Connemara

Connemara

Connemara

Oscar Wilde described Connemara as ‘a savage beauty’ and well, we couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Stretching along the west coast of County Galway, Connemara’s rugged and rebellious landscape holds an enduring mystical quality. The crumbling coastline, rolling hills and curiously spongy bogs are the backdrop to some of our strongest myths and legends. Connemara’s confines are like a vault, keeping our island’s heritage, folklore and culture safe against the march of time. After all, this is one of the most thriving Gaeltacht areas in Ireland. It flourishes between looming airy peaks, sandy shores meeting Atlantic froth, and clear night skies of glittering stars.

Didn’t Wilde recommend looking at the stars too?

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Kylemore Abbey

Past and Present

The distance between past and present feels somehow shorter in Connemara; myth feels like something you can breathe in. Sites standing today forge the connection between ancient and awesome. Take irrepressible pirate queen Grace O’Malley, who stalked the West Coast during the 16th Century. One of her various fortresses can be visited just outside Ballyconneely. But these days golf balls rather than cannon balls fly around Ballyconneely, now home to the Connemara Championship Golf Links. Follow the footsteps of John Wayne with a stroll over the ‘Quiet Man’ bridge and cottage museum dedicated to the 1952 film. Tragic romance is the story behind Kylemore Abbey – built for a bride who died suddenly before its completion. Nestled between a lake and densely wooded hills, it looks straight out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. On the island of Inis Mór, dramatically backing a cliff is the prehistoric Dún Aonghasa stone fort.

Jump In

Chances are your mental picture of Connemara is of long white beaches, lapped by a tamed blue Atlantic and pony tracks dotting the sand. Well, putting yourself atop a sturdy and docile Connemara Pony is the last piece of the puzzle. There are plenty of schools running guided treks along the gorgeous beaches, dusty paths or rolling hills. On your own two feet, Connemara National Park couldn’t offer a more perfect backdrop to a walking trail. The hike up to Diamond Hill takes a few hours, and you’ll be rewarded with wind-swept panoramic views of Inishbofin Island from the top. Steeper thrills can be found criss-crossing the Twelve Bens. If splashing puddles and squealing tires is more the picture you set yourself in, the Derroura Mountain Bike Trail is where your thighs of steel should take you.

Galway Oyster Festival

Soul Food

We have the Atlantic Ocean to thank for the abundance of tasty morsels and Connemara’s rep for delicious seafood. Galway Bay lobsters and Connemara salmon are all sumptuous specialties that adorn local menus. The Galway Oyster Festival is a must-visit if you’re in town, the freshest oysters plucked from the ocean coupled with frothy pints of good aul' Guinness – a marriage made in heaven. Connemara Hill lamb is another specialty worth getting your fork into. Probably the perfect pre-lunch activity is a guided tour of the family-run Connemara Smokehouse, to watch how wild Atlantic salmon are infused with the smoldering flavour of Beechwood smoke. Soon you’ll be gagging for lunch at White Gables Restaurant combining a menu of Connemara seafood and lashes of candlelight. Traditional Irish music is at the heart of every pub in Connemara, with clusters of musicians pulsing rhythms and beats that’ll have toes tapping, heads nodding and pints spilling. Tempted? We can resist anything except temptation, isn’t that right Mr Wilde...

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