Cong • Westport • Connemara Loop Drive Sights • East of Connemara
If you have a car, consider spending a day exploring the wild western Irish fringe known as Connemara. The best home base in this area is the prim and charming town of Westport (home to a pub owned by a member of the traditional Irish music group the Chieftains). From here, you can easily reach the highlights of Connemara. Hike the peak of Croagh Patrick, the mountain from which St. Patrick supposedly banished the snakes from Ireland. Pass through the desolate Doo Lough Valley on a road stained with tragic famine history. Bounce on a springy peat bog.
This beautiful area also claims a couple of towns—Cong and Leenane—where classic Irish movies were filmed, as well as the photogenic Kylemore Abbey. At the end of the chapter, I’ve also described a few interesting stops east of Westport, including a Virgin Mary shrine and the thoughtful Irish National Famine Museum.
By Car: The Connemara area makes a satisfying day trip by car from Galway. I’ve listed the region’s prime towns and sights in a loop that starts and ends in Galway (driving north, then back south). But drivers who are aiming for Northern Ireland from Galway can easily modify the loop route and still see the main sights. Both routes are described next.
Without a Car: It’s most efficient to take a day tour from Galway. Three Galway-based organizations—Galway Tour Company, Lally Tours, and Healy Tours—run all-day tours of nearby regions. Most tours of Connemara include the Quiet Man Museum in Cong, Kylemore Abbey, Clifden, and a “famine village” (or some combination of these places). Tours go most days, heading out at 10:00 and returning at 17:30 (call to confirm exact itinerary, see here for contact information).
Public transportation in this region (except to and from Westport) is patchy, and some areas are not served at all. Buses run between Galway and Westport, but by train you must connect through Dublin.
With a long and well-organized day, you can loop around from Galway and enjoy the most important sights of Connemara (five hours of driving and 200 miles). You’ll be thankful you picked up a good map before departing. For maximum coverage, lace together the sights described in this chapter in a route that goes in this order: Cong, Westport, Murrisk, Louisburgh, through the Doo Lough Valley to Leenane, then on to Clifden (passing Kylemore Abbey and Connemara National Park), along the coast to Roundstone, and finally back to Galway.
If heading from Galway to Northern Ireland (Derry or Portrush), visit the described sights in this order: Cong, then across the Maam Valley to Leenane, up to Louisburgh and Murrisk on the way to Westport (consider spending the night). From there you’ll head northeast to Sligo, Donegal, and across the border into Northern Ireland.
One of the most interesting parts of this route is the stretch from Cong through the remote Maam Valley to Leenane. The brooding and desolate valley feels like a land of ghosts, as the region, once densely populated with potato-eating peasants, was depopulated in the Famine and remains that way to this day. The old sod cottages are long washed away, but you can still make out the sad corduroy ridges where those last potatoes were planted.
The direct route between Westport and Derry (or Portrush) comes with a series of worthwhile little stops and detours. They are all fast and easy, and don’t take much time. For highlights, see here of the Donegal & the Northwest chapter.
The town of Cong offers a fascinating mix of attractions: a medieval ruined abbey, a modern church with exquisite stained-glass windows, a museum about a John Ford film (The Quiet Man), and a falconry experience on the grounds of the extravagant Ashford Castle. Everything is within a short walk of the parking lot in front of the abbey.
The TI, where you can pick up a handy map, is across from the entrance to Cong Abbey (Tue-Sat 9:15-17:00, closed Sun-Mon and Nov-Feb, tel. 094/954-6542). There are no banks or ATMs in Cong. Public WCs are 50 yards down the street from the TI.
On the way in or out of Cong, you may see a dry 19th-century canal as you pass over a scenic bridge. Cong (from conga, Irish for “isthmus”) lies between two large lakes. Built between 1848 and 1854, this canal was a Great Potato Famine work project that stoked only appetites. The canal, complete with locks, would have linked Lough Mask to the north with Lough Corrib to the south. But the limestone bedrock proved too porous, making the canal an idea that just wouldn’t hold water. So, after all that work and expense, it was abandoned. It sits there, dry to this day, as an embarrassment to English engineering.
