Conamara "A place of Savage Beauty" - Oscar Wilde

When you think Ireland, you think GREEN, TREES, CASTLES, HISTORY and you would be RIGHT! I spent 7 hours in Conamara alone and I walked the majority of that time in fog, with the smell of grass in my nostrils and as far as the eye could see (when it wasn't foggy) green trees and plants everywhere. If you have ever been in Clifden, Letterfrack then you know walking from there to Conamara is pretty far and I did so on a morning I could not see my hands in front of my eyes. I was picked up by an old fisherman, name Pat and he took me halfway there and after walking for what felt like forever and watching my step on the muddy side of the road (there are no sidepaths on your way Conamara just this awful barbedwire fence you try and avoid, a stream and LOADS of trucks- the combination of which almost got me hit by a rickshaw wearing a white coat in the fog 😂). When I finally did look up this is what I saw:

^{Kylemore Castle, County Galway, Ireland}

Kylemore Castle was built in 1800's by Mitchell Henry MP, as history tells is he was a wealthy man and he was deeply in love with his wife Margaret. The estate boasts of walled gardens, Turkish baths and even had turbines that brought electricity into the castle. The walled gardens has everything from flowers, vegetation and tropical fruit and it is said that the most extraordinary parties were hosted here. Today unfortunately majority of the greenhouses has collapsed, but the garden still remains breathtakingly beautiful. And although the Turkish baths were long since removed, the Castle was turned into a beautiful museum, with even the tables set in the luxurious dining rooms as if they are expecting a party to arrive by horse-cart at any minute. If you close your eyes I am sure you can hear them...

The love affair between Henry and Margaret is one legends are made off. Henry was an English financier and politician and even studied for a degree in Medicine. He married Margaret in 1875 and built Kylemore for her, as legend had it inspired by her beauty (Kylemore means Big Wood and if you are ever lucky enough to walk along the trees you will see acres and acres of it.), so this proclamation of love is by far the most romantic and the biggest gesture I have ever seen! Their 23 years of marriage brought them 9 children and at the age of 45 Margaret died tragically from a fever contracted in Egypt. After her death Henry brought Margaret home and built her a mausoleum were he entombed her and when the time was right, Henry went and joined her...

^{MARGARET BELOVED WIFE OD MITCHELL HENRY OF KYLEMORE CASTLE}

A little further up the pathway from where Margaret and Henry was laid to rest (and later joined by their sons and daughters), Henry had built a memorial church for Margaret overlooking a lake in the style of a Gothic cathedral. On the inside of this church you will find different coloured marble, beautiful painted glass and votive candles where you can light candles for someone either as a prayer or if they have passed as a memory, this is where I lit one for my dad.

^{Kylemore Abbey, Conamara}

Today Kylemore Abbey is owned and run by the Benedictine community, and when you walk the pathways between the castle, the woods and the walled garden you can find shrines for prayers and nuns everywhere. But for me when I walk the halls of that castle, I stand in the walled garden, the garden cottage or the beautiful church, I think of Henry and Margaret and how love inspired someone to build something so significant and magical and even after her passing to honour her memory and her beauty in a shrine that will stand the test of time.