Connemara

Connemara has been lived in for thousands of years, and its bogs and hillsides preserve traces of prehistoric settlement and field systems. Much of it remains part of the Gaeltacht, where Irish is a living community language. The land of today's national park near Letterfrack was once part of the Kylemore estate.

Kylemore Castle was built for Mitchell Henry and his wife Margaret, who had honeymooned in Connemara in the 1850s. Margaret laid the foundation stone in 1867 and the castle was completed in 1868; the estate also includes a neo-Gothic church and a Victorian walled garden. After the Henrys' 35 years at Kylemore and a short period under the Duke and Duchess of Manchester, the estate passed around 1920 to Benedictine nuns who had come to Ireland as refugees of the First World War. They ran a school there from 1923 until 2010 and still live at the abbey today.

Small farms, sheep on the hills and turf cut from the bogs remain part of daily life in Connemara, along with the sturdy Connemara pony, a native breed closely associated with the region. Irish is spoken in many communities, especially in the south of the region, and traditional music, sean-nos singing and Galway hooker sailing boats are proud parts of local culture. The Benedictine community at Kylemore continues a tradition of prayer and hospitality and welcomes visitors to the estate.