The ruins of Cong Abbey (free and always open) are the main attraction in town. The abbey was built starting in the early 1100s in Romanesque style and then into the Gothic age. You’ll notice a mix of styles—with both round Romanesque and pointed Gothic arches (especially around the doorway). The famous Cross of Cong, which was believed to have held a splinter of the True Cross (now on display in Dublin’s National Museum), was hoisted aloft at the front of processions of Augustinian monks during High Masses in this church. Rory O’Connor, the last Irish high king, died in this abbey in 1198. After O’Connor realized he could never outfight the superior Norman armies, he retreated to Cong and spent his last years here in monastic isolation.
Nearby: Take a walk through the cloister and down the gravel path behind the abbey. The forested grounds are lush, and the stream water is clear. Cong’s salmon hatchery contributes to western Ireland’s reputation for great fishing. From a little bridge you’ll see the monks’ stone house. It was designed so part of the stream would flow directly under it. The monks simply lowered a net through the floor and attached a bell to the rope; whenever a fish was netted, the bell would ring.
Next to the abbey’s cemetery is the modern, concrete, bunker-like Church of St. Mary of the Rosary. Drop in to marvel at its three exquisite windows, made by Irish artist Harry Clarke in 1933. Step behind the altar to get up really close (free, daily 8:00-22:00).
This cottage-museum is interesting (only) for fans of the 1951 movie. This town (but not this cottage) is where John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara made the famous John Ford film The Quiet Man. You’ll see modest historical exhibits and film props.
Cost and Hours: €5, daily 10:00-16:00, closed Nov-mid-March, tel. 094/954-6089, www.quietman-cong.com.
This massive stone palace (now a hotel) sits on a vast, exclusive estate that’s a lush and peaceful 15-minute walk from town. Its river serves as a modern-day moat: To cross the bridge you’ll need to pay €10 (unless you’re a guest at the hotel or have a falconry appointment—see next listing). While you won’t be allowed in the building, the grounds are a gardener’s delight, creating a lakeside paradise of greenery. Many scenes from The Quiet Man were filmed on these grounds.
If you’ve never experienced falconry, this is a great chance. Animal lovers, aviation engineers, and wannabe medieval hunters will thrill to the Ireland School of Falconry, hidden on the Ashford Castle grounds. You must have an appointment to visit the school, but if you’re walking the castle grounds you may see a group and their guide, strolling around as a hawk flies to and from a tourist’s well-padded arm.
Cost and Hours: You must reserve ahead for this hour-long experience. It’s €90 for one participant, €70 each for two, €60 each for three, €50 each for 4-10 participants, no charge for spectators who don’t launch and land the birds; ask about convenient parking, tel. 094/954-6820, mobile 087-297-6092, www.falconry.ie, info@falconry.ie.
Getting There: It’s about a 10-minute walk from the castle to the school: Cross the bridge onto the castle grounds, circle right through the parking lot, and around the right side toward the back. Then follow “falconry” signs; eventually—deep in the forest—you’ll reach a gate with a buzzer and you’re there.
Visiting the School: Your falconry experience starts in the courtyard surrounded by pens housing hawks. After a brief Hawks 101 lesson, you’re led on a “hawk walk” through the forest with an expert handler, sporting on his forearm a Harris hawk—a breed the school’s brochure says is “renowned for its easygoing temperament and unusually sociable nature.” The handler teaches you the fascinating intricacies of falconry, and then you have an opportunity to launch and land a bird from your own arm...a unique opportunity you didn’t realize you had on your bucket list.
You’ll spend a half-hour or so on the castle grounds as your hawk flies away in search of his prey and returns for the tasty reward the trainer has tucked into your protective mitt. You’ll do this again and again, all the while shooting lots of amazing photographs and getting into the food-centric mind of your graceful and majestic bird.
Fuel up with a light lunch or cakes and coffee at the $$ Hungry Monk Café (Mon-Sat 10:00-17:00, closed Sun, shorter hours off-season, on Abbey Street across from public WCs, tel. 094/954-5842).
A solid pub-grub lunch can be had at $$ The Crowe’s Nest (daily 12:00-21:00, in Ryan’s Hotel on Main Street, tel. 094/954-6243).
Westport, with just 9,000 people, is “the big city” in this part of Ireland. While other villages seem organic and grown out of the Middle Ages, this is a planned town. It was built in the late 1700s with a trendy-back-then Georgian flair by celebrated architect James Wyatt, who designed it to support the adjacent estate of the English Lord Browne. The town thrived in its early days on linen created on local Irish handlooms. But, after the Act of Union with Britain in 1801, Westport was unable to compete with the industrialized British linen makers and fell into decline. With the Famine, things got even worse. The town is still pretty (famously “tidy”) and well worth a stop. If in need of an overnight between Galway and Derry or Portrush, this would be my choice.
