Connemara National Park & The Kylemore Abbey

IRELAND’S CONNEMARA REGION After narrowly avoiding the destruction of Hurricane Ophelia back in 2017, my best friend and I excitedly arrived at the Connemara National Park in Ireland’s western County Galway. “Connemara” refers to the Connemara National Park as much as it does the entire region, which is largely a Gaeltacht. In Gaeltacht districts, the…

Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains National Park, An Ancient Mystic Hermit’s Monastic City, & A German War Cemetery

COUNTY WICKLOW County Wicklow is just south of Dublin, in County Dublin, on Ireland’s eastern coast. Its name comes from the Old Norse term Víkingaló which means “Viking’s Meadow” and that tracks because County Wicklow is so close to the counties that make up the Viking Triangle of Ireland. County Waterford, County Wexford, and County…