THE L OWER SHANNON 199
o Cashel
Road map C5. Co Tipperary.
* 11,400. @ n Heritage Centre,
Town Hall, Main St (062 62511).
∑ cashel.ie
The great attraction of the town
is the magnificent medieval
Rock of Cashel (see pp200–201).
A private path leads to the rock
from Cashel Palace Hotel (see
p299), an opulent Queen
Anne residence that was
Façade of Cashel Palace Hotel once the Bishop’s Palace.
Nearby, the remnant of a
stone foundations. The i Holy Cross Abbey 12th-century castle has been
interpretive centre, housed in Road map C5. Thurles, Co Tipperary. turned into Kearney Castle
mock Stone Age huts on the site Tel 0504 43124. £ @ to Thurles. Hotel. In the evening you can
of the original settlement, offers Open 9am–8pm daily. sample traditional Irish culture
a range of audiovisual displays, & 8 7 ∑ tipperary.com at the Brú Ború Cultural Centre.
models of stone circles, burial Named after Brian Ború,
chambers and tools and weapons. Founded in 1169 by the the 10th-century king of
As well as the various pre- Benedictines, Holy Cross Munster (see pp38–9), the
historic sites scattered all over was supposedly centre offers
the Knockadoon Peninsula, endowed with folk theatre,
there are two castle ruins from a splinter traditional
more recent times beside from the True music, banquets,
the lough – the 15th-century Cross, hence its name. and a craft shop. At the
Bourchier’s Castle and Black Now it has been re stored, foot of the Rock is the
Castle, a 13th-century seat of and the church is 13th-century Dominican
the Earls of Desmond. once again a popular Friary. This austere sand-
place of worship and stone church has a fine
pilgrimage. Most of west door, a 15th-century
u Roscrea the present structure tower and lancet windows.
dates from the 15th On farmland outside
Road map C4. Co Tipperary. * 4,600.
£ @ n Heritage Centre, Castle St century. It was built by Cashel lie the scant
(0505 21850). Open Easter–Sep: daily. the Cistercians, who Crucifixion carving remains of Hore
∑ heritageireland.ie took over the abbey at Holy Cross Abbey Abbey, a 13th-century
in 1180. This gracious Cistercian foundation.
This monastic town on the cruciform church, embellished The abbey was remodelled and
banks of the River Bunnow has with mullioned win dows a tower added in the 15th
an interesting historic centre. and sculpted pillars, is one century, but the barrel-vaulted
The 13th-century Anglo- of the finest examples of late sacristy, the nave and chapter
Norman Roscrea Castle consists Gothic architecture in Ireland. house are all original.
of a gate tower, curtain walls Nearby, Farney Castle is
and two corner towers. In the the only round tower in F Brú Ború Cultural Centre
courtyard stands Damer House, Ireland that is occupied as Cashel. Tel 062 61122. Open mid-Jun–
a Queen Anne-style residence a family home. It was built Aug: Tue–Sat; Sep–mid-Jun: Mon–Fri.
with a magni ficent staircase and in 1495 and is currently the Closed 24 Dec–2 Jan. 7 =
Georgian garden. Just over the design studio and retail outlet ∑ bruboru.ie
river lies St Cronan’s Monastery, of Irish international designer R Dominican Friary
with a High Cross, Romanesque Cyril Cullen. Dominic Street. 7 limited.
church gable and a truncated
round tower. There are remains
of a 15th-century Franciscan
Friary on Abbey Street and the
renovated Blackmills now
houses the St Cronan’s High
Cross and the Roscrea Pillar.
+ Roscrea Castle & Gardens
Castle Street. Tel 0505 21850. Open
Mar–Sep: 10am–6pm daily. & 7
limited. 8 ∑ heritageireland.com Ruins of Hore Abbey (1272) with the Rock of Cashel in the background
198-199_EW_Ireland.indd 199 08/03/17 11:07 am
200 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
Rock of Cashel
This rocky stronghold, which rises dramatically out of the Tipperary plain, was a symbol
of royal and priestly power for more than a millennium. From the 4th or 5th century it
was the seat of the Kings of Munster, whose kingdom extended over much of southern
Ireland. In 1101, they handed Cashel over to the Church, and it flourished as a religious
centre until a siege by a Cromwellian army in 1647 culminated in the massacre of its
3,000 occupants. The cathedral, which is subject to ongoing renovation, was finally
abandoned in the late 18th century. A good proportion of the medieval complex is
still standing, and Cormac’s Chapel is one of the most outstanding examples of
Romanesque architecture in the country.
