Kylemore Abbey and more castles

We stopped by Donegal Castle in Donegal because some of our good friends are O'Donnell's and those are there ancestors. After we headed a little bit south and stayed in the town called mullaghmore in Sligo Ireland. The hotel we stayed at was called pierhead hotel and it was really pretty. We went to Classiebawn castle and then we drove around and there were these amazing natural cliff faces in the water and awesome just slabs and slabs of rock that were obviously formed by either glaciers or volcanoes also it was amazing view from classiebawn castle with Ben Bulbin the mountain in the background. The poet Yates is actually buried in the shadow of that mountain. I will say one thing about the spot, it was so windy!! Clark kept saying I think this is what gale force winds mean. haha I think he is right.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Kylemore Abby which was a little bit out-of-the-way but since we were making a road trip around Ireland we knew that we wanted to stop there. So we drove a couple hours and honestly it was one of my favorite drives. I don't think I was expecting it to be so pretty so it was really amazing. There was mountains and this was the first time we actually saw sheep just on the side of the road right next to where you're driving and I had to get out and take about 1 million photos there was also waterfalls and streams running from the mountains and pretty flowers. I'm sure it is gorgeous in the summer when the wild flowers are in full bloom. We did get to Kylemore Abbey around peak tourist time but that was OK I mean it's not totally avoidable so we did buy tickets and walk around Kylemore Abbey. We walked to the cathedral and the giant stone which if you throw a rock over at your wish will come true (it is intertwined with the Finn McCool legend of Giant's Causeway) We spent time walking around the Abbey and the grounds there was even a sheep in the lawn of the castle so funny, eating the grass.

One of my favorite things about Kylemore Abbey was learning all of the history of it. The man who originally built it actually build it for his wife and they had a family and they actually went to Egypt on vacation and she got dysentery and died 16 days later which is just so sad. From there it's been passed on and on and as of a few years ago it was a girl school but that's been officially closed down and nuns still live on the Abbey so it's technically a monastery now.

Then we drove a little bit south of Galway to our hotel where we checked in. We actually explore the Burren a little bit which is a National Park and I think the Cliffs of Moher are technically a part of this National Park. We were saving Cliffs of Moher for first thing in the morning the next morning because we wanted to do it and see it without so many people. At The Burren National Park we saw some super prehistoric burial grounds with stones and it was really pretty and now we know why everything in Ireland is made of stone and all of their fences are made of stone because they have so much stone. It is nuts haha.
love, Carlee

Scarf: gift

Hat: American Eagle

Shirt and Pants: Old Navy

Sweater: Target

Boots: TJ Maxx

Purse: JCPenny