Connemara

My friend Emily (who has been one of my closest friends since 5th grade) came to visit this week. Earlier in the week we went to Connemara for the day. Connemara is just north of Galway. It contains many villages that were severely impacted by the Great Famine in Ireland. (If you don't know what the Famine was, read my paper posted below on it and it might give you a greater understanding)

We headed up the coastal road on our tour bus and the sites were gorgeous. We drove through numerous villages that still have thatched roofs, and small cottages. There are many lakes when you drive through the Connemara region as well as fishing towns. The big stop of the day was at Kylemore Abbey. It's a castle that was built back in the 1850's by the Henry's. When Mr. Henry's wife died back in the early 20th century they sold the castle to a series of nuns. Emily and I were quite proud to be there because we were putting our Forest Ridge educations to use since we were taught by nuns back in middle school. On the grounds are the original castles, the gothic church, and beautiful gardens. When my parents come visit next month we are going to visit there again, and I can't wait to see the gardens when they are bloomed.

After the Abbey we continued our drive for the reason and got to see the only Fjord in Ireland, which was absolutely beautiful. The drive home was funny because we got to witness our first irish traffic jam.... Sheep were in the middle of the street and the bus couldn't go anywhere for awhile! Overall it was a gorgeous day, complete sunshine too! I have posted pictures below for you to check out as well.