Westport’s main street, Bridge Street, stretches from the clock tower up to the river. A block from the clock tower is the eight-sided main “square” called the Octagon. To get oriented to the town, follow my “Westport Walk” or join the guided walk (both described below).
Westport’s TI (called the “Discover Ireland Centre”) is on Bridge Street (Mon-Sat 9:00-17:45, closed Sun, tel. 098/25711).
Parking: You can park for free on the streets for one hour. Otherwise, there are several handy, inexpensive pay-and-display lots in the center.
Laundry: You can get same-day service if you drop off early at Gills (Mon-Sat 9:00-18:30, closed Sun, James Street, tel. 098/25819).
Bookstore: Run by friendly Seamus, The Bookshop is a delightful place (Mon-Sat 9:30-18:30, Sun 11:00-18:00, later in summer, Bridge Street).
Local Theater: The Town Hall Theatre is worth checking out for music concerts or stage plays (€12-15 tickets, in Town Hall facing the Octagon, tel. 098/28459, www.westporttheatre.com).
Walk with a Local Guide: For a lighthearted and entertaining hour, join Stephen Clarke on his guided walk around town. It’s a fun chance to feel like you’ve made friends with a local and get a sense for the town’s pride and personality. Stephen even includes a tea-and-scones stop at the end. Just show up at the Octagon and look for a sprightly man in a yellow jacket (€5, no need to reserve, departs Mon-Fri at 10:00 and 12:00, May-Sept only, mobile 087-410-1363, www.westportwalkingtours.ie).
(See “Westport” map.)
This little walk—almost a complete loop—will acquaint you with Westport’s charms, beginning at the Octagon and ending at the clock tower on Bridge Street.
Octagon: This is Westport’s main square, but as it’s eight-sided, it’s called the “Octagon.” Surrounded by 30 townhouses, it was the centerpiece of the planned town back in the 1760s. The big limestone structure with the clock was the old market house, where trade was organized, and taxes and customs paid.
The monument in the center of the Octagon was built in 1843 (just before the Famine) to honor Lord Browne’s banker, George Glendenning. But the statue of the English banker was shot to pieces by Irish patriots in 1922, during the civil war (notice the gunfire-pocked column). Today, St. Patrick perches on top, garbed in Roman clothes (recalling his kidnapping).
As you wander around town, you’ll see Westport is a proud little place with a strong community spirit. It’s competitive too. In 2012 Westport got “the best Irish town to live in” award. The skinny bronze statue just up the hill from the Octagon celebrates Westport’s claim to be the most livable town in Ireland.
James Street: Stroll downhill from the Octagon along James Street. Notice a few things. First, there are no stop signs. That’s because traffic is supposed to be so friendly that drivers yield to anyone in a crosswalk without being reminded. Second, there are no chain stores—by popular demand, the town council has allowed no big chains to open up in the town center. Finally, note how locals seem to have almost no expressions on their faces. (I’m told that’s because the biggest employer here is Allergan Pharmaceuticals, and about a thousand people in Westport earn their living making Botox.)
Halfway down the street, on the left, you’ll see a bike-rental shop (Westport Bikes for Hire), one of several in town. They’re all busy because of the Great Western Greenway bike path (see here). Photos in the window show the popular 26-mile route, which runs from here to Achill Island over the abandoned right-of-way of a narrow-gauge railway that operated from 1895 to 1937.
Along the River: At the bottom of James Street, stand at the bridge and notice the fancy Anglican church across the river (wealthy English Protestants). Rather than crossing the bridge, head right, to the more humble Catholic church (poor indigenous Catholics, not much inside).
In front of the church, by the water, is a bust of Westport-born Major John MacBride, one of the more colorful rebels of the 1916 Easter Rising. MacBride joined a band of insurgents marching into position in Dublin at the start of the rebellion, and was among the 14 men executed at Kilmainham Gaol after its failure.
The river feels like a canal here. Lord Browne, inspired by the embankments he saw in Paris, decided to show off by having this promenade built here, at the western fringe of Western civilization. The flowers along the embankment and on the bridges sure are tidy.
