Kylemore Abbey and Connemara

Farm after Leaving Lough Inagh Lodge

Kylemore Abbey

Dining Room in Abbey

Gothic Chapel on the Abbey Grounds

Inside the Walled-Victorian Gardens

Thached-roof Cottage in Tully Cross

Atlantic near Renvyle Peninsula

Herb Garden at Renvyle House Hotel

Renvyle House Hotel

Atlantic Coastline Near Glassilaun Beach

Bog after Peak Removal

September 27, 2010

Today is our last day of biking and it should be another rain-free day.  Leaving the lodge at 9:30 AM we biked to Kylemore Abbey, which was built by William Henry as a castle in the 1870’s on 15,000 acres of land in the Connemara wilderness for his wife.  It is now an abbey for the nuns of the Benedictine Order who purchased it in 1920 .  The castle had its own hydroelectric generating plant built in 1893, a fire brigade , a small Gothic chapel, and a walled Victorian garden.  The entire estate is gorgeous with great views of the lake and mountains.  The garden contained not only many perennials along the walkway, but vegetables. 

Leaving the Abbey, we biked to Renvyle House Hotel on the west coast of Ireland for a lunch of seafood chowder and sandwiches.  The grounds contained a 9-hole golf course and a very nice herb garden.  After lunch, we bike along the coastal route with views of the Atlantic and were accompanied by a very strong head wind.  In fact, on one straight level stretch, I could bike no faster than 7 mi/hr.  Although, I had planned to do the 12 mile land extension, which has to be a very hilly ride, I decided to forego the ride because of the strong wind.  Instead I worked on the trip pictures and converted them into a PowerPoint presentation.   We gathered before dinner to briefly talk about the highlights of the trip and enjoy a glass of champagne.  Tomorrow morning we must be ready to leave on the bus at 7:00 AM to catch the 9:05 AM train in Galway for our trip to Dublin.

The trip certainly appeared to end too soon.  We both biked the entire scheduled routes and saw a most beautiful area of Ireland with absolutely great trip guides and fun-loving fellow VBT travelers. 

Ride to Connemara

View From Kilmarvey Guesthouse

Kilmurvey Guesthouse

Thached-roof Cafe

Old Church in Kilronan

The Bog Countryside in Connemara

Mountains in the Connemara National Park

Lough Inagh Lodge

View from Our Room

Main Dining Room at the Lodge

Enjoying a Demo on Preparing Irish Coffee

 September 26, 2010

Today we leave the Aran Islands on the noon ferry.  Although the weather was cold and blustery, there was a short 4 mile ride to the north end of the island that end by some ruins and more houses of the island’s inhabitants.  About 10:45 AM we road into today, did a little shopping in the wool sweater shops, and proceeded to the ferry landing.  The wind was strong and cold.  After a 45 minute ride to the mainland at Rossaveel, we began biking for the day to our lodging at Lough Inagh Lodge near Recess in Connemara.  The route took us bog roads through the bogs of Connemara where the land was more yellow-brown in color due to the acidity of the land.  Normal grasses that give the very lush green color of most of the land we have seen cannot grow in the acidic bogs.  There were numerous streams and small lakes in the area and mountains in the background.   Along the way we passed many trenches where the peat had been cut from the bog and stacked to dry for later transporting to homes for fireplace fuel.  Also we saw sheep grazing throughout the area and often along the road.  We stopped for lunch as a small café where most of the people had smoked salmon or smoked mackerel.  The last 5 miles of biking was oriented toward the mountains with great views of small lakes.  Our last two nights will be a Lough Inagh Lodge (www,loughinaghlodgehotel.ie) which is situated on the shore of Lough Inagh where there is fishing, golfing, riding, biking, etc.  The lodge is beautiful from the outside with vines, which have changed to a bright red autumn color, growing on the exterior yellow-tan colored walls.  We had a large corner with an accompanying small sitting room with views of the Twelve Brns mountain range and the lake.  The land borders on Connemara National Park.   Tonight one of the entrée choices was lamb shank, which I had with an apple and kiwi filled crepe. n Bev had the seafood with vegetables and ice cream.

Aran Islands

After Ferry Ride to Kilronan

Watching for Seals

Trek to Dun Aengus

Cliffs at Dun Aengus

Stone "lances"

Stone Walls on Inis Mor

September 25, 2010

Breakfast was at 7:30 AM in the Park House Hotel dining room and was the usual hearty breakfast.  At 8:50 AM sharp, we started our short walk to the bus stop where we caught double-decker, city bus to the ferry landing; about a 40 minute ride.  The first bus was packed and we took the second bus, which was packed before we left the stop.  Everyone on these buses was heading to the Aran Islands ferry.  Blustery weather with gray skies was going to be the weather for the day and we were dressed in layers.  All the bikes were loaded onto the ferry and we climbed aboard and headed to the enclosed seating area for the 40 minute ride across Galway Bay to Kilronan, the ferry port on Inishmore Island.  We were greeted with a strong wind and after the bikes were unloaded and overnight packs loaded onto a tiny flatbed truck, we began biking to our guest house.  The lower road route took us along the shoreline with good views of the stone-fenced land and north shoreline. 

After lunch at a small café, we got our hiking shoes and began the trek to Dün Aenghus, which is the site of an old Celtic fort (1100 BCE) on the towering cliffs of the upper south side of the island.  In fact, we can see the fort from our room in the guest house.  The stone fortress is on the cliff-edge 300 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.  Its consists of concentric walls that are 13 feet thick and 10 feet in height.  Between the second and third “ring” are the strategically placed spiky stones that stick up like lances.  From the cliff’s edge there are spectacular views along the coast to the east and to the west with the surf crashing into blow holes and making the sound of a beating base drum.  The white sea foam is constantly “boiling” and falling from the rocks. 

Back to the hotel, I changed into my biking shoes and took a circular ride starting on the “high” road and returning on the”low” road.  Because the island is relatively small, the circular island ride was only 8.22 miles.  Tonight we have a home-cooked meal of Irish stew with Guinness..