I felt like I got a pretty good feel for Galway over the last day and a half, so I decided to explore some areas nearby. My host at the AirBnB had provided some recommendations for things to do in the area and one of them was the Kylemore Abbey which I had actually thought about going to when I was originally planning my trip, so since it was so close by I decided to go for it. I mapped to there and then looked up other points of interest in the area. The first stop on my journey today was Cong Abbey, (full disclosure, I attempted to go to the Guinness Tower, but I couldn’t figure out how to get to it, and ended up getting lost on the Ashford Castle grounds, which is now a castle hotel, so I gave up). The Cong Abbey is in the cute little town of Cong, I parked right outside the Abbey, explored the grounds, took some pictures, and then decided to walk around a bit. I learned that Cong is where the John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara film The Quiet Man was filmed. There is a museum that I would’ve checked out, but they were out on a tour and wouldn’t be back before I moved on. There’s also a sculpture of John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara right next to the Abbey.

While walking around I found a café called McHugh’s so I decided to pop in there for a scone and some tea before continuing to my next destination. McHugh’s has been open in Cong since the 1950s, it was a cute little place and it’s still family run. The scone was good and the service was wonderful.

After filling up on food I headed towards the main attraction of today’s road trip, Kylemore Abbey. This location was definitely not disappointing and ended up being a lot bigger than I expected, with a few more things to do than I originally thought. I spent so much time here that I ended up cutting out a few other things I was planning to do, but I enjoyed the Abbey so much I wasn’t sad about it. I toured the main building and then took a walk, apparently the University of Notre Dame has a Global Centre at the Kylemore Abbey which I thought was pretty cool. Kylemore Abbey was built by Mitchell Henry for his wife Margaret. The people in the surrounding area loved Margaret, and they were devastated when she died four years after Kylemore Abbey was completed. I saw a sign for the Mausoleum and the Gothic Church so I headed that way.

The Gothic Church was commissioned by Mitchell after Margaret passed away as a memorial to her. He wanted to show his love for her in a way that would last through time. The church was small but beautiful. Just down the way from the church was the Mausoleum where Margaret, Mitchell, and their grand nephew, John Mitchell are all interred in the Mausoleum.

A sign for the Giant’s Wishing Stone (aka the Ironing Stone because it looks like a clothes iron) intrigued me, so I continued down the path. According to legend, Cú Chulainn and Fionn McCool, two of Ireland’s best known mythological heroes, often fought each other on the Connemara mountains. The giants were hot tempered and regularly didn’t see eye-to-eye. One day, during one of their heated arguments, Cú Chulainn picked up a massive stone and threw it towards Fionn McCool. The stone narrowly missed Fionn McCool and landed at an unusual angle on the Kylemore estate where it lies today. The shape of the stone resembles a traditional iron used for ironing clothes and is known locally as ‘The Ironing Stone’ or the ‘Smoothing Iron’. Local children use it as a wishing stone. If you stand with your back against the stone, make a wish and throw a small pebble back over the stone three times, that wish will be granted. It is bad luck to wish for money but you can wish for love!

The Kylemore Abbey also has a walled garden, so I hopped on a shuttle to go and check it out. Before entering the walled garden I visited the Connemara Ponies and then walked through a cute little fairy garden. The walled gardens were lovely, but due to the season didn’t have a ton of things blooming. I walked around the area for a little while and then decided to take a walk around the “Flora, Fauna, and Folklore” trail, I saw lots of Flora and Fauna, but it was pretty light on the Folklore. After a pretty good hike I wandered back to the bus stop, took another shuttle back to the Abbey and decided to call it a day after a stop at the gift shop! It was getting pretty late so I decided to head back to the AirBnB, eat some leftover pizza, and then go out for a few drinks and some music.

I was told that while in Galway I needed to go listen to some Trad music, and a bar called The Crane Bar was recommended to me. I decided to check it out, but to my disappointment there was no Trad Music tonight because there was a concert. I talked to the bouncer about it a bit and asked him if it was worth the ticket cost for the concert, he said it was so I decided to check it out. It was 20 euros, I had a few Jameson and Ginger Ales while listening to the music. The first band was really good and he said he would be in Dublin on the 26th, I talked to him after his set and he told me where he’ll be, so I might go check it out. The 2nd guy wasn’t my cup of tea, he was ok, but not really what I was looking for. I decided to bail after his set, I wanted to listen to the next act, but I also didn’t want to miss out on some Trad Music. I went to a bar recommended by our tour guide, but it was PACKED. I stayed for one song and then left. I almost went home but while I was walking around I heard some music (Cranberries- Zombie, gets me every time) so I went in and listened to the band’s set and then headed home. Another AirBnB move tomorrow!