Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [366]
Impressive Portumna Castle & Gardens ( 0509-41658; www.heritageireland.ie; Castle Ave; adult/child €3/1; 9.30am-6pm early Apr–Sep) was built in the early 1600s by Richard de Burgo and boasts an elaborate, geometrically laid-out organic garden that would do a French king proud.
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Counties Mayo & Sligo
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COUNTY MAYO
CONG
AROUND CONG
DOOLOUGH VALLEY & AROUND
CLARE ISLAND
INISHTURK ISLAND
CROAGH PATRICK
WESTPORT
NEWPORT
NEWPORT TO ACHILL ISLAND
ACHILL ISLAND
BANGOR ERRIS
BALLYCROY NATIONAL PARK
MULLET PENINSULA
POLLATOMISH
BALLYCASTLE & AROUND
KILLALA & AROUND
BALLINA
AROUND BALLINA
CASTLEBAR & AROUND
KNOCK
COUNTY SLIGO
SLIGO TOWN
AROUND SLIGO TOWN
SOUTH OF SLIGO TOWN
LOUGH GILL
NORTH OF SLIGO TOWN
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Travelling just a few hours by road from Dublin transports you to Ireland’s ‘wild west’. And while it might not be the domain of gun-slinging cowboys, John Wayne did film one of his best-known movies here, the enduring 1950s classic The Quiet Man.
Far from the beaten track, you’ll find remote country lodgings, unhurried drives behind slow-moving tractors and placid, fish-filled lakes strewn across these two northwestern counties, along with warm-hearted country hospitality. And in-the-know surfers from all over the world head to the counties’ coastline in search of legendary breaks.
The larger, more rugged of the two, Mayo juts further into the Atlantic, much of it covered by harsh, barren, boggy terrain. The phrase ‘to hell or to Connacht’ may well have referred to Mayo’s brutally tough farming conditions. But this desolate land offers strikingly stark rock formations and subtle hues: orange-streaked sunsets, yellow asphodel flowers, dark-green myrtle, blue-grey rivers reflecting the changing skies above, purple moor grass rolling underfoot.
Sligo’s natural wonderment ranges from the flat-top mountains and lush pastoral scenes that inspired the poet William Butler Yeats to compose some of Ireland’s most ardent verse here to an improbable bounty of prehistoric sites.
But it’s not all wilderness out here: the gentle pace of rural life contrasts with the counties’ vibrant towns, including County Mayo’s pub-saturated Ballina, busy Castlebar and Georgian jewel Westport, as well as County Sligo’s citified oasis, sophisticated Sligo town.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Wood Carving Hear Sligo town’s woodcarver Michael Quirke (see the boxed text, Click here) recount Irish myths and legends as he carves them to life
Wave Carvin’ Hit the waves year-round at Easkey
Seaweed Bathing Do as the Irish have done for centuries and sink into a homeopathic seaweed-filled bath at Enniscrone or Strandhill (see boxed text, Click here)
Hawk Handling Learn to handle and fly Harris hawks at aristocratic Ashford Castle, outside Cong
‘Pilgrimaging’ Follow St Patrick’s footsteps up the conical peak of Croagh Patrick, or visit the site of Knock’s apparition Click here
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POPULATION: 184,542
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AREA: 7234 SQ KM
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COUNTY MAYO
County Mayo (Maigh Eo, ‘Plain of the Yew Trees’) is a continuation of Connemara’s wild beauty, yet with a fraction of the tourists.
Like Connemara, Mayo’s history does not paint a rosy picture of the easy country life. The ravages of the Potato Famine (1845–51) – which provoked the sad refrain ‘County Mayo, Mayo, God help us!’ – were harshest here. The resulting mass emigration means that many people with Irish ancestry around the world can trace their roots to this once-plagued land. Today, Mayo’s haunting landscapes offer untapped opportunities for explorations, whether by car, foot, bicycle or horseback.
Because County Mayo has such close proximity to Connemara, we’ve arranged this section going from south to north, starting with the photogenic village of Cong, which can be found just over the border with County Galway.
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CONG
pop 150
Sitting on a sliver-thin