In this craggy region on the edge of Europe, the lakes are as black as the rugged ones and the rugged ones are as thick as cream. Come here to listen to music with your toes in creaky pubs and kaleidoscopic landscapes that change colour by the second
By Nicky Swallow
There are few places I know as beautiful as Connemara on a sunny day. Bordered by the Atlantic on three sides and Lough Corrib on the fourth, it is a rocky wilderness in the north-west of County Galway, a vaguely defined area of twisted coastline in the far west of Ireland. Dotted with beautiful sandy beaches and irregular fields criss-crossed by crumbling dry stone walls, it has majestic mountains, peat-darkened lakes and lonely, windswept expanses of blanket bog.
I first visited this ancient and sparsely populated land almost 50 years ago, on the first of what would become regular family holidays. We would set off from home in Belfast, car-loaded with luggage and food, for the 250-mile journey south-west, a journey that had the best part of a day. We made our usual stops along the way: eggs and bacon cooked on a camping gas burner on the banks of Lough Erne, a lunchtime sandwich in the Jury hotel in Sligo and an ice cream in Westport. Thus began my love affair with Ireland’s most remote region, and I return as often as I can.
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Hardy, sooty sheep - who surely outnumber humans - roam the roads, bogs and headlands, braving the weather, their soggy sheaths marked with red or blue spots to identify ownership.
My family rented a house not far from the pretty fishing village of Roundstone (Cloch na R? N in Irish) for several weeks each summer, a stormy bungalow situated above a wide sandy bay with - in the early years at least - a hand-held telephone and electricity generated by a generator. There was a shaggy donkey and a pair of sturdy grey Connemara ponies in the next field and a fisherman in a nearby cottage who brought us fresh mackerel for breakfast and even the odd shimmering black one. We spent our days on the beach, clambering over rocks at low tide, searching for sea creatures in crystal clear tide pools or bending over in search of tiny, elusive, pale pink cypress shells (I still have a small jar of them somewhere).
Now I am too spoilt living in Italy to contemplate taking a dip in the icy Atlantic, but as children we used to spend hours in the water, our skin turning purple-blue and then bruised orange from the cold. When the weather was good - and 'good' in these parts didn't really mean rain - we grilled sausages for dinner wrapped in woollen jumpers before a final expedition to the beach, enjoying the long, light summer evenings that are such a gift to the northwest.
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Connemara still has that frontier feel, both physically and in spirit; after all, it sits right on the edge of a continent, far from almost anywhere. Yes, there are plenty of new holiday homes, villages have been carpeted, and bumpy roads, once a serious challenge for shock absorbers, have been smoothed and widened - at least the major ones. The Cannes sale of the Wild Atlantic Way by the National Tourist Board has brought many more visitors to the area and the season, once limited to little more than school summer holidays, is now much longer. Kylemore Abbey, a convent with a photogenic lakeside setting, attracts around 300,000 visitors a year while Connemara National Park, the starting point for walks in the Twleve Bens mountain range, rises to 190,000. Today it's all about activity and adventure: sea kayaking, windsurfing and kite surfing, rock climbing, mountain biking, SUP boarding, deep sea fishing and scuba diving. You can even learn to cut peat in the bog.
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Yet somehow, Connemara remains resolutely and affectionately old-fashioned, and with any luck it will stay that way. Many regulars own or rent holiday homes, but there are also some lovely old-fashioned hotels, now run by the descendants of the original owners and without a spa in sight. The food scene is on trend in terms of provenance and seasonality (even the most basic pub menus will tell you that your mussels were picked in Killary Harbour and that the crab is from Cleggan). But it doesn't do foams and gels; some of the best meals are found in homely places where the emphasis is on the richness of land and sea rather than technical wizardry.
A friend whose family used to take a house near ours
the old days recently told me she hadn't had the courage to go back in the last 30 years because she was worried the place would change beyond recognition. "Oh, you have to go," I told her, "it's still our Connemara."
