Connemara Countryside

I have long been enamored with the graceful beauty of birds of prey.  Our drive through the Irish countryside included a stop at Ashford Castle where we not only saw a hawking demonstration, but also were each able to work with the hawks if we desired.  There was no way I was going to pass this up!  Though I have known they are quite light due to hollow bones, it was shocking to feel how little the hawk weighed as it landed on my leather-gloved wrist, only to take off with such grace, I was in awe.  Afterward, we walked back to the town of Cong where "The Quiet Man" was filmed in 1951 and we ate lunch at a local pub.  We then moved onto one of the 2 areas where my ancestors are from in Ireland: County Mayo, known for its sheep industry, which supplies the wool for the famous Aran sweaters.

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We also visited the peaceful Loch Corib, the only fjord in Ireland (Leenane in Killary Harbor), Doon Lough near Donegal where tragedy struck in  the form of having to undergo an extremely taxing journey during the Great Irish Famine1849, and the haunting Coffin Ship famine memorial of Westport.