through the pedestrian, and touristy, city centre popping into one of the pubs that had live traditional music playing and staying the length of a pint before grabbing some Italian food at a nearby restaurant which was good but overpriced. And with that we called it a night on the town and headed back to our inviting beds.

In the morning we had a full Irish breakfast (which differs from an English breakfast in that instead of grilled mushrooms and a tomato you get little sliced potatoes) and were picked up by the Connemara tour bus in front of the B&B, thanks to our thoughtful and knowledgeable hostess. The day tour was awesome because we got to see so much stuff in a short amount of time and we had an entertaining tour guide who kept us engaged the whole time. Our first stop was at Ross Errily Friary; a ruined abbey that was more like a maze of stone with varying degrees of wholeness. The sun was out as well which cast glowing light through rows of archways leading to several different locations. After being given a run down of the history we were given a few minutes to wander around and take photos. I immediately went in the opposite direction of the crowd and found myself in what was thought to have been the Abbot’s rooms. Just standing there looking up at the roofless stone walls as the strong wind pushed white clouds across a brilliant blue sky was humbling. Far too soon we were herded back onto the bus, but not before Anne and I engaged in a mini photo shoot, and were off to the next destination. A reoccurring theme of the tour was the filming locations of the John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara film, The Quiet Man. Have you seen it? Well I haven’t but as soon as I have my netflix account back it will be up there on my queue! We stopped in the village of Cong which is known for two things: as the filming location for The Quiet Man and for it’s proximity to Ashford Castle, the grandest castle in Ireland that you can actually book a room at. We were given about an hour to do what we liked so Anne and I had a quick look at the ruined Cong Abbey (not as impressive as Ross Errily in it’s isolated grandness) and then went on the 10 minute walk up to see this “premiere castle” as I believe it is proclaimed in the brochure. Well, I’m here to tell you that it is THE premiere castle hotel for the world as far as I’m concerned. Don’t believe me? Check this out: http://www.ashford.ie/tour.html After that brief detour (we only had time to check out the front of the castle and walk over the fortified bridge) we made our way through the countryside to Lough Nafooey, through stunning valleys with sheep in abundance, and o’er roads that really just weren’t meant for a bus. We passed by the town of Leenane, the Killary Fjord, the only fjord and longest inlet in Ireland, and ended up at the climax of the tour: Kylemore Abbey.

Kylemore Abbey and I have a long history with each other. Years ago I bought an Ireland poster online showing a mysterious castle across a loch with a small boat tied to the bank framed by the lush green that you imagine Ireland to have. The picture, as you have no doubt figured out, is of Kylemore Abbey. So when the bus pulled into the car park, I disembarked with an innate curiosity and also a sense of reluctance. When we came into view of the house, it looked exactly like the poster, there was even a small wooden boat rocking gently in the lake. It wasn’t as green in real life but I was very impressed with the first glimpse. It was built romantically by a man for his great love, fell into disrepair after their generation had gone and then fell into the hands of a Benedictine Order of Nuns. We had access to a few of the rooms on the ground floor which radiated an early 20th century grandeur that made you wonder what the rest of the place, restricted to tourists, looks like. We spent loads of time taking pictures of each other with the castle and lake as backdrops while we wandered from the castle to the church (built as a final act of devotion for a dead wife by the original owner) and on to the walled Victorian gardens, which I wasn’t entirely impressed with. We also had lunch at the café, a nice French onion soup and salad. After Kylemore, we drove through more of the picturesque Irish valleys filled with lakes, sheep and derelict cottages left over from the famine over 150 years ago. Our last stop was at “the quiet man” bridge. Apparently it features in the film as the place where John Wayne pulls over for a cigarette, not a bad place to pull over and admire the scenery, I think.

We returned to Galway in time for Anne to go to Saturday evening mass. Not being Catholic and not fancying church on a Saturday, I went back to the B&B for some downtime before dinner. I had Irish strew which was very good at a touristy little place where they didn’t even have a license to serve a pint of cider. We decided to check out a pub on the way back that advertised live music and ended up staying for more than one pint. The music was brilliant and the place felt less touristy than the other pubs we had seen in the city centre. We met a girl from Seattle who was student teaching near Dublin for a month and had come to Galway for the weekend. It was fun chatting to her, drinking Guinness from the source and listening to the chill music. Later in the evening a two man cover act came on playing a lot of classic oldies and some newer stuff as well but the highlight was definitely when the great tune “Galway Girl” came up. It was perfect. Then we left at nearly midnight, realized it was daylights savings meaning it was actually almost one in the morning and quickly got into bed for we were off again in the morn, making our way north to Donegal.