. St Patrick’s Cross
Hall of the The carving on the east face
Vicars’ Choral of this cross is said to be of
This hall was built in St Patrick, who visited Cashel in
the 15th century for 450. The cross is a copy of
Cashel’s most privi leged the original which
choristers. The ceiling, a stood here until
modern reconstruction 1982 and is now
based on medieval in the museum.
designs, features
several decorative
corbels including this
painted angel.
Entrance
KEY
1 Limestone rock
2 Outer wall
3 The Museum in the under-
croft contains a display of stone
carvings, including the original
St Patrick’s Cross.
4 Dormitory block
5 Crossing
6 Round tower
7 The Choir contains the
17th-century tomb of Miler Magrath,
who caused a scandal by being both
a Protestant and Catholic archbishop
at the same time.
8 Graveyard
9 The O’Scully Monument, an . Cormac’s Chapel
ornate memorial erected in 1870 Superb Romanesque carving adorns this
by a local landowning family, was chapel – the jewel of Cashel. The tympanum
dam aged during a storm in 1976. over the north door shows a centaur in a
helmet aiming his bow and arrow at a lion.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp299–300 and pp316–18
200-201_EW_Ireland.indd 200 08/03/17 11:07 am
THE L OWER SHANNON 201
VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Practical information
Road Map C5. Cashel.
Tel 062 61437.
Open daily. Early Jun–mid-Sep:
9am–7pm; mid-Mar–early Jun &
mid-Sep–mid-Oct: 9am–5:30pm;
mid-Oct–mid-Mar: 9am–4:30pm.
North Transept Closed 24–26 Dec. & 7 8
Panels from three 16th-century tombs in the north transept
are decorated with remarkably fresh and intricate carvings. Transport
£ to Thurles. @ to Cashel.
This one, against the north wall, features a vine-leaf design
and strange stylized beasts.
The Rock
The 28-m (92-ft) round
tower, the oldest and
tallest building on the
rock, enabled Cashel’s
inhabitants to scour the
surrounding plain for
potential attackers.
Key
12th Century
4 St Patrick’s Cross
(replica)
12 Cormac’s Chapel
13 Round tower
13th Century
6 Cathedral porch
7 Nave
8 Crossing
9 South transept
10 Choir
11 North transept
. Cathedral
The roofless Gothic cathedral 1 15th Century
Ticket office
has thick walls riddled with
hidden passages; in the north 0 metres 500 2 Hall of the Vicars’
Choral (museum)
transept these are seen 0 yards 500 3 Dormitory
emerging at the base of 5 Castle
the windows.
200-201_EW_Ireland.indd 201 08/03/17 11:07 am
202 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
p Athassel Priory
Road map C5. 8 km (5 miles) W of
Cashel, Co Tipperary. @ to Tipperary.
Open daily. ∑ cashel.ie
This ruined Augustinian priory
is situated on the west bank of
the River Suir. The tomb of
William de Burgh, the Norman
founder of the priory, lies in the
church. Established in 1192,
Athassel is believed to have been
the largest medieval priory in
Ireland until it burned down in
1447. The scattered monastic The ruins of Athassel Priory, on the banks of the River Suir
site conveys a tranquil atmos-
phere, from the gatehouse and the valley floor. More + Cahir Castle
church to the remains of the adven turous walkers will be Castle Street. Tel 052 744 1011.
