Connemara Attractions

To the west of Clifden town a path goes to Clifden Castle (1815), now unoccupied. There are superb views from the hills.An interesting sight in the season is at Weir Bridge, to the south of the town, where large numbers of salmon can be seen struggling against the current.Farther south are the remains of the first transatlantic wireless transmitting station set up here by Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937), the Italian pioneer of radio who went to live in England in 1896. Also in this area is a monument to Sir William Alcock and Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, who on June 14-15, 1919 made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic, taking off from St John's, Newfoundland, and crashlanding here.

Inland from the Clifden Castle area extends Lough Fadda, the haunt of innumerable wildfowl.

At Streamstown, a few miles north of Clifden, light-colored marble is worked; the quarries can be visited. A side road goes off on the left to the fishing village of Cleggan (lobster catching), from which a boat can be taken to Inishbofin.

Boats to the island of Inishbofin can be taken from Cleggan village (for departure times inquire in Clifden). The island was occupied by monks in the seventh century. On it can be seen ancient promontory forts, stone houses and the remains of a barracks built by Cromwell's forces (1652-57), who made this a kind of concentration camp for priests and monks. But the island is also well worth visiting for the sake of its beautiful sandy beaches and rugged cliffs and the scope it offers for sailing and sea fishing.

The N59 goes via Moyard to Letterfrack, a settlement founded by Quakers in the 19th C. The mild climate here allows tall fuschia hedges to flourish. The loughs and inlets offer good fishing and bathing.

In Letterfrack is the Visitor Center and the main entrance to Connemara National Park. The park is open throughout the year, the Visitor Center in summer (opening hours given). The center documents the flora, fauna and history of the 49,400 ac/2,000 ha area which can be explored on foot along fairly short waymarked paths, or on a day tour.

From Letterfrack a side road on the left leads to Tully Cross and Renvyle. At the end of the Renvyle Peninsula, which has lovely coastal scenery - sandy beaches alternating with cliffs - are the remains of a 14th C. castle and a church, and a dolmen.The N59 runs east from Letterfrack up the valley of the River Dawros to the Kylemore loughs, nestling amid hills. This area is at its most beautiful when the rhododendrons and fuschias are in bloom.

The N59 runs east from Letterfrack up the valley of the River Dawros to the Kylemore loughs, nestling amid hills. This area is at its most beautiful when the rhododendrons and fuschias are in bloom. To the left, above the first lough, stands the palatial Kylemore Abbey, built in the 19th C. as a country house by a wealthy merchant and now occupied by Benedictine nuns. Part of the abbey is used as a girls'school; other rooms are open to visitors in summer and fall (opening times given). There is a restaurant and craft center.

After Kylemore Abbey, the road passes Kylemore Lough and Lough Fee and winds its way down to Killary Harbor, a 16km/10mi-long fjord-like inlet the shores of which have a gloomy aspect when in shadow but are charming when the sun shines on them. There was formerly a British naval base here.

Over the water to the north of Killary Harbor there is a glimpse, between the Mweelrea Mountains and Bengorm (2,297ft/700m), of the Vale of Delphi, a beautiful rocky valley of classical aspect which owes its name to a young Marquess of Sligo, who, returning from the Grand Tour, called his fishing lodge Delphi.

After passing the Vale of Delphi, the road continues along the south side of the fjord to Leenane, a good center for fishermen and climbers. The Leenane Cultural Center (opening times given) is devoted to the documentation of wool production and fabrication, an important branch of industry in this area. The center owns land on which are kept several breeds of sheep.

At Leenane, on the River Erriff, which flows down through Mayo county into Killary Harbor, is the lovely Ashleag Waterfall.From Leenane there is a direct route south to Maam Cross on the R336. The road follows the course of the river which here borders the charming Joyce's Country.

From Clifden take the N59, which runs east to Ballynahinch Lough. Near its southern shore stands Ballynahinch Castle Hotel, an 18th C. mansion built by the Martin family, who during the Great Famine of 1845-49 sold much of their property to help the poor. On a wooded islet in the lough can be seen a ruined castle.

