Galway Girl

Stardate 67288.6

22:00 - We spent our third day in Ireland in County Galway. This was no ordinary day. This was a day of reckoning. You see, Focus Foxies, we placed this day aside as a prize. Earlier we had made a bet that the winner of our fantasy football league match-up would be King or Queen of the day. Since I did not prevail, Rob had great fun planning our day trip. Fortunately for a girl like me, Rob knows what I like to do. We set our sights on going to the country side to see Kylemore Abbey.

Lough Inagh, I believe

Kylemore Abbey lies in the heart of an area called Connemara. Throughout Ireland, you will find many gorgeous countrysides and wandering landscapes, but in my opinion, nothing compares to Connemara. Connemara's mountains rise up to meet the sky. Its adjacent lakes provide contrast as they dip below, and bogs cover the land. In October, the wind whips around the car, and we curved around each mountain, waiting to see what was next.  We took a shortcut to get to Kylemore Abbey through the Inagh Valley.

As in much of Ireland, Inagh Valley is home to many creatures of a more cuddly nature: sheep. At least, I assumed sheep were of a more cuddly nature, but alas, it is not so. I had many dreams when I landed in Ireland, chief among them to pet a sheep. I am sad to say, Focus Foxies, I failed miserably in this task. Connemara seemed like the perfect place to attempt it, but I got out of the car, carefully made my approach, and they fled like wild things.

We eventually made our way to Kylemore Abbey. Originally, Kylemore Abbey was no abbey at all; it was a castle built by a cotton merchant's son, named Mitchell Henry. Mitchell and his wife, Margaret, honeymooned in Connemara and fell in love with its beauty. When Henry inherited his father's fortunes, he set about to build a castle, or rather a monument to the love he held for Margaret. In 1867, he built a magnificent castle, employing many Irishmen after a time of great famine. He spared no expense in this undertaking. At this time, he had no worries about money in the slightest.

Kylemore Abbey

Mitchell Henry proved to be a great landlord and benefactor to the area, which had suffered from a lack of jobs and development. He provided adequate housing and schools for his tenants. He even provided windows in each house. Fun fact, Focus Foxies, windows were taxed by the English back in the day. Mr. Henry paid for the taxes to ensure that his tenants' houses were well lit. Sadly, the Henrys suffered a great loss when Margaret died young in Cairo. She left behind her grieving widower and nine children.


Kylemore went on spending lavishly.  Eventually, Henry had to sell the property, but not many takers existed. Even King George VII declined, mentioning the cost alone was exorbitant. Henry died in 1910 in England with less than 100 pounds to his name.

In 1903, the property made its way into the hands of the Duke and Duchess of Manchester as a wedding gift. However, the Duke's penchant for gambling was legendary. In a tight game of cards, he gambled away the deed to Kylemore. Needless to say, he lost more than a place to stay; the Duchess was soon on her way out as well.

Kylemore became an Abbey in 1920, when the Irish Benedictine Nuns purchased it. This order of nuns had been looking for a place to call their own for quite some time. Founded by Lady Butler in 1600s, the Irish order soon found themselves unwelcomed in Ireland due to the Williamites forcing out Catholic influences on the island. The nuns fled to Ypres for safety and were able to remain due to the patronage of King Jacob and Queen Mary. King James contributed to their handicraft works by purchasing their gold and silver weavings. The Benedictine Nuns were known far and wide for such works, and for a king (or a king without a kingdom), this was an invaluable skill. The Irish Benedictine Nuns stayed in Belgium until WWI. The order fled again, this time to Ireland.

The order settled in Kylemore and opened up a boarding school for girls. Many upper class girls came to Kylemore to be educated for nearly 100 years. The local girls also attended a day school at Kylemore. The school is now closed but the order kept their education mission by opening Kylemore up to the public. We toured around the Abbey and grounds, and sampled some of the nuns' homemade candies.

Another testimony to Mitchell Henry's love for Margaret is the Gothic Catherdral in miniature dedicated to her. When Margaret died, Mitchell commissioned this church in her honor. The Church appears to be more feminine in nature on the inside to reflect Mrs. Henry's beauty. In addition, the marble in the Church represents the four different provinces of Ireland. They used green for Connaught, rose for Muster, black for Leinster, and grey for Ulster. Originally, the church was Anglican. However with the return of the Benedictine Nuns, the Church is now Catholic and used for the nuns' prayer services.

After visiting Kylemore Abbey, we drove along the coastline to Galway. Rob's next idea was to take advantage of the comedy festival in Galway. We went to Busker Brownes for the open mic night. Focus Foxies, huge differences exist between American and Irish humor. Irish humor believe it or not, is more clean cut. We rarely heard them make an off color joke or one about politics or religion. The two American comedians (not us) passing through gave it a shot and made it clear that we strive to shock. Anything vulgar or scandalous passed through the non-filtered Americans' mouths. We found it hilarious. It did not fly with the female Irish audience. We got an extra kick out of watching them gape in disgust and then leave. In general, all of the comedians gave it their best shot, and we laughed with and without them.

Our day came to a close, but I can say I was the luckiest girl in Galway that night.