Bridge Street to the Clock Tower: At the next bridge, turn right and go uphill on Westport’s main street. McGreevy’s general store (on the corner) gets heat from townsfolk for its tacky giant ice cream cones, which the owner insists on posting on the sidewalk (not tidy). Bridge Street is, nevertheless, lined by some of the finest old storefronts in Ireland.
Farther up the street, Matt Molloy’s Pub is the biggest draw in town—famous because its namesake owner is the flutist for the trad group the Chieftains. You can hear music here nightly (see “Entertainment in Westport,” later). Explore the pub during the day when it’s quiet and empty. The back room is a small theater with photos of celebrated guests on the wall.
At the top of Bridge Street you’ll reach the classic storefront of Thomas Moran—so classic it’s on an Irish stamp. Try out a hurling stick.
Tidy flower patches (tended by an army of volunteers) surround the clock tower, which dates to 1947. Back when people needed a reliable timekeeper to set their watches to, this tower had a practical function. The tower marks the town’s second square—and the end of our walk.
For an easy way to enjoy Ireland’s great and scenic natural beauty, consider the popular 26-mile ride along the Great Western Greenway. From 1895 to 1937, a narrow-gauge railway operated from Westport to Achill Island. In 2010, the rails were replaced by a level, paved path, creating an ideal rural route dedicated to bikers and walkers—no vehicles allowed (www.greenway.ie).
Bike rental places will shuttle you by bus to Achill Island (connected to the mainland by bridge); you then bike scenically for three hours (with the wind generally at your back) along the old train bed back to Westport. You’ll cross stone bridges, wind through forested and open bog stretches, and usually have the sea in sight as you hug the coastline. About midway, you’ll pass Mulranny village (with a pub and its old station renovated into an inviting café). At Newport village you’ll bike over an old viaduct.
Westport has several good bike rental places (smart to reserve in advance). Westport Bikes for Hire runs daily shuttles at 10:00 and 12:00 to Achill, included with the price of a bike (€30/day for 21-speed bike, €50/day for electric bike, includes yellow vest and helmet, daily 9:00-18:00, James St, tel. 086/088-0882, www.westportbikes4hire.com, Jerry). Clew Bay Bike Hire also rents bikes and has shuttle-bus options to Newport, Mulranny, or Achill, plus they offer kayaking trips (€20/day for bikes, €50/day for electric bikes, daily 9:00-18:00, Distillery Road, tel. 098/24818 or 098/37675, www.clewbaybikehire.ie).
Westport has plenty of live traditional music nightly in its pubs.
On Bridge Street: The most popular place in town is Matt Molloy’s Pub, whose owner plays with the Chieftains, the group credited with much of the worldwide resurgence of interest in Irish music over the past 50 years. They have traditional music nightly at 21:30 (be there early or stand all night, no food, tel. 098/26655).
The Porter House (next door to Matt Molloy’s), an award-winning pub for its traditional music, also has nightly sessions at 21:30. You’ll find more room and fewer crowds here. Larry, the head barman, is proud of his craft beers.
On or near the Octagon: Three pubs have live trad music most evenings in summer: M. J. Hoban’s Bar, Cobbler’s Bar, and The Big Tree Pub (on Lower Peter Street, marked by a big tree a couple of steps up the hill from the Octagon).
$$$ Clew Bay Hotel has 54 large, modern rooms decked out in cherrywood furniture (free use of adjacent pool and fitness center, James Street, tel. 098/28088, www.clewbayhotel.com, info@clewbayhotel.com).
$$$ Mill Times Hotel has a fresh, woody feel, with 34 comfortable rooms and convenient, free underground parking (Mill Street, tel. 098/29200, www.milltimeshotel.ie, info@milltimeshotel.ie).
$ Boulevard Guesthouse is the best value in town. Located right on the leafy South Mall, it has six large, quiet, tasteful rooms and a cushy lounge with an interesting guest library under the stairs. Sadie and John Moran make you feel welcome (family rooms, cash only, discount with multiple-night stay, light continental breakfast, parking, South Mall, mobile 087-284-4018, www.boulevard-guesthouse.com, boulevardguesthouse@gmail.com).
$ Plougastel House B&B, named after Westport’s sister town in Brittany, has six inviting, smartly furnished earth-tone rooms with marble-floored bathrooms (cash only, Distillery Road, tel. 098/25198, www.plougastel-house.com, info@plougastel-house.com, Sandra Corcoran).
