Photo Essay: Round Towers and Skeleton Keys; a Week's Wandering in County Galway, Ireland

I fell in love with a little corner of Ireland this summer, after my week-long stay at a farmhouse on a working dairy. By the end of that week, I was leaving what felt like a second home.

Clareview B&B is a few kilometers outside of Kinvara, in County Galway; in layman’s terms that’s on the western edge of Ireland, about half way up. Brenda, the lady of the house, is very inviting and a very warm and welcoming hostess. When asked where I could wander, she gave me free reign of the property. I met her husband Micheal (pronounced Me-hall) just after my arrival. Once settled in I went for a relaxing walk around Clareview’s property - across the rolling fields, down the cow path, and around rock walls, which, by the way, seem to just grow out of the landscape. I even visited their curious Conemarra ponies across the road.

Ireland feels old. I sense it in the air, but I can’t explain it; maybe it’s all the stone walls. Perhaps there is a faint echo of the lives of the men who made them still in the air. They’re so dominant in the landscape. They seem to define the land; dividing it into little patches, reminiscent of a patchwork quilt done up in an array of dazzling green fabric.

Breakfast at the B&B was a feast to behold; eggs, sausage, bacon (bangers and rashers), and a warm half a tomato. Oh, but that was just the second course. The first course was muesli, tea, orange juice, and homemade scones and brown bread. It’s just about enough to make a grown woman cry. Brenda’s scones were lovely; warm, and ever so lightly sweet, and the size you can actually eat, not like the gi-normous scones typically made in the states. It was an Olympic event to get through breakfast. But it was ever so good and it made me slow down to take time to enjoy it.

Brenda, steered me in so many wonderful and fun directions. One soft, rainy day I took her advice and went to Coole Park, which was cool indeed! Coole Park was the estate of Lady Augusta Gregory and her family. They had over 1000 acres. Her two granddaughters grew up having the run of the place. I can just imagine growing up there as a child and using the forest as my personal playground. What a magical environment that would have been as a child! The trees and grounds are just spectacular. There are walled gardens, paths through the forest, and a wonderful approach to the previous site of their home, lined with cypress trees. There is also a well-appointed multimedia museum, where the story of the estate is told through the eyes of the grandchildren. It’s rather whimsical and helps to bring the paths and trees alive with stories. Lady Gregory had many literary friends; amongst her frequent visitors were George Bernard Shaw and William Yeats; their names are carved into the enormous, majestic Copper beach on the grounds nicknamed the Autograph tree.

From majestic trees to majestic landscapes; the next day I visited the Burren, which is a wild and surprising place. “Burren” in Irish is “Boireann,” meaning great rock or stony place: a unique karst-landscape region. It is a plateau of lunar-like limestone, which on first glance looks barren and devoid of life, but when you get close and actually walk around in it, small and diverse plant life becomes apparent. It reminds me of the Wizard of Oz just after Dorothy lands and all the little munchkins start to show themselves. One moment, nothing, and the next you’re surrounded by life you didn’t know was there.

I’d crossed paths with a local lady while I was in Kinvara who told me of a wonderful walk on the Burren. Her excellent directions led me out of town a few kilometers, up this twisting, turning hill and off on a little track to park my car. From there, Corker Hill, I could see the surrounding countryside for miles and also most of the peninsula that sticks out into Galway Bay. It was magnificent. Down the track a ways I ventured out through an open gate on the hillside and carefully picked my way through the Burren to sit on a large, flat rock to take in my surroundings. Why is it that we don’t often stop to be in our everyday lives? That’s one of the things about travel that I enjoy so thoroughly: the time to slow down, take in the details, to wander ‘till my heart is content, and to sit and wonder at trails of sunlight wandering across the beautiful county in western Ireland.

Back in my car, down the hill and a few kilometers down the road, I saw the tower of Kilmacduagh in the distance. I was extremely excited to see my first round tower. Although there is no consensus on what they were used for, the two leading theories are as a bell tower or a place of refuge, or a mixture of the two. The lower part was built with solid masonry, with a single door located 10-15 feet off the ground. It is thought that a ladder would have been have used to get inside the tower and then pulled into the interior of the tower in order to keep invaders at bay. High windows are narrow slits in the stone. Different levels were created within by the use of wooden floors, also probably accessed by other ladders. At best guess the majority of Irish towers were built between the 9th and 12th centuries. Although estimates are that there were once around 120 towers, 18-20 are currently in almost perfect condition, Kilmacduagh is one of them.

There’s a special symbolism for me in this kind of tower that takes me back to my childhood; reading through the fairytale of Rapunzel. I’d always longed to be Rapunzel of the extremely long hair, waiting in my tower for a prince. I thought the story so romantic and have since associated it and the towers like that with romance. So standing at the foot of this one I was hit with a rush of nostalgia and just a bit of magic. A big grin spread across my face and suddenly I was 8 years old again. After breaking out of my reverie I wandered across the road to borrow the key that unlocks the gates to some of the centuries old buildings on site. The key fit my mood as it was a heavy 8” long skeleton key. An extraordinary key for an extraordinary day.

Back at Clareview that evening I freshened up after a long rewarding day. From my room I had a great view of the cows coming in to be milked. Clareview has 50 cows (milkers) and total of 100 cows including the non-milkers and the calves. I made an early morning date to meet Michael in the barn at 7:15 the next morning, or when I heard the cows coming in the from the field. What an experience that was! After Micheal demonstrated the extraordinary sucking power of the milking machine by having me insert my thumb into it, he let me hook a few cows. It was a bit like taking the end of a vacuum hose and attaching it to long fingers of bread dough. Tee Hee. Nothing like a stay on a farm for real, down to earth experiences!

SO, between the nice soft day, the ancient architecture, celtic crosses watched over by cows in their fields, using an 8” long key to wander around centuries old buildings, pouring over 18th century tomb markers, and marveling at round towers that bring to mind Rapunzel, I’d say I had a lovely adventure, all within 10 miles of Kinvara. There’s so much more to see in this little area; there’s always more to explore around every corner.