Athenry Castle

Located in county Galway, Ireland, Athenry (or Town of the Ford of the King) is a relatively small town. The main attractions are the castle which was built before 1240 (the Medieval curtain walls are among the most complete and best preserved in Ireland ), and the Dominican Priory ruins which date back to 1240’s as well.

The castle originally guarded the ford (or crossing point) over the Clareen (Clarin) river nearby. It was first built out of wood, and later stages allowed for a stone castle (started in 1235 by the Norman Baron Meiler De Bermingham), parts of which still exist today. Amazingly, there was only one entrance into the castle from the town when it was originally built.

The castle itself was destroyed in the 1300’s, expanded to include 5 gates around the larger town, and then destroyed again 1570’s and one more time in the 1650’s. Today it’s been restored and belongs to the Office of Public Works, in Ireland, and is known for the stunning curtain walls that still surround the central keep and town.

The keep itself went through 3 phases of building –

and when the Office of Public works (OPW) took it over it was a ruin.

Today, it’s been restored and you can see the difference that has been made – to both the outside and the inside.

Below you can see some of the ancient window decorations, and one of the window seats they surround…

And of course, there’s the open “loo” in the castle guardrobe, where you not only did your “business” but also aired out your clothes if you were the lord / lady of the manor.

From here, it’s only a short walk down the road – to the next attraction – the Dominican Friory Ruins.

Iveagh Gardens

Not far from St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin (two blocks away, in fact) is another park – less popular, but just as beautiful. It’s called Iveagh Gardens.

To get here, you walk straight past the St. Stephen’s Green Shopping center, and continue down the luas line into the Georgian buildings turned apartments. At the art gallery, You turn left on Clontarf street, go down a little slightly dodgy looking alley and past a parking lot to a stone and brick wall. Here you see a single brown non-descript sign in the ivy indicating this is Iveagh gardens. The park is about the same size as St. Stephen’s Green but there’s something here you don’t find in the Busy St Stephen’s green.

Peace.
Quiet.
A feeling as if the hub-bub of the city has disappeared behind the stone walls.

To me, it’s magic.

Here the birds sing. Here the water pours from the man made waterfall and fountains and makes a pleasant little churning that blocks out the nearby Tram, cars, and police. Here, the wind blows through the trees and you can hear the leaves rustle. Here you can walk, sit, lay on the grass – it’s not blocked off, and the way it’s divided is almost to encourage you to feel its spongy green masses.

Here you can crunch down the pebbled pathways, wander through a maze, and sit on the sun warmed benches filling your nostrels with the scent of the rose garden and the earthy compost used to make them bloom.

Here you can think, contemplate, ponder.

You can lose yourself down a wooded pathway and bump into a Greek or Roman revival statue.

Here You can slow down.
You can take it all in.
You can have a picnic, you can have a nap.
You can have peace.
You can have quiet – in the middle of the city.
You can rejuvinate.

Yes. This is my favorite secret park in the heart of Dublin, and if you visit, remind me to take you here to experience the magic.

Kylemore Abbey Gardens

Continuing my travels up the West coast of Ireland last summer, I drove from Salthill’s beautiful Galway Bay hotel, through Connemara and its detours, and then on to Kylemore Abbey. Yesterday, I mentioned about the gardens at Kylemore.

view from the High Gardens, Kylemore Abbey

There are several Gardens at Kylemore Abbey – there’s the lower gardens, which are filled with trees and walking paths around Lough Pollacappul. Then, there are the upper gardens. A short drive (or walk) by bus leads you up the hill to the top of the Mountain. When you first get out of the bus, the view (above) is breathtaking and natural. As you walk on the pathway, you begin to see the Walls of the garden – surrounded with these giant trees that were so big that I couldn’t get my arms around.

The Tea garden cafe is to the right, and as you walk past it, you enter into the first of the walled gardens. Below you can see the interesting layout with the white Victorian greenhouses on the far end, a caretaker’s cottage, and lovely white benches throughout. The second picture is with your back to the caretaker’s cottage, looking toward the entrance.

In addition to the caretaker’s cottage (below) which is heated by peat (peat pile 2nd picture) there’s also a second carpenter’s cottage and some ruins (very first picture at the top) of a heated conservatory that is in the process of being restored.

Other than the main sculpted garden, there’s also a really nice vegetable garden / herbal remedy garden. This one’s more rustic and has a stream off to the edge.

The stream runs off into a grove of white beech trees.

As I left the upper gardens, It started raining – just in time for me to head back to the Galway Bay hotel. Luckily, I was able to get out the map and avoid all of the fun detours that took me so far out of the way, and get on some main streets to get back to Galway for a massage and a good nights rest with the windows open to the fresh sea breeze.

The next day, I headed back, stopping in Athenry and Clonmacnoise. More from those later.

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Athenry Castle

Iveagh Gardens

Kylemore Abbey Gardens