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Ballynahinch Castle
Ballynahinch Castle is Connemara’s most elegant hotel. A solid crenellated mansion beside the salmon-rich Owenmore River in 700 acres of rugged landscape, it was given a shake-up in 2014 when it was bought by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien and his wife Catherine. They brought in Dublin magician Rosie Campbell, among others, to refresh the place without compromising the traditional feel. The 48 super-comfortable bedrooms are elegantly old fashioned, and breakfast is a feast of homemade granola, a leg of ham to carve, smoked herring and an excellent Irish Full. There’s plenty to keep you busy here: fishing, of course, plus clay pigeon shooting and woodcock, walking and cycling.
Phone: +353 95 31006
Website: ballynahinch-castle.com
Price: Double rooms from approx? 165
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Phone: +353 95 41101
Website: rosleague.com
Price: Double rooms from approx? 130; Set dinner approx? 45 per person
Quay House
Once the home of the harbour captain, the Georgian Quay House is now an elegant and quirky 16-room B&B owned by Julia and Paddy Foyle. Extrovert Paddy has a flair for sumptuous interior design, and the place is full of his imaginative ideas (jazzy fabrics, Scandi-style distressed wood and colourful flourishes) and a wonderful collection of knick-knacks. Eggs Benedict, kedgeree, fresh oysters and homemade fruit crumble await you in the vine-covered conservatory in the morning, a glass of wine and a cosy fire when you return after the day’s activities. Double rooms from approx? 125
Phone: +353 95 21369
Website: thequayhouse.com
Price: Double rooms from approx? 125
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Phone: +353 95 21204
Website: dolphinbeachhouse.com
Price: Double rooms from approx? 95
Currarevagh House
Henry Hodgson and his wife Lucy are the fifth generation of his family to run the wonderfully eccentric Currarevagh House, nestled in 180 acres of woodland on the edge of Lough Corrib. Little has changed over the decades: the sash windows still have their old shutters, the mahogany sashes remain unpainted, a worn tiger skin hangs from silk wallpaper in the stairwell
. There are hot water bottles on request and a gong announces dinner at eight o'clock. Even the 10 bedrooms are decidedly old-fashioned (there are no TVs), but luxuries like goose down duvets and new wrap-around mattresses have snuck in.
Phone: +353 91 552312
Website: currarevagh.com
Price: Double rooms from about? 130; set dinner approx. 40 per person
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Bribe the ma? Three d' for a coveted table overlooking the gentle river at the Owenmore Restaurant. The setting in Ballynahinch Castle is quite formal, as formal as it gets in this part of the world, with polished mahogany, white tassel, gleaming silver and sparkling crystal. Chef Pete Durkan showcases local produce in his sophisticated multi-course menus, with dishes like cod ceviche and lamb with nettle pesto.
Phone: +353 95 31006
Website: ballynahinch-castle.com
Price: set menu approx? 55 per person
Mitchell's
While the cosy Mitchell's, in a bright, turn-of-the-century building, won't win any awards for cutting-edge cuisine, it's a staple of the Clifden dining scene and can be relied on for hearty dishes made with Ireland's finest seafood That means fish pie at lunchtime and something a little more sophisticated in the evenings: the freshest Dunloughan crab salad, organic salmon with chives? and a freshly buttermilk pannacotta.
Phone: +353 95 21867
Website: mitchellsrestaurantclifden.com
Price: Approx? 65 for two
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The Lodge
A restaurant attached to a hostel doesn't usually catch my eye, but after several recommendations from locals, I had lunch at The Lodge in Letterfrack and loved it. With bare wooden tables, stripped floorboards, a funky mix of chairs and quirky art, it's as informal as it gets, but the lamb burger was perfectly cooked and the pan seared scallops with black pudding were fat, juicy and delicious. It also opens for dinner with a more elaborate menu.
