[30-7-1985]

Uit de reisbeschrijving van Frames National:

Day 3 TUESDAY

A full days excursion will show something of the wild mountain and coastal scenery of Western Ireland including some of the favourite country of James Joyce, one of Ireland’s greatest writers.
We begin by travelling southwest between the Sheffry Hills and Lough Mask into the lovely scenery of Connemara. lt is a sparsely populated region dominated by high mountains and here the ancient Irish traditions and customs are still kept. The local tongue is largely Gaelic and rich folklore heritage attracts many visitors. We first reach Leenane, a tiny village at the head of a narrow estuary, Killary Harbour, a great fiord which runs for some ten miles into the interior from the rugged Atlantic coastline. This is one of the world’s safest anchorages, with a constant depth of 13 fathoms for its whole length and sheltered by its mountain walls from storms. The village is dominated by the ‘Devils Mother’ a 2131 ft mountain about which many legends have been written.

Continuing by way of the Pass of Kylemore, with the Maumturk Mountains and ‘Twelve Pins’ on our left, we travel through Kylemore village to reach Clifden. With a population of some 1400 Clifden is often referred to as the capital of Connemara. lt has almost an alpine setting, nestling by the sea with magnificent mountains towering above the village. It was founded in 1812 by John D’Arcy of Kiltulla and two beautiful churches dominate the town one of which stands on the site of a monastic stone hut from which the town takes its name.
Nearby, in Derrygimlach Bog is a cairn marking the spot where Alcock and Brown crash landed after their historic Atlantic flight in June 1919.

Turning inland from Clifden we travel around the ‘Twelve Pins’ via Recess, a beautifully situated village close by Lough Inagh then veer northwards through Maam, a little hamlet buried in a lovely valley between the mountain’s, an excellent centre for fishing. Nearby is St Patrick’s Bed and St Patricks Well with its curative waters.

This is the countryside so loved by James Joyce and we continue through it to the hamlet of Kilmeelickin and on to Westport for our second night there.

Day’s mileage 119

[30-7-1985]

Kylemore Abbey (Iers: Mainistir na Coille Móire) is een Benedictijner klooster dat in 1920 is gesticht op het terrein van Kylemore Castle. Het was bedoeld voor Benedictijner nonnen die België ontvluchtten tijdens de eerste wereldoorlog.

Meer informatie staat op de Engelse Wikipedia.