Beyond Recess is the important intersection known as Maam Cross, where the N59 (Clifden-Oughterard-Galway) cuts across the R335/R336 Louisburgh-Leenane-Screeb-Galway).From here the route leads south through a maze of little loughs, coming in 9km/6mi to Screeb, on a narrow and much-indented arm of the sea which could be taken for another lough were it not for the tide-marks along its shores. The tiny fields in this area are built up from successive layers of seaweed and sand and protected by irregularly shaped drystone walls.At Screeb the coast road (R340, R342 and R341) branches off to the right, describing wide sweeps round a succession of bays and inlets and reaching Clifden in some 50mi/80km, through a landscape which alternates between heath, bog and hills.

From Screeb the R340 follows the shores of Kilkieran Bay to Carna, with fishing for sea trout in the bay and for brown trout in the neighboring loughs.

On two islets in Lough Skannive are crannogs (lake dwellings on piles).

The coast road (R340, R342) comes in another 8mi/13km to a minor road on the left which descends to Cashel Bay. Cashel is a favorite fishing center.

From Cashel take the road west and then south to Roundstone, a settlement established in the early 19th C. for Scottish fishermen. It is now a holiday resort much favored by artists and nature lovers, with beautiful shell beaches.

The coast road (here the R341) continues round Ballyconneely Bay to Ballyconneely, 2.5mi/4km south of which, on the sea, is an 18-hole golf course. It then continues north to Clifden.

The interior of Connemara, with the Twelve Bens (east of Clifden) and the Maamturk Mountains, is lonely and thinly populated - very different from the coastal areas. Its central feature is the group of 12 peaks which are the great landmark of Connemara; the highest is Benbaun (2,356ft/718m), and the others are not much lower. Their steep rock faces are colorful with mosses and lichens, heather and the white quartzite of which they are composed. Access to the hills is over meagre grassland and barren expanses of heath into the side valleys which climb up through the foothills into the mountain world of the Twelve Bens.

The interior of Connemara, with the Twelve Bens (east of Clifden) and the Maamturk Mountains, is lonely and thinly populated - very different from the coastal areas. Its central feature is the group of 12 peaks which are the great landmark of Connemara; the highest is Benbaun (2,356ft/718m), and the others are not much lower. Their steep rock faces are colorful with mosses and lichens, heather and the white quartzite of which they are composed. Access to the hills is over meagre grassland and barren expanses of heath into the side valleys which climb up through the foothills into the mountain world of the Twelve Bens.To the east of the Maamturk Mountains, running southeast from Leenane, is the valley of the River Joyce, bordering the fascinating region known as Joyce's Country.

At the east end of Lough Kylemore a side road branches off the N59 and runs south in wide curves through the glacial depression between the Twelve Bens to the west and the Maamturk Mountains to the east, along the shores of Lough Inagh and Derryclare Lough, to rejoin the N59 at Recess. The delightful scenery and the good fishing make this a very popular holiday resort.To the east of the Maamturk Mountains, running southeast from Leenane, is the valley of the River Joyce, bordering the fascinating region known as Joyce's Country.

At the east end of Lough Kylemore a side road branches off the N59 and runs south in wide curves through the glacial depression between the Twelve Bens to the west and the Maamturk Mountains to the east, along the shores of Lough Inagh and Derryclare Lough, to rejoin the N59 at Recess, a very popular resort.

At the east end of Lough Kylemore a side road branches off the N59 and runs south in wide curves through the glacial depression between the Twelve Bens to the west and the Maamturk Mountains to the east, along the shores of Lough Inagh and Derryclare Lough, to rejoin the N59 at Recess. The delightful scenery and the good fishing make this a very popular holiday resort.To the east of the Maamturk Mountains, running southeast from Leenane, is the valley of the River Joyce, bordering the fascinating region known as Joyce's Country.