A daytrip to Connemara with some of my oldest friends

My friends Jan-Eis and Monique came to look us up in Ireland for a while. It was low season and we had a lot of time to spend with them as the campsite was not very busy at all. Jan-Eis is quite technical so he also helped us with some work to upgrade the toilet block and our computer system. It wasn't all work though and one day we decided to go and explore Connemara together.

From Ballyvary we drove to Westport and down to Louisburg. We drove through Doo Lough Valley and then continued on to Leenane, a village situated at the head of a 16 kilometer fjord by the name of Killary Harbour (where I spent many holidays as a kid) past Aasleagh Falls. We stopped at Kylemore Abbey, home of the Irish Benedictine nuns since 1920. It is currently in use as a boarding school.

We had a look around the visitor's centre shop and the gothic church within the grounds and also stopped for some lunch in the restaurant. Clifden and Roundstone were other stops along the way, and we had a look around a farmer's market and stopped for a drink. From there we went to Maam and Cong, the location for the 1952 movie "The Quiet Man" with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. As nothing much happens in this town the making of this movie here is still being exploited as if it happened yesterday! From there it was back home after a long and satisfying day's sightseeing. If you are ever in Ireland I can definitely recommend this trip, even better if you can take a few days to explore and take in the city of Galway as well. You will see some of the most stunning scenery in the country!