Upon first glance, Connemara doesn’t look like much. In fact, it’s easy to miss the entrance when driving by. However, what lays inside the 72 acres of this hidden nature preserve is more than what meets the eye. 

The Montgomery family – Philip and Frances Montgomery –  originally settled outside of Allen in 1945. They bought 500 acres of land and converted it into a working farm, most of this land is what makes up west Allen today. His daughter, Frances Montgomery Williams, is to thank for what is now the land trust that founded The Connemara Conservancy.  

Connemara was originally used from 1981 to 2001 for public art shows, some of which you can still spot in and around the Meadow today. However, most of the Meadow Preserve is being restored to the natural Texas Blackland Prairie and wetlands which was wiped out from urbanization and overuse. According to World Wildlife, “…less than 1% of the original vegetation of the Blackland Prairie remains.”

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Meghan Holloran

Basket flowers and prairie coreopsis bloom near the entrance of Connemara. It is a tricky balance to plant wildflowers. “We have an herbicide that will kill invasive Johnson grass, but not native grass, and will not kill some of the wildflowers,” Meadow Manager Bob Mione said. “We’ll get that list of wildflowers not harmed by the herbicide and that’s the ones we plant.” May to early June is the ideal time to have a picnic among the wildflowers and enjoy the shade of the pecan trees.

For more information on the Connemara Meadow Preserve, visit their website or check out their Instagram.