St. Finbarr Chapel

We drove to the Gougane Barra Forest (aka boonies) to find the most coveted and highly photographed St. Finbarr Chapel.  I knew we’d be out in the middle of nowhere and was pleasantly surprised to find a hotel adjacent.

The Gougane Barra Hotel has been in operation since 1936 and is currently run by 5th generation Neil and his lovely wife Katy. (A whole bunch of various family members too). This is another one of those special places that will stay with me always.  It’s old, but in a charming way.  When we arrived, the only sound we heard was the breeze through the pine trees – a very favorite sound of mine.  I would describe it as very serene and peaceful.  Looking out across the lake I could see St. Finbarr’s Chapel.  Over the years, I’ve seen so many different photographs of it, I was filled with such excitement (almost giddy) to actually be seeing it in person.


Throughout the hotel there are numerous large glass display cases filled with dolls.   I asked Katy who collected the dolls and she just groaned and rolled her eyes at me.  Apparently, no one did or does.  It started many, many years ago when a couple of guests sent dolls to Neil’s mom as a thank you and she displayed them.  Since then it seems this ‘thank you’ trend has continued.  They have over 260 dolls from all over the world.   There are many different rooms to sit and enjoy afternoon tea, or relax and read one of the many books on the bookshelf. 

The hotel is right next door to the entrance of the forest; where there are many different hiking trails if you are so inclined.  We arrived too late to take off on a hike, but if we ever return I sure hope to.








Dinner was exquisite in their elegant dining-room, nice soft Irish tunes playing in the background, lovely view of the chapel and the server was 5-star!  Probably the BEST meal I’ve had in Ireland to date.  After dinner I rolled myself outside to get some sunset pictures of St. Finbarr’s chapel and walk off my meal.

  

They also host many weddings.  One had just taken place the day before we arrived.  Every year they  close down November 1 and reopen  April 1.













Being optimistic, I awoke early to see if we were going to get any sunrise. I was pleasantly greeted with the rising sun (and a few other photographers with the same idea). I got some pretty good shots of the chapel with refection from a couple of separate locations.   BUT once the sun moved up and over the mountains and shined directly on the hills I got the most spectacular shots I’ve ever seen. The color of the hills was stunning. Of-course, I took a gazillion pictures and have had a very hard time choosing which one(s) I like best. So, I left them all in the photo album. 😉  Within 1-hours’ time the clouds rolled in and the remarkable setting was gone.

We came for the chapel, but would return for the hotel (and food).

PHOTO ALBUM