More scenes in Connemara and Mayo

On the grounds of Kylemore Abbey is a small but exquisite Gothic church, built by the owner in the late 1870s in remembrance of his wife, who died of dysentery during a holiday in Egypt.

This stained glass window is in the church.

Within the church, five kinds of marble are used, coming from each of Ireland's four historic counties...Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, and Munster.

Near Westport, this sculpture is a memorial to the victims of the Irish potato famine from 1845-51. It's a depiction of one of the ships that brought over two million emigrants out of Ireland during that time, mostly to the US. Another million died in Ireland from starvation and disease. Before the famine, about eight million people lived on the island...the population is still less that that after all this time, about six million.

The figurehead on the famine ship. Many people were already in a bad way when they boarded, and died en route to America. The famine was caused by a severe potato blight, enhanced by prolonged cold, wet weather (no surprise there!) that killed the lumpen, the spud eaten by most peasants. The British government proved uncapable (or unwilling) to supply the peasants with alternative food.

Out in far western Ireland on the peninsulas lies the Gaeltaecht, areas of the country where Irish is spoken as an everday language by much of the population. Folks in the Gaeltaecht also speak English, but many of the signs are in Irish only...bit confusing to us tourons. The pictures help.

I swung over to Achill Island yesterday. It has tranquil interior scenes...many working peat bogs. The coast is spectacular!