cloisters and chapter house. The tempted by the Galty range, Open daily. Closed 24–30 Dec. & 8
church has a fine west door way, which offers more rugged hill 7 limited. ∑ heritageireland.ie
nave and chancel walls, as well walking, past wooded foothills, Built on a rocky island in the River
as a 15th-century central tower. moun tain streams, tiny Suir, Cahir is one of the most
corrie lakes and splendid formidable castles in Ireland and
sandstone peaks. a popular film set. This well-
a Glen of Aherlow preserved fortress dates from the
13th century but is inextricably
Road map C5. Co Tipperary. @ to s Cahir
Bansha or Tipperary. n Coach Rd, on linked to its later owners, the
R663 8 km (5 miles) E of Galbally (062 Road map C5. Co Tipperary. * 2,100. Butlers. A powerful family in Ireland
56331). ∑ aherlow.com £ @ n Apr–Oct: Castle Street (052 since the Anglo-Norman invasion,
744 1453). ∑ discoverireland.ie/ they were considered trusty
The lush valley of the River southeast lieges of the English crown and
Aherlow runs between the were granted the Cahir barony
Galty Mountains and the Once a garrison and mill town, in 1375. Under their command,
wooded ridge of Slievenamuck. Cahir is today a busy market the castle was renovated and
Bounded by the villages of town. The pub-lined Castle extended throughout the 15th
Galbally and Bansha, the glen Street is the most appealing and 16th centuries. It remained
was historically an important area. It leads to the Suir River, in the Butler family until 1964.
pass between Limerick and Cahir Castle and the walk to The castle is divided into outer,
Tipperary and a notorious the Swiss Cottage. middle and inner wards, with a
hideout for outlaws. On the edge of town lies barbican at the outer entrance.
Today there are opportunities the ruined Cahir Abbey, a The inner ward is on the site of
for riding, cycling, rambling 13th-century Augustinian the original Norman castle; the
and fishing. Lowland walks priory. Its fine windows are foundations are 13th-century, as
follow the trout-filled river along decorated with carved heads. are the curtain walls and keep.
The restored interior includes the
striking great hall, which dates
largely from the 1840s, though
two of the walls are original and
the windows are 15th-century.
From the ramparts there are
views of the river and millrace.
P Swiss Cottage
Kilcommon, Cahir. Tel 052 744 1144.
Open Apr–Oct: daily. &
8 obligatory.
The Swiss Cottage is a superb
example of a cottage orné, a
rustic folly. It was designed for
the Butlers by the Regency
architect John Nash in 1810.
Here, Lord and Lady Cahir
played at bucolic bliss, enjoying
View across the unspoilt Glen of Aherlow picnics dressed as peasants.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp299–300 and pp316–18
202-203_EW_Ireland.indd 202 08/03/17 11:07 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
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(Source v2)
Date 14th November 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
THE L OWER SHANNON 203
Fashion dictated that a cottage
orné should blend in with the
countryside and all designs
should be drawn from nature
with nothing matching, so the
windows and sloping eaves are
all different. The beauti fully
restored cottage contains a tea
room, gracious music room
and two bedrooms.
d Clonmel The Swiss Cottage at Cahir, beautifully restored to its original state
Road map C5. Co Tipperary.
* 17,000. £ @ n The Main Guard of the horse-drawn coach Tom Butler, the 10th Earl of
(052 612 2960). ∑ discoverireland.ie service he established between Ormonde. On his death, the
Clonmel and Cahir. Eventually Ormondes abandoned Carrick
Set on the River Suir, Clonmel this developed into a nationwide for Kilkenny (see pp146–7).
is Tipperary’s main town. This passenger service.
Anglo-Norman stronghold was Environs
a fief of the Desmonds and In the churchyard at Ahenny,
eventually of the Butlers. Its f Carrick-on-Suir about 10 km (6 miles) north of
prosperity was founded on Road map C5. Co Tipperary. * 5,500. Carrick, stand two magnificent
mil l ing and brewing. Today, @ n Heritage Centre, Main St (051 High Crosses (see p247). Both are
Clonmel is a bustling, brash 640200). crowned by “caps” or “bishops’
town with quirky architecture mitres” and have intricate cable,
and lively nightlife. This small market town has a spiral and fret patterns.