¢ Old Mill Hostel is a thick-walled stone structure that could stop a tank. Like many hostels, it’s an inexpensive ramshackle bunkhouse for an international mix of youthful vagabonds (James Street, tel. 098/27045, www.oldmillhostel.com, info@oldmillhostell.com).
(See “Westport” map.)
Each of these places serves contemporary Irish cuisine in a cozy and inviting space, and generally offers a three-course early-bird special for about €25 if you get your order in before 18:30. They are all popular enough to merit making reservations.
$$$ Sage Restaurant is filled with a happy energy. Shteryo (a talented Bulgarian chef) cooks while his wife Eva serves (daily from 17:30, 10 High Street, tel. 098/56700, www.sagewestport.ie).
$$$ Cian’s on Bridge Street, serving beautifully presented dishes and always a good vegetarian plate, is the current choice of foodies, so reservations are a must (Mon-Sat 17:00-22:00, closed Sun, top of Bridge Street at #1, tel. 098/25914).
$$$ The Pantry & Corkscrew is another local favorite, serving modern Irish with a dash of Asian in a woody, welcoming atmosphere (Tue-Sun 17:00-22:00, closed Mon, The Octagon, tel. 098/26977, www.thepantryandcorkscrew.com).
(See “Westport” map.)
You’ll find plenty of options along Bridge Street; for pub grub, consider J. J. O’Malley’s.
$ Ring’s Bistro, presided over by hard-working Joe and Eithne Ring, is a friendly and filling locals’ hangout for breakfast or lunch (Mon-Sat 8:00-17:30, closed Sun, hidden up Market Lane off Bridge Street, tel. 098/29100).
$ O’Cee’s Coffee Shop serves good, basic cafeteria-style lunches (Mon-Sat 8:30-18:30, Sun 9:00-16:00, on the Octagon, tel. 098/27000).
$ Chilli Restaurant & Coffee Shop is another reliable local diner (daily 9:30-17:00, also Wed-Sun 18:00-21:00, Bridge Street, tel. 098/27007).
Groceries: The SuperValu market has picnic fare; it’s just off the Octagon on Shop Street (daily 8:00-22:00).
By Bus to: Galway (6/day, 2-4 hours), Derry (3/day, 6 hours, change in Sligo), or Dublin (6/day, 4-6 hours). For details, see www.buseireann.ie. You can also reach Dublin by train (5/day, 3.25 hours, www.irishrail.ie).
The towns and sights below are arranged in the order you will reach them on my “Connemara Loop Drive” as you leave Westport and circle back to Galway (for route details, see “Planning Your Time” on here). The first two stops on the drive—Cong and Westport—are covered earlier.
In the tiny town of Murrisk you’ll find the trailhead for the long hike up Croagh Patrick and a monument remembering the Famine.
Croagh Patrick: This fabled mountain pilgrimage destination rises 2,500 feet above the bay from Murrisk. In the fifth century, St. Patrick is said to have fasted on its summit for the 40 days of Lent. It’s from here that he supposedly rang his bell, driving all the snakes from Ireland. The snakes never existed, of course, but they represent the pagan beliefs that Patrick’s newly arrived Christianity replaced. Every year on the last Sunday of July, “Reek Sunday” (a “reek” is a mountain peak), as many as 30,000 pilgrims hike three hours up the rocky trail to the summit in honor of St. Patrick. The most penitent attempt the hike barefoot (and often come down on a stretcher). On that Sunday, Mass is celebrated throughout the day in a modest cinderblock chapel at the summit.
A few years ago, valuable gold deposits were discovered within Croagh Patrick. Luckily, public sentiment has kept the sacred mountain free of any commercial mining activity.
Hiking Croagh Patrick: From the trailhead at Murrisk (where you’ll find a big pay-and-display parking lot and a visitors center), you can see the ruddy trail worn by a thousand years of pilgrims heading up the hill and along the north ridge to the summit. Hikers should allow three hours to reach the top and two hours to get back down (wear solid boots if you have them, and bring plenty of water, sunscreen, and rain gear). There is a primitive WC on the summit. The trail is easy to follow, but the upper half of the mountain is a steep slope of loose, shifting scree that can bang or turn exposed ankles. I’d advise buying (or renting) a walking stick in nearby Westport.
