Dunguaire Castle

Dunguaire Castle is a 16th century tower house located on the southern shores of Galway Bay.  It was built in 1520 by the Hynes Clan. Legend has it if a person stands at the front gate, and asks a question, they will have the answer to that question by the end of the day. I did some research on this castle after we came home, and Dunguaire is thought to be one of the most photographed castles in Ireland! Funnily enough we didn't even know this castle existed before our trip.

We left our B&B that morning and began our journey to Liscannor, where we would be staying the next couple of nights. It ended up taking us the entire day to get there! There were so many things we came across and we stopped at all of them. We were passing through a small, Irish town when a castled popped up out of nowhere! We had a just driven around a curve, and directly in front of us was the castle! We were so excited to see our very first castle! We had been warned that castles would be everywhere, but this one is special to me now. We drove past the castle and parked in the free parking lot down the road. It's a small parking lot, but it is free. We crossed the street and walked a couple minutes to the castle. It's a very picturesque castle with the Irish countryside on one side and Galway Bay on the other side.

Dunguaire is run by Shannon Heritage and it was in very good condition. I think Bunratty is the only castle we saw that beats it in condition. The have the rooms set up as you imagine they would be in medieval times. We paid a small fee in order to tour the castle. It was awesome! The spiral staircase starts on the first floor and continues to the top. You are able to enter the rooms at each landing. In some cases you had no choices, but to get off at a landing in order for the people coming down to pass you.

The Great Hall is set up just as you imagined it would be. The table went around the room with the lord and lady's chairs at the head. I'm not sure if your allowed to sit in the chairs, but I did!

 

We became very familiar with spiral, stone staircases on this trip. On the top floor there is a couple of steps that lead you outside to battlements. You are allowed to go up and walk around. Some of my favorite pictures were taken here!

It was so beautiful! The views of Galway Bay and the irish countryside were amazing! They did a wonderful job restoring this castle. I'm so glad we stopped. Sometimes deviating from your plan gives you such unexpected surprises!

The castle is open from April- October 1, 10am- 4pm. The admission for the castle is as follows:

Adult- 5 euros
5-16 children- 2.95 euros
0-5 children- free
Seniors- 3.50 euros

They also offer the Dunguaire Banquet. We didn't know this was offered, but we did do the Bunratty Medieval Banquet. They are both run by the Shannon Heritage, so I'm sure this one would be fine also. We really enjoyed our banquet. The banquet is offered at 5:30pm and 8:45pm. Reservations are required. Reservations can be made at Dunguaire Castle or on their website http://www.shannonheritage.com/EveningEntertainments/DunguaireCastleBanquet/.

Kylemore Abbey

Hey Everyone! I can't believe my Ireland/London trip was six months ago. Time sure does flies!! This was an amazing experience and it was the first time out of the U.S for my friend and I. We definitely enjoyed it, although there was hiccups along the way. I will be splitting the reviews for this trip up into a series. This was a 12 day trip and I want to make sure I can get into details. We landed in Dublin at 4:52am on 3 hours of sleep, and we left the airport around 7am. Collecting the car turned out to a little bit of a mess, but it all turned out ok. We began the two drive to our B&B in Galway.

Our hostess was so kind and offered us tea and coffee while we waited on our rooms. Rebecca actually fell asleep while we waited! We decided to drive up to Kylemore Abbey. It would be the only opportunity for us and it came highly recommended. Let me mention that my dad lived in Ireland for a couple of years and was able to give us great advice on what to visit. The drive through Connemara was so beautiful. The landscape was wild, rugged and dramatic. Much different then most of the Irish countryside. I seem to prefer the more wild and rugged landscape. There is just something so intriguing about it.

                                                                              Connemara

It was an experience driving through Connemara. At one point we almost went over a cliff into a lake! At our first glance of Kylemore I remember thinking how striking it was against the landscape. I would recommend visiting to anyone who has the opportunity. One thing I did learn is that student cards are golden! I was able to get discounts off of every attraction we visited on our trip.

Kylmore's history began with Henry Mitchell who took his new bride to Connemara for their honeymoon. It is said that Margaret fell in love with the area. When Henry came into a sizeable fortune he bought the land Kylemore is built on. Construction on the house began in 1867 and took four years to complete. In the mid 1870's Margaret died due to a fever she contracted on a visit to Egypt. A couple years later their daughter was killed in a accident involving a horse. Henry went back to England and sold the property to the Duke of Manchester, who resided there for a couple years before selling it. They were forced to sell it to pay off increasing gambling debts.

In the 1920's Kylmore and some its surrounding lands were purchased by Benedictine Nuns were converted it into a abbey. The nuns opened Kylmore Abbey as an international boarding school and day school for local girls (who were able to get a free education). There were some famous pupils that attending this school, American actress Angelica Heuston and some Indian Princesses. Due to a decrease in enrollment number the school had to close. The last students attending school sat for their exams in June of 2010.

In addition to the abbey there is also a church, mausoleum (Henry Mitchell and his wife are buried here), informal gardens, and gift store/ restaurant. We arrived just in time for lunch. I had a chicken wrap and I was disappointed in it. The chicken was bland and dry, but Rebecca enjoyed her food.  You can only tour the 1st floor of the abbey. I was a little disappointed, but I have discovered that is how it is with a lot of historic buildings. The grounds and trails were lovely to walk, even in the dizzily rain. It's costs 12.50 euros for an adult, 9.00 euros for a senior, 9.00 euros for a student. Children under the age of 10 get in free. Also, if you buy your tickets from the website (http://www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie/) you will receive 10% off your ticket!

                                                                              Kylemore

 

 

                                                                                 The Church

 

 

The formal gardens were pretty. There is a shuttle available if you prefer not to walk. This is the only part of the grounds were this was available, so be prepared to walk!

                                                           Flower Gardens

                                                     Vegetable Gardens

We toured as much as we could before we were hit by some serious jetlag. We were in bed by 6pm and we were fully recovered by 8am the next morning. A long day on just 3 hours of sleep!

                                                                  I fell asleep on the way back :)