The Franciscan Friary by the distinctly old-fashioned air. In At Kilkieran, 5 km (3 miles)
quays was remodelled in Early the 15th century, it was a strat- north of Carrick, are three other
English style in Victorian times egic site commanding access interesting High Crosses, dating
but retains a 15th-century west to Clonmel and southeast from the 9th century. The Plain
tower and houses 16th-century to Waterford, but after Tudor Cross is unadorned but capped;
Butler tomb effigies. Nearby is times the town sank into oblivion. the West Cross is profusely
O’Connell Street, Clonmel’s Apart from Ormond Castle, there ornamented though weathered;
main shopping street, which is are few specific sights. However, the Long Shaft Cross has an odd
straddled by the West Gate, you can stroll by the old water- design of stumpy arms on a
built in 1831. Visitors to Hearn’s side warehouses or shop in long shaft.
Hotel on Parnell Street can see Blarney Woollen Mills (see p334).
memorabilia of Charles Bianconi
(1786–1875), includ ing pictures + Ormond Castle
Castle Park. Tel 051 640787. Open for
guided tours daily, Apr–mid-Sep; call
ahead or check website for details.
7 limited. ∑ heritageireland.ie
Although once a fortress,
Ormond Castle is the finest
surviving Tudor manor house
in Ireland. It was built by the
powerful Butler family, the Earls
of Ormonde, who were given
their title by the English crown
in 1328. The castle has a gracious
Elizabeth an façade overlaying
the medieval original; the
battle mented towers on the
south side sit oddly with the
gabled façade and its mullioned
and oriel windows.
The state rooms contain
some of the finest decorative
plasterwork in Ireland, while the
Long Gallery extends to 30 m
Clonmel’s mock Tudor West Gate, (100 ft). The Elizabethan part of Intricate wood carving on a four-poster bed
spanning O’Connell Street the castle was added by Black at Ormond Castle
202-203_EW_Ireland.indd 203 08/03/17 11:07 am
204-205_EW_Ireland.indd 204 25/04/16 11:02 am
IRELAND REGION B Y REGION 205
THE WEST OF IRELAND
Mayo • Galway • Roscommon
This is the heart of Connaught, Ireland’s historic western
province. The West lives up to its image as a traditional, rural,
sparsely populated land, with windswept mountains and
countryside speckled with low stone walls and peat bogs.
Yet it also encompasses Galway, a vibrant university town
whose youthful population brings life to the medieval
streets and snug pubs.
The rugged Atlantic coastline of the West the Great Famine, the West – especially
has been occupied for over 5,000 years. It County Mayo – suffered most from
is rich in prehistoric sites such as the land emigration. In spite of this, strong Gaelic
enclosures of Céide Fields and the ring traditions have survived in County Galway,
forts on the Aran Islands. Evidence of which is home to the country’s largest
the monastic period can be seen in the Gaeltacht (see p233), where almost half the
mysterious and beautiful remains at population speaks Irish as a first language.
Kilmacduagh and Clonfert; and the The bracken browns and soft violets of
region’s religious associations still exert an Connemara in the west of Galway and the
influence, apparent in the pilgrimages to fertile farmland, extensive bogs and placid
Knock and Croagh Patrick in County Mayo. lakes of County Ros common are in striking
In medieval times, the city of Galway contrast to the magnificent cliff scenery
was an Anglo-Norman stronghold, sur- of the remote islands off the coast. This
rounded by warring Gaelic clans. After region is often shrouded in a misty drizzle
the Cromwellian victories of the 1640s, or else battered by Atlantic winds and
many Irish were dispossessed of their ac companying heavy downpours.
fertile lands and dispatched “to hell or to Summer is a time for festivities, such
Connaught”. Landlords made their mark as the Galway Races in July and August,
in the 17th and 18th centuries, building the Galway Arts Festival in July, traditional
impressive country houses at Clonalis, sailing boat races off Kinvara in August and
Strokestown Park and Westport. During the Galway Oyster Festival in Sep tember.