Coffin Ship Sculpture: Across the street from the Croagh Patrick trailhead is a modern bronze ship sculpture. A memorial to the Famine, it depicts a “coffin ship,” like those of the late 1840s that carried the sick and starving Famine survivors across the ocean in hope of a new life. But many of the ships contracted to take the desperate emigrants were worn out and barely seaworthy. The poor were weak from starvation and vulnerable to “famine fever,” which they spread to others in the putrid, cramped holds of these ships. Many who lived through the six- to eight-week journey died shortly after reaching their new country. Pause a moment to look at the silent skeletons swirling around the ship’s masts.
Now contemplate the fact that famine still exists in the world—in virtually every country—even though there’s enough food grown worldwide to feed the hungry. The challenge is distribution and buying power. If my cat has more buying power than your child, my cat gets the tuna. That’s simply the free market system.
Stretching west on R-335 from Murrisk is Clew Bay, peppered with more than 300 humpbacked islands of glacial gravel dumped by retreating glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. A notorious 16th-century local named Grace O’Malley (dubbed the “Pirate Queen”) once ruled this bay, even earning the grudging respect of Queen Elizabeth I with her clever exploits.
The Doo Lough Valley, unfolding between Louisburgh and Delphi (on R-335), is some of the most desolate country in Ireland. Signs of human habitation vanish from the bogland, and it seems ghosts might appear beside the road. Stop at the summit (north end of the valley, about 13 kilometers south of Louisburgh) when you see a simple gray stone cross. The lake below is Doo Lough (Irish for “Black Lake”). This is the site of one of the saddest famine tales.
County Mayo’s rural folk depended almost exclusively on the potato for food and were the hardest hit when the Great Potato Famine came in 1845. In the winter of 1849, about 600 starving Irish walked 19 kilometers (12 miles) from Louisburgh over this summit and south to Delphi Lodge, hoping to get food from their landlord. But they were turned away. On the walk back, almost 200 of them died along the side of this road. Today, the road still seems to echo with the despair of those hungry souls, and it inspires an annual walk that commemorates the tragedy. Archbishop Desmond Tutu made the walk in 1991, shortly before South Africa ended its apartheid system.
As you drive toward the town of Leenane, you’ll skirt along Killary Harbor, an Irish example of a fjord. This long, narrow body of water was carved by an advancing glacier. The rows of blue floats in the harbor mark mussel farms, with the molluscs growing on hanging nets in the cold seawater.
At the east end of Killary Harbor, stop to enjoy the scenic Aasleagh Falls. In late May, the banks below the falls explode with lush, wild, purple rhododendron blossoms.
The “town” of Leenane (actually just a crossroads) is a good place for a break. The 1990 movie The Field, starring Limerick-born Richard Harris, was filmed here. Glance at the photos of the making of the movie on the wall of Hamilton’s Pub. While you’re there, find the old photo of the British dreadnought battleships that filled Killary Harbor when King Edward VII visited a century ago. Drop into the Leenane Sheep and Wool Centre (across the street) to see interesting wool-spinning and weaving demonstrations (€5, daily 9:30-18:00, closed Nov-March; demos run June-Aug at 10:00, 11:30, 14:00, and 15:30; café, tel. 095/42323, www.sheepandwoolcentre.com).
About eight kilometers west of Leenane, you’ll find some areas on the south side of the road that offer a good, close look at a turf cut in a peat bog. Be sure to get out and frolic in the peat fields...with decent footwear and an eagle eye for mushy spots.
Walk a few yards onto the spongy green carpet. (Watch your step on wet days to avoid squishing into a couple of inches of water.) Find a dry spot and jump up and down to get a feel for it. Have your companion jump; you’ll feel the vibrations 30 feet away. Rip off a piece of turf and squeeze the water out of it. It’s almost all water.
These bogs once covered almost 20 percent of Ireland. As the climate got warmer at the end of the last Ice Age, plants began growing along the sides of the many shallow lakes and ponds. When the plants died in these waterlogged areas, there wasn’t enough oxygen for them to fully decompose. Over the centuries, the moss built up, layer after dead layer, helping to slowly fill in the lakes. During World War I, this sphagnum moss was collected to use in bandages to soak up blood (it absorbs many times its weight in fluids).
It’s this wet, oxygen-starved ecosystem that has preserved ancient artifacts so well, many of which can be seen in Dublin’s National Museum. Even forgotten containers of butter, churned centuries ago and buried to keep cool, have been discovered. But most bizarre are the wrinkled bog mummies that are occasionally unearthed. These human remains (many over 2,000 years old) are so incredibly intact that their eyelashes, hairstyles, and the last meal in their stomachs can be identified. They were likely sacrificial offerings to the pagan gods of Celtic times.
