Croagh Patrick, Murrisk Abbey, Boyle Abbey, Carrowkeel - June 3rd, 2012

Croagh Patrick is not an easy hike. I was a bit disappointed that the clouds did not lift when we reached the summit - everything seems to go so perfectly well on our vacations that I come to expect all will be ideal. But all we saw from the summit of Croagh Patrick was clouds, which were so dense that we were not even sure we were at the top until we stood only a few yards from the chapel.

We saw quite a few ruined abbeys in Ireland, but Boyle Abbey was perhaps the most impressive. I wish that there had been a guided tour here, like the excellent guided tour we enjoyed at Jerpoint Abbey. There is a lot to see at Boyle, a lot of maintainence and reconstruction have gone into preserving it.

Carrowkeel was unexpectedly fun. It is a bunch of tombs located on a hilltop - you have to drive up a narrow line, then hike a short distance to get up to the site - but it is really cool once you get there. I really liked how it is possible to crawl down into the tombs and see them on the inside.

Below is a map of Boyle Abbey. The blue lines show the original plan of the Abbey, while the black lines show the walls that remain.

All the graphic images are my own design, but the textured background is taken from a site, EOS development, that offers non-profit users free use of their graphics. Click below to visit their site.

Eos Development

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Croagh Patrick

Famine Ship

Murrisk Abbey

Boyle Abbey

Carrowkeel