Swans by the quayside of the Claddagh area of Galway
The scenic coastline of Keem Bay, Achill Island
204-205_EW_Ireland.indd 205 25/04/16 11:02 am
206 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
Exploring the West of Ireland
Galway city, Clifden and Westport make the best bases
for exploring the region, with cosy pubs, good walks
and access to the scenic islands. Connemara and
the wilds of County Mayo attract nature
lovers, while the islands of Achill,
North Mayo
Aran, Clare and Inishbofin appeal Broad Sculpture Trail
to water-sports enthusiasts and Haven Portlurin Belderg Ballycastle
CÉIDE
ramblers. The lakes of counties Glenamoy FIELDS Killala
Roscommon, Mayo and Galway Belmullet Barnatra Bay
are popular with anglers, and Carrowmore Killala Inniscrone
Lough Corrib and Lough Key Lake
offer relaxing cruises. Bangor Erris Bellacorick Ballina
The Ox Mountains
Blacksod Bay Doohooma Slieve Car Crossmolina Lough Moy Slieve Gamph or Tubercurry Ballinafad Keadue Erne Drumshanbo
Sligo
720m
Conn
Ballycroy
Doogort Nephin FOXFORD Gorteen
806m
Dooagh Pontoon Lough Key
Forest Park
Cushcamcarragh Lough Charlestown BOYLE Carrick-on-
714m Cullin Lough
Achill Sound Lough Betra Swinford Gara Shannon
Feeagh Tawnyinah
Bellavary Ballaghadereen
Lough
ACHILL ISLAND Mulrany
Newport Castlebar Kilkelly Boderg Dromod
Clew Bay NATIONAL Frenchpark Elphin Roosky
MUSEUM
CLARE OF IRELAND – ROSCOMMON
ISLAND WESTPORT COUNTRY LIFE KNOCK Castlerea Tulsk STROKESTOWN
Roonagh Ballintober CLONALIS PARK
Quay Louisburgh CROAGH Ballyhaunis
Inishturk PATRICK MA YO HOUSE Ballintober Shannon Longford
Cregganbaun Claremorris Ballymoe Lanesborough
Mweelrea Ballindine
INISHBOFIN 819m Ballinrobe
Partry
KYLEMORE Asleagh Mountains Lough ROSCOMMON
Mask
ABBEY Leenane Kilmaine Dunmore
Letterfrack Neale Athleague
Cleggan CONG Lecarrow
Maum Tuam Newbridge Lough
Maamturk
CONNEMARA Moylough Ree
CLIFDEN NATIONAL Headford Ballyforan
Mountains
Alcock and Brown PARK Recess Maam Cross Mount Caltra
Memorial Clare Bellew Suck Athlone
LOUGH CORRIB
Ballyconneely Cashel Oughterard Aughnanure Ardnasodan Fardrum
Castle
Roundstone Screeb Cloonboo GAL WAY
Colourful shopfronts lining a Claregalway Ballinasloe
Galway street Carna Kilkieran Moycullen Cloonymorris Dublin
Athenry
GALWAY TUROE STONE CLONFERT
Rossaveal Oranmore CATHEDRAL
Lettermullan Spiddle Laurencetown
Inveran Craughwell
Kilcolgan
North Sound Galway Bay Dunguaire Loughrea Shannon Banagher
Burren Castle Slieve Aughty Killimor
Getting Around ARAN Kilronan KINVARA Mountains
The tiny airport near Rossaveal runs flights ISLANDS Ennis Coole THOOR PORTUMNA Portland
BALLYLEE
to the Aran Islands, which can also be Park Gort Lough Carrigahorig
reached by ferry from Rossaveal and Doolin South Sou n d KILMACDUAGH Cloonoon Derg
(Co Clare). Ferries run from Cleggan to
Inishbofin and Roonagh near Louisburgh to Maghera Coolbaun Limerick
Clare Island. There is no direct rail service 399m
between Galway and Westport but the Crusheen Whitegate
towns are linked by buses. Bus Éireann runs 0 kilometres 20
services to Connemara from Galway and
Clifden (via Oughterard or Cong) or the area 0 miles 20
can be explored on day-long coach tours
from Galway or Clifden.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