Phone: +353 95 41222
Website: lodge.ie
Price: About? 60 for two
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Connemara Smokehouse
On picturesque Bunowen Pier, the family-run Connemara Smokehouse produces exceptional honey salmon, gravadlax and tuna. The fish is smoked over beech wood in a 1946 kiln before being filleted, deboned, salted and sliced by hand.
Phone: +353 95 23739
Website: smokehouse.ie
Connemara Hamper
The inviting little Connemara Hamper delicatessen on Clifden's Main Street sells an excellent range of Irish artisanal products: delicious Cork charcuterie, Skelligs chocolate from Kerry, dehydrated lamb from McGeough's in Oughterard, sinfully rich pastries from Galway's Goyas bakery and cheeses (hazelnut, sheep's milk Cais na Tire from Tipperary, slightly goaty Killeen from Galway). They also prepare picnics.
Phone: +353 95 21054
Website: connemarahamper.com
Where to drink
O'Dowd's
Overlooking the pretty harbour of Roundstone and the whole range of the Twelve Bens mountains, O'Dowd's is a Connemara institution - and my favourite pub - with dark wood panelling and a cosy snug. Pop in for a good pint of Guinness or Galway Hooker, before plying your fingers with crab claws in garlic butter or a huge plate of fresh mixed fish. No place to sit? Join the other punters on the wall across the street.
Phone: +353 95 35809
Website: odowdsseafoodbar.com
O'Dowd's pub in the village
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Fisherman's Pub and Ranji Room
A stop at the quaint Fisherman's Pub, with its enchanted stone and Ranji Room in Ballynahinch Castle, is a regular fixture for me. The relics and scales are reminiscent of the time when the castle was frequented by the fishing fraternity who would gather here at the end of a long day to knock back a fish or two and swap tall tales about those who were leaving. These days, the crowd is more eclectic, and the all-day menu includes pulled beef brisket and house-smoked chicken salad.
Phone: +353 95 31006
Website: ballynahinch-castle.com
Things to do
Connemara's beaches are magnificent and often deserted; many are not even signposted. Lovely Dog's Bay and Gurteen are a couple of miles west of Roundstone and windswept Aillebrack is near the Chamtionahip golf course in Ballyconneely. But my favourites are Mannin (also near Ballyconneely), Rossadillisk (just beyond Cleggan) and White Strand on the Renvyle Peninsula. A recent walk on Mannin revealed only three souls, one of which was a dog.
Little sleepy Inishbofin lies off the coast near Cleggan, an Eden of green pastures, rugged cliffs, pristine beaches, sheep and seabirds; you might even see minke whales from the ferry. A popular day trip in summer, it is easy to escape the crowds and explore on foot or by bicycle. Stay overnight (there are several simple hotels) to get a real feel for the place and catch traditional music in one of the pubs. inishbofinislanddiscovery.com
One of our favourite places as kids was Omey Island, a tiny flat blob of granite, grass and sand with only one road and a handful of cottages, which is connected to the mainland by half a mile of flat beach that gets swallowed up at high tide. If you got the timing wrong, you could be stranded; it never happened to us, but we always secretly hoped it would.
Pitch darkness Killary Harbour, a fjord dividing County Galway from Mayo in the north, was carved out of rock by a glacier in the Ice Age. It is home to the Great Fjord Swim, which attracts about 400 hardy people every autumn. Hike the Maumturk and Mweelrea mountains that frame the lake or, if you have children in tow, board the Connemara Lady catamaran at Nancy's Point for a cruise that takes in the scenery and, with any luck, even the seals and dolphins along the way.
At 2,500 km, Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way is the longest coastal tourist route in the world. It passes along the Connemara coast and takes in some of the country's most dramatic scenery. Marked by a zig-zag logo, it is a good starting point for exploring the area and there are many opportunities for diversion along the way. Wild Atlantic Way
A traditional Galway hooker boat in Roundstone
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