When you see a small cluster of trailers at the side of an Irish road, you’re looking at a dying way of life. These are the Travellers, a nomadic throwback to the days when wandering craftsmen, musicians, and evicted unfortunates crowded rural Ireland. Often mislabeled as gypsies, they have no ethnic ties to those Eastern European nomads, but rather have an Irish heritage going back centuries.
There were once many more Travellers, who lived in tents and used horse-drawn carts as they wandered the countryside in search of work. Before the Famine, when Irish hospitality was a given, Travellers filled a niche in Irish society. They would do odd jobs, such as repairing furniture, sweeping chimneys, and selling horses. Skilled tinsmiths, they mended pots, pans, and stills for poitín—Irish moonshine. (Travellers used to be called “tinkers,” but this label is now considered derogatory.) Settled-down farm folk, who rarely ventured more than 20 miles from home their entire lives, depended on the roaming Travellers for news and gossip from farther-flung regions. But post-Famine rural depopulation and the gradual urbanization of the countryside forced this nomadic group to adapt to an almost sedentary existence on the fringes of towns.
Today, the 30,000 remaining Travellers are outsiders, usually treated with suspicion by other Irish. Locals often complain that petty thefts go up when Travellers set up camp in a nearby “halting site,” and that they leave garbage behind when they depart.
Travellers tend to keep to themselves, marry young, have large families, and speak their own Irish Gaelic-based language (called Shelta, Gammon, or Cant). They are very religious and often camp near the pilgrimage town of Knock. Attempts to settle Travellers in government housing and integrate their children into schools have met with mixed success, as portrayed poignantly in the 1992 movie Into the West.
Since these acidic bogs contain few nutrients, unique species of carnivorous plants have adapted to life here by trapping and digesting insects. The tiny pink sundew (less than an inch tall) has delicate spikes glistening with insect-attracting fluid. Find a mossy area and look closely at the variety of tiny plants. In summer, you’ll see white tufts of bog cotton growing in marshy areas.
People have been cutting, drying, and burning peat as a fuel source for more than a thousand years. The cutting usually begins in April or May, when drier weather approaches. You’ll probably see stacks of “turf” piled up to dry along recent cuts. Pick up a brick and fondle it. Dried peat is surprisingly light and stiff. In central Ireland, there are even industrial peat cuts that were begun after World War II to fuel power stations. But in the past few decades, bogs have been recognized as a rare habitat, and conservation efforts have been encouraged. These days, the sweet, nostalgic smell of burning peat is becoming increasingly rare.
This Neo-Gothic country house was built by the wealthy English businessman Mitchell Henry in the 1860s, after he and his wife had honeymooned in the area. Now they are both buried on the grounds. After World War I, refugee Benedictine nuns from Ypres, Belgium, took it over and ran it as an exclusive girls’ boarding school—which peaked at 200 students—until it closed in 2010. In 2015 the Indiana-based University of Notre Dame signed a 30-year lease to use part of the facility for summer classes and student housing. The nuns still live upstairs, but you can visit the half-dozen open rooms downstairs that display the Henry family’s cushy lifestyle.
For me, the best thing about the abbey is the view of it from the lakeshore. But garden enthusiasts will seek out the extensive walled Victorian gardens. From the abbey, the gardens are a one-mile, level walk or quick shuttle bus ride (runs every 15 minutes). Hourly tours of the abbey and gardens are so-so; it’s best just to enjoy the setting.
Cost and Hours: Overpriced €13 combo-ticket for abbey and gardens; daily 9:00-18:00, July-Aug until 19:00, shorter hours off-season; WCs in gift shop next to parking lot, the cafeteria can be overwhelmed by multiple big-bus tour groups, tel. 095/52001, www.kylemoreabbeytourism.ie.
This park encompasses almost 5,000 acres of wild bog and mountain scenery. The visitors center (just outside Letterfrack) displays worthwhile exhibits of local flora and fauna, which are well-explained in the 15-minute Man and the Landscape film that runs every half-hour (free; park open daily year-round; visitors center open daily 9:00-17:30, closed Nov-Feb; tel. 095/41054, www.connemaranationalpark.ie). For a quick visit, take a nature walk along the boardwalk raised above the bog. Nature lovers may want to enjoy a two-hour walking tour with a park naturalist (July-Aug, Wed and Fri at 11:00, departs from visitors center). Call ahead to confirm walking tour schedules, and bring rain gear and hiking shoes.