206-207_EW_Ireland.indd 206 08/03/17 11:07 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
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(Source v1.3)
Date 17th October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
THE WEST OF IRELAND 207
Sights at a Glance
1 Céide Fields
2 Achill Island
3 Westport
4 National Museum of Ireland –
Country Life
5 Foxford
North Mayo 6 Knock
Sculpture Trail
Broad Portlurin 7 Croagh Patrick
Haven Ballycastle
Belderg 8 Clare Island
CÉIDE
Glenamoy FIELDS Killala 9 Inishbofin
Belmullet Barnatra Bay 0 Clifden
Killala Inniscrone
Carrowmore River valley at Delphi in northern Connemara q Kylemore Abbey
Lake w Connemara National Park
Bangor Erris e Cong
Bellacorick Ballina r Lough Corrib
The Ox Mountains
Blacksod Bay Doohooma Slieve Car Crossmolina Lough Moy Slieve Gamph or Tubercurry Ballinafad Keadue Erne Drumshanbo t Galway pp214–15
Sligo
Conn
y Aran Islands pp216–17
720m
Ballycroy
Doogort Nephin FOXFORD Gorteen u Kinvara
806m
Dooagh Pontoon Lough Key i Kilmacduagh
Forest Park
Cushcamcarragh Lough Charlestown BOYLE Carrick-on-
714m Cullin Lough o Thoor Ballylee
Achill Sound Lough Betra Swinford Gara Shannon p Portumna
Feeagh Tawnyinah
Bellavary Ballaghadereen a Clonfert Cathedral
Lough
ACHILL ISLAND Mulrany
Newport Castlebar Kilkelly Boderg Dromod s Turoe Stone
Clew Bay NATIONAL Frenchpark Elphin Roosky d Roscommon
MUSEUM
CLARE OF IRELAND – ROSCOMMON f Clonalis House
ISLAND WESTPORT COUNTRY LIFE KNOCK Castlerea Tulsk STROKESTOWN g Strokestown Park
Roonagh Ballintober CLONALIS PARK h Boyle
Quay Louisburgh CROAGH Ballyhaunis
Inishturk PATRICK MA YO HOUSE Ballintober Shannon Longford
Cregganbaun Claremorris Ballymoe Lanesborough
Mweelrea Ballindine
INISHBOFIN 819m Ballinrobe
Partry
Mask
KYLEMORE Asleagh Mountains Lough ROSCOMMON
ABBEY Leenane Kilmaine Dunmore
Letterfrack Neale Athleague
Cleggan CONG Lecarrow
Maum Tuam Newbridge Lough
Maamturk
CONNEMARA Moylough Ree
CLIFDEN NATIONAL Headford Ballyforan
Mountains
Alcock and Brown PARK Recess Maam Cross Mount Caltra
Memorial Clare Bellew Suck Athlone
LOUGH CORRIB
Ballyconneely Cashel Oughterard Aughnanure Ardnasodan Fardrum
Castle
Roundstone Screeb Cloonboo GAL WAY
Claregalway Ballinasloe
Carna Kilkieran Moycullen Cloonymorris Dublin Decorative
Athenry stuccowork
GALWAY TUROE STONE CLONFERT
Rossaveal Oranmore CATHEDRAL in Westport
Lettermullan Spiddle Laurencetown
Inveran Craughwell
Kilcolgan
North Sound Galway Bay Dunguaire Loughrea Shannon Banagher
Burren Castle Slieve Aughty Killimor Key
ARAN Kilronan KINVARA Mountains
South Sou n d KILMACDUAGH Cloonoon Lough Carrigahorig Major road
ISLANDS Ennis Coole THOOR PORTUMNA Portland Motorway
BALLYLEE
Motorway under construction
Park
Gort
Derg
Maghera Coolbaun Limerick Secondary road
399m Minor road
Whitegate Scenic route
Crusheen
Major railway
Minor railway
County border
Summit
For additional map symbols see back flap
206-207_EW_Ireland.indd 207 08/03/17 11:07 am
208 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
1 Céide Fields materials, complementing their
surroun dings. They aim to
Road map B2. 8 km (5 miles) W of
Ballycastle, Co Mayo. Tel 096 43325. highlight the coast’s grandeur
Open Apr–end Oct: daily. & 8 - and enduring nature. Temporary
7 ∑ heritageireland.ie exhibits also feature.
