• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

The scenic R340 swings south along Kilkieran Bay, an area that has recently been granted protected status. The intricate and interlinked system of tidal marshes, bogs, swift-flowing streams and elaborate tidal basins contains an amazing diversity of life that biologists are only now beginning to fully understand.

Continuing on, Carna is a small fishing village, with pleasant walks out to Mweenish Island or north to Moyrus and out to Mace Head. This wild headland is best known for its research station (closed to the public), which measures changes in the global atmosphere and their effect on weather and climate.

Sleeping

The following places are worth a stop if you aren’t planning to make Roundstone or beyond by nightfall.

Buninvhir B&B ( 091-574 238; www.buninvhir.com; Derryrush, Rosmuc; r €45-70; Easter-Sep) Ignoring its uninterrupted view over Kilkieran Bay from the front terrace, the next best thing about this whitewashed four-room B&B is the fine gardens and serene location out on its tiny peninsula. Tasty evening meals (€25) are served on the terrace in fine weather.

Cloch na Scíth ( 091-553 364; www.thatchcottage.com; Kellough, Spiddal; r €45-75, cottages from €250) Set in a story-book garden roamed by ducks and chickens, this century-old thatched cottage has a warm, friendly host, Nancy, who cooks bread in an iron pot over the peat fire (as her grandmother taught her and as she’ll teach you). A separate self-catering thatched cottage on the property makes a great base for families.

Cashel House Hotel ( 095-31001; www.cashel-house-hotel.com; Cashel; s €95-140, d €190-310; ) At the head of Cashel Bay, this flowered fantasy of a country mansion has 32 period rooms surrounded by 17 hectares of woodland and gardens. It also has a stable of Connemara ponies (riding lessons available), a superb dining room and even a small private beach. Potentates who have graced its sheets include Charles de Gaulle.

Return to beginning of chapter

OUGHTERARD & AROUND

pop 2400

The writer William Makepeace Thackeray sang the praises of the small town of Oughterard (Uachtar Árd), saying, ‘A more beautiful village can scarcely be seen’. Fortunately, little has changed in the intervening years. Just 27km along the main road from Galway city to Clifden, near Lough Corrib, this pretty gateway to Connemara is one of Ireland’s principal angling centres.

Immediately west of Oughterard, the countryside opens up to sweeping panoramas of lakes, mountains and bogs, which get more spectacular the further west you travel. Nearby attractions include Aughnanure Castle, a spiritual Celtic garden, and the Quiet Man Bridge.

Information

Bank of Ireland (Main St) Has an ATM and bureau de change.

Tourist office ( 091-552 808; www.oughterardtourism.com; Main St; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri) Also offers internet access at €1 per 15 minutes. The website is excellent.

Sights

If you see tourists wandering around, talking with a drawl and calling people ‘pilgrim’, it’s probably because they are here to relive the iconic film The Quiet Man; see the boxed text, opposite, for details.

AUGHNANURE CASTLE

Built around 1500, this bleak fortress ( 091-552 214; www.heritageireland.com; adult/child €3/1; 9.30am-6pm early Apr–Sep) was home to the ‘Fighting O’Flahertys’, who controlled the region for hundreds of years after they fought off the Normans. The six-storey tower house stands on a rocky outcrop overlooking Lough Corrib and has been extensively restored. Surrounding the castle are the remains of an unusual double bawn (area surrounded by walls outside the main castle, acting as a defence and a place to keep cattle in times of trouble), and underneath the castle the lake washes through a number of natural caverns and caves.

Aughnanure Castle is situated 3km east of Oughterard, off the main Galway road (N59).

* * *

BRIDGING THE QUIET MAN

Whenever an American cable TV station needs a ratings boost (and they’ve already just shown Gone With the Wind), they trot out the iconic