Northward bound.....

The ride back from the Aran Islands was much less eventful than going over. We were on a bigger boat and the sea was calm and smooth. We were able to relax for our Drive up to Westport.
This is a beautiful drive up through the mountains. Lots of winding roads. This road, barely 2 car widths has 100 km/h speed limit. But it is smooth and well maintained so the driving was good.

There were also unexpected obstacles.

There are  no fences in this part of the country. The farmers mark their sheep with paint and they all just run wild together in the hills. We had to drive very carefully to avoid insurance claims on my rented  car.

The highlight of the day was stopping at Kylemore Castle. It was completed in 1871. Mitchell Henry, and his wife honeymooned here and were enchanted by the beauty of the landscape. On the death of his father, a Manchester cotton merchant, and on receipt of a sizeable inheritance, Mitchell chose to abandon his career in medicine and turned to business and politics. He used the money to buy Kylemore Lodge and construct the magnificent Castle for his wife Margaret, complete with gardens, walks and woodlands which eventually covered 13,000 acres of land at a cost of little over £18,000.

There is a beautiful 6 acre walled garden that once contained 21 glass houses. They were connected and heated so the ladies were able to walk through the gardens during inclement weather.

 Unfortunately, Margaret only lived there for a short time. While on vacation in Egypt in 1874, she fell ill and died 16 days later.
Kylemore is now an Abby and is the residence of the Benedictine Nuns.
This part of Ireland is also the home of huge bogs. Peat is cut from the bogs, dried and used as fuel for heating.

It is a bit weird walking on the bogs. The ground is very spongy. If someone jumps up and down on the bog the vibration can be felt more than 20 feet away.
Westport is our overnight stop today. This is the home of Matt Molloy's pub. Matt is a member of the Irish band The Chieftans. You may have heard of them.

 Matt Molloy's hosts nightly "sessions".  This is a common occurrence in Ireland. We saw a session several times while here. It is a jam session with local musicians. A couple of musicians are hired by the bar to play. Anyone who wants to is invited to join in. The night we were there the session started with a banjo and bohrain. Soon to be joined by a guitar, then another guitar and finally by two fiddle players. There were two ladies from Switzerland. The host said that they come to visit 3 or 4 times a year and join the session. One of the ladies played guitar, the other sang.

As you can see, the very small room was packed. I'm sure that the fire marshal in Ontario would not have allowed it.

Time for sleep. See ya later.