Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [363]
Cois Cuain B&B ( 091-637 119; r €70-80) Overlooking the harbour, this modest three-room B&B couldn’t be any better located for getting into the Kinvara vibe. Imagine you’re staying with your genial Irish aunt and you’ll feel right at home.
Pier Head ( 091-638 188; kitchen 5-9.30pm Mon-Sat, noon-3pm Sun) Popular with yachties who tie up out front, this modern restaurant and pub has views over the brine. Food includes local lobster cooked in garlic, mussels and oysters – lots of oysters. The pub has live music at weekends.
Keough’s ( 091-637 145; Main St, Kinvara; mains €8-15) This friendly local, where you’ll often hear Irish spoken, serves up a fresh battered cod; specials are more ambitious. Traditional music sessions take place on Mondays and Thursdays, while Saturday nights swing with old-time dancing.
Getting There & Away
Bus Éireann (www.buseireann.ie) services 50 and 423 link Kinvara with Galway city (30 minutes) and towns in County Clare, such as Doolin, several times daily.
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WALK: KILLARY HARBOUR
This easy 18km walk (approximately seven hours) takes in the natural splendour and poignant human history of the area around Killary Harbour. The total ascent is 130m; Salrock Pass marks the modest high point of the circuit at 130m, making this route an ideal option if clouds are lying low over higher peaks in the area. The terrain covered is a mixture of quiet tarmac lanes, grassy boreens (small lanes or roadways) and rugged paths; boots are a good idea as sections of the trail can become boggy or muddy. Ordnance Survey Ireland’s 1:50,000 map 37 covers this area.
The route starts and finishes 3km southwest of Leenane, at the quarry situated 20m southwest of the River Bunowen on the main Leenane–Clifden road (N59). There’s ample parking at the quarry, but getting here requires your own transport.
When you come out of the quarry, turn left, walk onwards for 400m and then take the first right. Heading down that road, you’ll soon come to two gates and a sign that indicates that private vehicles may not proceed further. Pass through the right-hand gate and continue along the lane for a little over 1km. Lines of floats securing mussel beds bob in the harbour to the north and will be a constant presence for the first half of the route. The lane soon becomes a gravel track, and then, after passing through a couple of gates and crossing a bridge that spans a waterfall, it narrows again to become a grassy boreen.
This area was badly affected by the Great Famine, and around 3km from the start of the walk you’ll come to the first of several ruined stone buildings that once made up the village of Foher, which was depopulated during the Famine. Follow the boreen along the front of the ruins, and pass over a stone stile in the wall to the west. The boreen now dwindles to a single-file path, and climbs up and around a rock outcrop. The retaining walls of the Famine road, which was constructed by locals in return for rations, are obvious at the side of the path.
The rugged landscape is now dotted with boulders and bands of rock, although the buildings and boats of Rosroe Quay soon come into view ahead (1½ to two hours from the start). Pass along the south side of a large stone wall enclosing a field, and exit the boreen beside a cottage. Join the minor road leading to Rosroe harbour; the pier is about 200m along the road to the right, and well worth the short detour.
From the pier, retrace your steps along the road, continuing past the point where you came down off the boreen. Killary Harbour Little (or Little Killary) is the picturesque inlet to the south, its shape mimicking the larger-scale fjord further north. Follow the road for around 1km, climbing to a sharp right turn. Leave the lane here, continuing ahead (east) through a wooden gate. A short but steep ascent now leads to Salrock Pass, from where Killary Harbour and Little Killary are both visible.
The descent on the eastern side of the pass is even steeper, but you’ll soon come to