Surrounded by heather-clad
moorlands and mountains along 2 Achill Island
a bleak, dramatic stretch of Road map A3. Co Mayo. * 3,000.
north Mayo coastline is Europe’s @ from Westport. n 098 20705.
largest Stone Age monument. ∑ achilltourism.com
Over 10 sq km (4 sq miles)
were enclosed by walls to Ireland’s largest island, 22 km
make fields suitable for growing (13.5 miles) long and 19 km The Angel of Welcome above the marble
wheat and barley, and grazing (12 miles) wide, is reached by a staircase at Westport House
cattle. Remains of farm buildings road bridge that can be raised for
indicate that it was an extensive boats to pass. Achill offers out the wide, tree-lined streets,
community. The fields were moorland, moun tains, rugged including the North and South
slowly buried below the cliffs and long beaches, and is a Mall on either side of Carrow beg
creeping bog forma tion, where popular spot for angling and River. The town originally traded
they have been preserved for water sports. There is evidence in yarn, cloth, beer and slate, but
over 5,000 years. that the island was inhabited as industrialization and the Great
Part of the bog has been cut many as 5,000 years ago. Famine (see p223) brought a
away to reveal the collapsed For motorists, the best intro- dramatic decline until the 1950s
stone walls of the ancient fields. duction is the Atlantic Coast when new industry and visitors
The remains are simple but Drive, a circular, sign posted were attracted to the area.
guides help visitors to find and route from Achill Sound, Beyond the South Mall
recognize key features. Stone by the bridge. The road is Bridge Street, lined
Age pottery and a primitive goes to the island’s with cafés and pubs; the
plough have been found in southern tip, then north most appealing is Matt
excavations. The striking, around the rest. Between Molloy’s (see p330),
pyramid-shaped interpretative Doeega and Keel in the Bog oak and silver named after and owned
centre has a viewing platform southwest run the bowl from by the flautist from
overlooking the site, audiovisual dramatic Minaun Cliffs Westport House The Chieftains.
presentations and displays on and Cathedral Rocks. In
local geology and botany. the north a mountain overlooks P Westport House
Slievemore, abandoned during Westport. Tel 098 27766. Open mid-
Environs the Great Famine (see p223). Mar–Sep: daily; Oct–Dec: weekends.
Scattered around the wilder ness & = - ∑ westporthouse.ie
of the spectacular north Mayo Just west of the town is the
coast from Ballina to the end of 3 Westport Carrowbeg estuary and Clew
the Mullet peninsula is a series Road map B3. Co Mayo. * 6,000. £ Bay. At the head of the bay
of sculptures forming the North @ n Bridge St (098 25711). ( Thu. stands Westport House, the
Mayo Sculpture Trail. Created ∑ westporttourism.com seat of the Earls of Altamont,
by 12 sculptors from three con- descendants of the Browne
tinents, the 14 works, often on a Westport is a neat town and has family, who were Tudor settlers.
huge scale, are made from a bustling, prosperous air. In the The town of Westport itself was
earth, stone and other natural 1770s, architect James Wyatt laid started in the 1750s by John
Browne, first Lord Altamont,
to complement the house.
Designed in 1732 by Richard
Cassels, and completed by
James Wyatt in 1778, the
limestone mansion stands on
the site of an O’Malley castle.
The mansion is privately
owned by the Browne family,
who are direct descendents of
pirate Grace O’Malley. Its
imposing interior is adorned
with family portraits. There is
also a boating lake, miniature
railway, museum and a Pirate
Bogwood centrepiece in Céide Fields interpretative centre Adventure Park for children.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
208-209_EW_Ireland.indd 208 08/03/17 11:07 am
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THE WEST OF IRELAND 209
Statue of St Patrick at the foot of Croagh Patrick, looking out to Clew Bay
4 National Museum Foxford Woollen Mills and Our Lady, a modern basilica and
of Ireland – Visitor Centre Marian shrine. Knock Museum,
beside the basilica, portrays life
Providence Rd. Tel 094 925 6104.
Country Life Open daily. Closed 1 Jan, 16 Mar, in 19th-century rural Ireland. An
Good Fri & 24–26 Dec. 8 = 0
Turlough Park, Turlough, off the N5, 7 Exhibition Centre. Apparition section covers the
8 km (5 miles) east of Castlebar, Co ∑ foxfordwoollenmills.com background to the miracle.
Mayo. Tel 094 903 1755. Open 10am–
5pm Tue–Sat, 2–5pm Sun. Closed E Knock Shrine and Museum
Mon, Good Fri, 25 Dec. 8 = - 7 Tel 094 938 8100. Open daily.
