Well I made it to Dunmore, Galway on Saturday afternoon. There was an anniversary mass for mom's aunt Nora McGarry in Milltown and a lot of her kids and grand-kids came from all over to be there. They had lunch afterwards at Sean and Della's and that's where I joined them. It was good to see so many, Anne, Peter, Pat, Paul and his wife Mary and son Jack, Kay and her son Eddie, Sean and Della of course and their son Peter and one of Kay's other sons, David and his girlfriend Roisin.
I took it easy on Sunday. In the morning I spoke to Mr. Peter Hawkins, the Pastor of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association - British Isles. He's got two congregations in the U.K., in London and Tonbridge. COGWA doesn't have a presence here in Ireland (other than me), but he wants to set up a registered charity so that they can distribute literature and educational materials, and that's what we talked about. In the afternoon I did a little shopping, but mostly got lost trying to find my way around Galway. I'm all right in the city center and on Salt Hill, but outside of that I still get confused.
Monday I got up early and the weather was sunny and bright, so I thought I'd chance driving back to Croagh Patrick and seeing how far I could make it up the mountain. I stopped to get gas near Leenaun on the Killary Fjord and took this picture. Leenaun is where they shot the movie 'The Field' with Richard Harris, Sean Bean and John Hurt.
On the way from Leenaun to Westport I passed through Carrowkennedy, and took this picture in front of the monument erected by the Republic to honor the members of the West Mayo brigade of the IRA who fought and action against the 'British' forces here on June 2nd, 1921. One of the members of the 'British' forces was my great-grandfather Thomas Dowling, Irish Catholic, a 47 year old constable in the Royal Irish Constabulary, the police force in Ireland at the time. He died from his wounds two days later on June 4th, my grandmother's birthday. A month later the treaty ending the War of Independence was signed. Because of the terms of the treaty, the Republican forces split and fought a Civil War among themselves for the next two years.
Because my grandmother was so young when he died, I don't know anything about Tom Dowling. Was he a kind, gentle man, or was he a bad-tempered, violent man? Did he fully support British rule in Ireland or did he have hopes of Home Rule and eventual independence? I don't know. Was he proud to be Irish and did he love his country? I suspect that he was and he did.
You can read a good article about the War of Independence in Mayo at:
http://www.centenarymayo.ie/?page_id=74
Anyway, on to Croagh Patrick, 'The Reek', as they call it. This is a shot from a little more than halfway up. It's the third highest mountain in Co. Mayo, 2,500 feet, and it's a steep rocky climb. It's a pilgrimage site for Roman Catholics. The story is that St. Patrick fasted on the mountain for forty days. On the last Sunday in July the Archbishop of Tuam leads thousands of people in a climb up the summit.
The views of Clew Bay, even from a quarter of the way up are very pretty.
That's the village of Murrisk below at the foot of the mountain. The weather was nice all day yesterday, mostly sunny, it got up to 71 Farenheit, which is about 20 Centigrade. But as you get towards the top it's cooler and windy.
As you go up the mountain you can see that people have used the stones to write names in the valleys below the trail.
Well I almost made it to the top, but not quite. But I'll give it another shot one day.
After getting back down, I stopped in nearby Westport for lunch. It's one of the prettiest towns in Ireland. The town center was designed by James Wyatt in 1780 with promenades along both sides of the river Carrow Beg, and several stone bridges.
Well, I was tired from the climb. My legs felt pretty rubbery on the way down. But since I was in the area I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at Kylemore Abbey, and I'm glad I did.
Mitchell Henry was a wealthy doctor and financier, born in Manchester, his father had made a sizable fortune as a cotton merchant. After his father died, he left his career in medicine and became a politician, an M.P. from County Galway. He and his wife had visited Connemara and decided to build an estate there in 1867. The spot they chose was bogland in the Inagh Valley and a lot of work went into erecting the house which sits between Druchruach Mountain and Lough Pollacappul.
Which makes for some spectacular views.
Also on the estate is the Victorian Walled Garden.
Kylemore Abbey is a bit of a drive from Galway, definitely off the beaten path, but it's really a beautiful spot and well worth the visit. They also have a nice cafe, and gift shop.
Okay, so that was a lot of pictures today. I'll be walking around Galway City today, it looks like we are going to have a nice, sunny day again. Tonight I'm having dinner with cousins Mike and Patricia Cullina and some of their kids. Clare and Vincent Cooke, my aunt and uncle from Indiana are coming to Connaught in a week or so with their grandkids. They are staying a month in Oughterard on Lough Corrib, and all of the Cooke cousins are supposed to be flying over at different times to spend a few days with them. I'm hoping to meet up with some of them while they are here.
That's the news. I may be going back to Dublin for a day or two before the weekend. I am definitely planning on being there next week for Bloomsday, June 16th. Take care,
Luke
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