On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Ireland
On Friday October 4 we truned inland for the final days of our trip. We explored wild, beautiful, mountainous Connemara with its many swift rivers, and lakes, and panoramic view. And sheep!
Connemara landscape
Connemara sheep. There were hundreds of sheep about. One herd even chased our bus! The wild, rugged, mountainous land is good for sheep farming but not much else. It was the hardest hit area in Ireland by the famine.
This beautifully restored estate is the home of the Benedictine nuns in Ireland.
Connemara ponies living on the estate
Victorian walled garden on the estate
Ruined 7th century abbey in Cong, a village on the border of counties Galway and Mayo. The movie “The Quiet Man” was filmed here.
The conical mountain of Croagh Patrick is a popular place of pilgrimage. According to legend, St. Patrick climbed the mountain barefoot.
On our last full day we visited Sean’s Bar. Built in 900, it is the oldest pub in the world. Locals joke that the Castle Athlone across the street was built in 1129 to protect the pub. It’s amazing that the pub is still operating today!
Dorothy A. Winsor
Beautiful country. Kind of lonely though.
MelissaM
I love how Kylemore Abbey looks like one of those 3D puzzles where you can see the edges where they fit together.
Thanks for taking me on your trip!
arrieve
I love those sheep!
way2blue
When I visited Ireland many years ago, I remember narrow lanes with rock walls on either side. Sheep herders moving their flocks along the lanes. Put put put—till there was room to pass… And that iconic nod of the head or twist of the hand in greeting as we squeezed by in our tiny car.
wizend_guy
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I did a solo hike through Connemara some years back, from Galway to Westport, including a schlep up Croagh Patrick. It is indeed both beautiful and lonely country. There are a number of shrines to St. Patrick throughout the region.