My perfect long weekend is an escape from the city and into something fresh: long ocean views with relaxed hikes and bike rides, great seafood and comforting eats in locally owned restaurants, and ideally some cozy pubs with live music and friendly folks. This is the perfect description of a slice of Ireland, and never more so than that of Western Ireland and County Galway. Here, the heart of Ireland reaches west, out into the Atlantic. Traced by the 1,500 mile-long Wild Atlantic Way coastal road, Galway features the Connemara National Park, vast bog and heather landscapes, worn down mountains, fishing lakes, and Irish speaking towns.

Getting There

Before diving into the details, I want to sing the praises of Shannon Airport. Their tagline is “making it easy,” and they deliver! With easy access to the South and Western counties, Shannon easily cuts 3+ hours of drive time from Dublin. The summer seasonal Chicago flight leaves at 6pm and arrives fresh and early at 7:30 in the morning — just right to get a traditional Full Irish Breakfast and tackle a long weekend of exploring.

Friday

From Shannon Airport, County Clare, we're headed north. Of course, there's a million things to see along the way. The Cliffs of Moher are just an hour north — funnily enough, I've passed by several times now, but foggy weather has kept them from me.

Because we wanted to “get out there,” we passed by Galway City and kept heading west. A great spot just an hour and half out to stretch your legs and get some history is the Aughnanure Castle — a perfect introduction to the Connemara region. It's just one of the many Heritage Sites of Ireland. Seek out their excellent brochure for maps and ideas throughout Ireland; they've got a fine directory of historic places to visit online, too.

No trip west on the N59 is complete without a stop at Joyce's Craftshop, the “Home of Exemplary Irish Craft & Design.” I grabbed some books and a sweater that regularly earns me compliments to this day.

Roundstone, Co. Galway

Our target was Roundstone for lunch, “Ireland's most picturesque village,” just 2.5 hours from the airport. Check out the incredibly detailed and interesting ArcGIS Storymap — it's just one of a collection of Heritage Trails in County Galway, created by the Galway County Council Heritage & GIS Teams. But really, the drive south on the R341 was one of the most delightful, water-bound, boggy, rocky terrains I've ever seen — literally breathtaking. We had a great lunch at O'Dowd's Seafood Bar and Restaurant, and walked it off poking a bit around town, including Saint Mary's Church and a hike along Dog's Bay Beach. On a beautiful, sunny day, it's a delight.

Connemara and Lough Inagh Lodge

I'm still surprised at the great luck we had to stay our first night at Lough Inagh Lodge. It's in the heart of the Connemara, and one of the Great Fishing Houses of Ireland. While we stumbled on Lough Inagh, now it's a goal of mine to visit more of them — 10 of the finest fishing ledges, hotels, and resorts in Ireland. Read this fine article to whet your appetite. With the afternoon free, we relaxed in the lawn, caught up on reading, walked to the lake, hiked around the property, made friends with sheep, had an incredible fish supper, and slept like babes in the silence of it all.

Saturday

After a proper Irish Breakfast and a morning hike, we were ready for the heart of the weekend: a loop route through the Connemara, visiting the Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden, the Connemara National Park for a hike and picnic lunch, and a bit of late afternoon driving adventure — those roads are tight — to visit DK Connemara Oysters for some just-out-of-the-ocean fresh shucked oysters. Through it all, herds of sheep, unspoiled wilderness, and the sheer magnitude of the 5,000 acre Park and its soft colors and worn-down hills. These are the landscapes of poetry.

Our Saturday night stay was the Ardmore House, just outside of Clifden, and right along the Sky Road, a series of drives between the ocean and the cliffs. Clifden is “the big town” with plenty of live music, pubs, and great restaurants; we ate at the classic Mannions Seafood Bar & Restaurant. All around, though, are hikes, drives, and spots to explore: the ruined Clifden Castle, trails to ocean lookouts, and in the fall, plenty of blackberries.

Sunday

We had options to push onwards, or keep local. Westport will have to wait until next time, as we decided to rent bikes in town at the Clifden Bike Shop and explore at a more leisurely pace. On bike, the landscapes and history seem to open even more. The Wild Atlantic Way has a series of Signature Discovery Points, and we explored the Derrigimlagh, a massive bog that in 1919 the pilots John Alcock and Whitten Brown landed, completing the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic, and just earlier, in 1907, Guglielmo Marconi built the Marconi Radio Station, starting global communication with wireless news transmitted from Dublin and London across the Atlantic to Cape Cod. This incredible park has the finest outdoor exhibition interactives I've ever seen. From hand cranked stations that drive powertrains to hear Marconi's transmissions, to sightlines that merge the present with the past, along with plenty of sheep, vast views, and the story of bogs, it rewards wandering.

We enjoyed a late lunch with an exceptionally fine fish fry at Oifig An Fish, in Clifden, and finished the weekend in Galway City to stay the night for an early morning wake-up and arrival home on Monday morning.

Next Time

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