If you’re short on time, you can connect Clifden and Galway with the fast main road (N-59). But the slower coastal loop along R-341 rewards drivers with great scenery. The essence of scenic Connemara—rocky yet seductive—is captured in this neat little 38-kilometer stretch. The 12 Bens (peaks) of Connemara loom deeper inland. In the foreground, broad shelves of bare bedrock are netted with stone walls, which interlock through the landscape. The ocean slaps the hardscrabble shore. Fishermen cast into their favorite little lakes, and ponies trot in windswept fields. Abandoned, roofless stone cottages stand mute. While the loop is pretty desolate, Roundstone is a perfect place to stop for a cup of coffee to fuel your ride back to Galway.
The following sights are due east of Westport (about 45 minutes to the shrine and 1.5 hours to the museum).
In 1879, locals in the little town of Knock claimed to see the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. John appear against the south gable of their humble church. Pilgrims started coming. Word of miraculous healings on that spot turned the trickle of pilgrims into a flood and put Knock solidly on the pilgrimage map. And the pilgrims keep coming. Today, you can visit the shrine. At the edge of the site, a small but earnest folk museum shows Knock’s knickknacks, photos of a papal visit, and sturdy slices of traditional life.
Cost and Hours: Shrine-free, museum-€4, daily 10:00-18:00, Aug until 19:30, tel. 094/938-8100, www.knockshrine.ie.
Getting There: The shrine is located on N-17, midway between Galway and Sligo (about 45 kilometers east of Westport).
During your time in Ireland, you’ll frequently see pretty little roadside shrines and grottoes honoring the Virgin Mary. The older ones were built in 1929 to celebrate 100 years of Catholic emancipation (the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829, spearheaded by Daniel O’Connell—see here). The majority were constructed in the “Marian Year” (devoted to Mary) of 1954. This was the 100th anniversary of Pope Pius IX’s 1854 proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (God kept the Virgin Mary “from the stain of original sin” from the moment she was conceived). A record number of devout Catholics flocked to the holy pilgrimage village of Knock to pray during the centenary, and many Irish girls born that year were named Marian.
A more recent, related event happened in 1985 at a shrine devoted to the Virgin Mary on the other side of the country, outside the tiny hamlet of Ballinspittle (4 miles southwest of Kinsale in County Cork). A number of locals claimed they had witnessed the statue of Mary moving spontaneously, and thousands of pilgrims flocked there that summer. Some pilgrims said they also witnessed the statue moving. But the Catholic Church remained neutral on the Ballinspittle event, and interest in it eventually subsided.
The Great Potato Famine of 1845-1849 was the bleakest period in Irish history—so traumatic that its effects halved the Irish population over the next 50 years and started a great Irish diaspora—sending desperate, hungry peasants across the globe. It also crystallized Irish nationalist hatred of British rule.
Cost and Hours: You have several options: museum (with a good café), house tour, six-acre Georgian walled gardens, or a combination of the three. One sight costs €9, two cost €12, and a combo-ticket for all three is €13.50. Open daily 10:30-17:30, Nov-mid-March until 16:00; “Big House” tours (45 minutes) go daily in high season at 12:00, 14:30, and 16:00; tel. 071/963-3013, www.strokestownpark.ie.
Getting There: The National Famine Museum fills a mansion on the former estate of the Mahon family in the market town of Strokestown, 90 kilometers northeast of Galway and 110 kilometers east of Westport (about 1.5 hours from either).
Visiting the Museum: Thoughtful exhibits explain how three million Irish peasants survived on a surprisingly nutritious prefamine diet of buttermilk and potatoes (12 pounds per day per average male laborer...potatoes are 80 percent water). When a fungus destroyed the potato crop, it sparked the Great Potato Famine, and as many as a million Irish people died of starvation.
Major Mahon, the ill-fated landlord here during the Famine, found it cheaper to fill three “coffin ships” bound for America with his evicted, starving tenants than pay the taxes for their upkeep in the local workhouse. When almost half died at sea of “famine fever,” he was assassinated.
The tours of the musty Big House provide insights into the gulf that divided the Protestant ascendancy and their Catholic house staff. Afterward, find the servants’ tunnel—connecting the kitchen to the stable—built to avoid cluttering the Mahon family’s views with unsightly common laborers.