Went on a car tour of the west of Ireland. Here is what we saw:
Kylemore Abbey was built as a Castle and private home in 1887. From Wikipedia, I learned that there were 33 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 4 sitting rooms, a ballroom, billiard room, library, study, school room, smoking room, gun room and various offices and domestic staff residences for the butler, cook, housekeeper and other servants. Now a convent, It has been the home to Benedictine nuns since 1920.
Examples of sod (also called turf, I discussed it in more detail HERE) cuts abounded on some of the hillsides we passed by. What used to be the most common way people heated their homes, it is carved right out of the soil and left to dry in brick shaped blocks that are then burned for warmth.
We passed by Ashford Castle. Built in 1228, the beauty was breathtaking, but we could not go in and explore as it was closed to visitors. Operating now as a world class luxury hotel, John Lennon,George Harrison, King George V of Great Britain, Queen Mary, Oscar Wilde, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, John Wayne, Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, and The Prince Rainier III of Monaco have all stayed here.
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