WITH eyes all untroubled she laughs as she passes,
Bending beneath the creel with the seaweed brown,
Till evening with pearl dew dims the shining grasses
And night lit with dreamlight enfolds the sleepy town.
Then she will wander, her heart all a laughter,
Tracking the dream star that lights the purple gloom.
She follows the proud and golden races after,
As high as theirs her spirit, as high will be her doom.
-Æ
We’re north by northwest of Galway town, and we’re heading into the area known as Connemara. As you can see, the ceiling’s a bit low today, but I’m sure that we’ll still manage to make a few worthwhile discoveries around these parts.
Connemara, if you have ever heard anything about it, is known for a few things. Two that come to mind are Connemara ponies (actually, Rory was the person who reminded me of this) and the other is The Quiet Man. I’ve never actually seen this movie, but I do know for a fact that Shawn Thornton, left winger for the Boston Bruins, was named after the John Wayne character of this movie. How do I know this? Why, I sat next to his mom and dad at the last Bruins game I attended and his mom told me so. How fricking awesome is that?
Anyway, back to Connemara. We’re in our trusty rental car, and the scenery couldn’t be more aesthetically pleasing for me eyes. It’s definitely not the rolling green hills that hog the comprise the tourist circuit down south; instead the topography makes me feel like I’ve truly been dropped in that crazy sacred Otherworld that we learned about in college. The cloud cover alone makes a solid case for inherent and believable mystery.
What got Rory and I talking about coming up to these parts actually stems from visits to our old dentist’s office. Dr. Hutchinson always had a poster of the Kylemore Abbey on his wall, and during each checkup I would stare dumbly at that image as I attempted to stem my drooling while random implements where hacking away at Little Debbie Snack Cake cavities. Fudge Rounds, anyone?
I’m getting off topic. Here is Kylemore Abbey- looking just as cool (and fake!) as it did in my Cape Cod dentist’s office. We’ve got a lot of ground that we want to cover during this circuit, and I’m already well beyond my saturation point for cultural detail. We thus opt to enjoy the Abbey from the outside, and you will also agree to click on this link here if you want to learn about the Abbey for real.
After our stop at Kylemore, we set out to meet the westernmost extreme of Clifden. We’ve got lots of great scenery to enjoy, and not so much time. Still, we do manage to make one shopping pit stop to purchase hats and scarves. It’s windy out here, and I am absolutely powerless against a randomly-placed
Avoca store that is offering 20% off everything in the store (on top of tax-free shopping!). Powerless, I tell you- even when my suitcase already has zippo room inside. Yes, I bought a wool throw. And I love it.
Rolling past Clifden town, Rory and I head for
Sky Road. It’s a climb takes you out towards the ocean, except you’re kind of going up the entire time. An aptly-named road, it is tiny and winding. No matter, we Hallinan sisters are now pros at this kind of navigation.
It’s windy, it’s rugged, and it’s absolutely beautiful.
“God lives here.” That seems to be my immediate reaction when I’m up in high places. I had the same sentiment while on top of a Cape Verdean mountain, as well as on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
A little more down the road before we turn around head back towards civilization. I can’t help but just post images that look exactly the same. The memories are just too special.
Since we came into Connemara via the interior, we opted to skirt the coast as we headed back for Galway. Call me completely homesick but some of these views reminded me of home. Sharp flashes of Falmouth in the spring.
This here looks like a photo straight out of The Onion. Gotta be careful when you head to those Irish beaches.
The northern part of this area is known as Joyce’s Country. It’s named after a Welsh family that moved over here in the 13th century and kind of oversaw this area. Mors aut honorabilis vita, or ‘death before dishonor’ is their family’s motto. The internet also tells me that there were Joyce bishops and crusaders in the Holy Land. One who was captured en route was shown buried treasure by an eagle. When he escaped with this wealth he used it to build the walls of Galway city. There’s also some random guy named James who seems to enjoy some popularity in literary circles.
Sadly, this closes a brief chapter on Connemara. As usual, there’s so much here that was not explored- which only means that a return trip is surely in the cards. While I often think this while knowing that I won’t ever get back somewhere, with Ireland I know that this isn’t the case. Besides, I still haven’t been up to Sligo and Donegal- and if those counties are anything like what we’ve seen here, then I might have to apply for asylum for real. Either that or find myself a nice northern lad. I’ve got some fantastic Irish friends- I’m sure that they’d be more than willing to keep an eye out for me.
