- Following a breakfast of Irish sausage, eggs, special bread and coffee, we said goodbye to Ballina headed toward two main destinations — Kylemore Abbey and Connemara Marble Factory — with various stops along the way.
- We stopped at Westport, just 7 miles from Sister Virginia’s hometown of Sister Virginia, where Sister was met by three of her nieces who still live in that part of Ireland.
I was able to also attend daily Mass in Westport, making it even a more special day. - Then, back on the bus, for a long, bumpy ride on narrow country roads to Kylemore Abbey, a picturesque castle-style “Big House” built out of love by a very rich man, Mitchell Henry for his new bride, Margaret. As with most Irish stories, this has a happy/sad/satisfying ending that continues to this day, and which I will share in all detail with you when we meet in person. Suffice it to say the place beautiful structure among the Irish mountains eventually became a school for girls run by the Benedictine Sisters who still own the grounds.
We spent a very short two and a half hours touring the castle, a gothic style church and huge formal gardens. As I said, more on this later. - We reluctantly took leave of this magnificent part of Ireland and crossed the border from County Mayo (banner colors, green and orange) into County Galway (banner colors, purple and white). Here we toured an interesting marble factory that today sells gold, and silver jewelry containing the “only truly authentic Irish product available in Ireland” — that is, Connemara Marble quarried in the west of Ireland.
- We ended the day at the Connemara Coast Hotel, on the shores of Galway Bay. After an awesome stroll along the edge of the bay, with three very interesting islands just offshore in the Atlantic, we gathered for another excellent Irish dinner and retired for the evening.