∑ museum.ie 6 Knock Closed 25 & 26 Dec. & museum
8 7 = - ∑ knock-shrine.ie
Road map B3. Co Mayo. * 575.
Explore rural life in Ireland in this k 15 km (9 miles) N of Knock. @
award-winning museum set in n May–Sep: Knock (094 938 8193).
the grounds of Turlough Park. ∑ discoverireland.ie 7 Croagh Patrick
The collection focuses on the Road map B3. Murrisk, Co Mayo.
period from 1850 to 1950, when In 1879, two local women @ from Westport. n Westport (098
tenant farmers were struggling to saw an apparition of the Virgin, 25711). 0 ∑ croagh-patrick.com
become owners of the land they St Joseph and St John the
worked. The museum’s exhibits Evangelist by the gable of the Ireland’s holy mountain, named
illustrate the traditional way of Church of St John the Baptist. after the national saint (see
country life while providing It was witnessed by 13 more p285), is one of Mayo’s best-
historical context of this difficult onlookers and validated by the known landmarks. From the
time. Four floors display fascinat- Catholic Church amid claims of bottom it seems cone-shaped,
ing artifacts, such as handcrafted miracle cures. Every year, over an impression dispelled by
harvest knots and wickerwork; 1.5 million believers make the climbing to its flat peak. This
spinning wheels and boats, and pilgrimage to the shrine, quartzite, scree-clad mountain
hand-operated machinery. including Pope John Paul II in has a history of pagan worship
1979 and Mother Teresa in 1993. from 3000 BC. However, in
Its focal point is the gable where AD 441, St Patrick is said to have
5 Foxford the apparition was seen, which spent 40 days on the mountain
Road map B3. Co Mayo. * 1,000. @ is now covered over to form a fasting and praying for the Irish.
from Galway. n Westport (098 25711). chapel. Nearby is the Basilica of Since then, penitents, often
barefoot, have made the pil-
This tranquil market town is grimage to the summit in his
known for good angling in honour, especially on Garland
nearby Lough Conn and for its Friday and Reek Sunday in July.
woven rugs and tweeds. In the From the start of the trail at
town centre is Foxford Woollen Campbell’s Pub in Murrisk,
Mills, founded in 1892 by an Irish where there is a huge statue of
nun, Mother Arsenius (originally the saint, it is a two-hour climb
named Agnes). The thriving mill to the top, at 765 m (2,510 ft).
now supplies top fashion houses. On Reek Sunday mass is cele-
An audiovisual tour traces the brated on the peak in a modern
mill’s history, and visitors can chapel. A visitor centre has
see craftspeople at work. The cone-shaped Croagh Patrick mountain amenities for exhausted hikers.
208-209_EW_Ireland.indd 209 08/03/17 11:07 am
210 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
8 Clare Island
Road map A3. Co Mayo. * 130.
g from Roonagh Quay, 6.5 km (4
miles) W of Louisburgh. Tel 098 23737
or 086 851 5003 (ferry services).
n Westport (098 25711).
∑ clareisland.ie
Clare Island is dominated by two
hills, and a square 15th-century The ferry to Inishbofin leaving Cleggan Harbour
castle com mands the headland
and har bour. In the 16th century Atlantic landscape, sheltered castle, occupied in the 16th
the island was the stronghold of coves and sea angling. The century by Spanish pirate Don
Grace O’Malley, pirate queen Granuaile Centre tells the story Bosco in alliance with Grace
and patriot, who held sway over of Grace O’Malley (Granuaile in O’Malley. In 1653 it was captured
the western coast. Although, Gaelic) and has displays on by Cromwellian forces and used
according to Tudor state papers, Mayo folklore and archaeology. as a prison for Catholic priests.
she was received at Queen Inishbofin was later owned
Elizabeth I’s court, she stood out E Granuaile Visitor Centre by a succession of absentee
against English rule until her St Catherine’s Church, Louisburgh. landlords and now survives
death in her seventies in 1603. Tel 098 66341. Open Mon–Fri, on farming and lobster fishing.
She is buried here in a tiny weekends by appt only. & = 7 Surrounded by reefs and
Cistercian abbey decorated with islets, the island’s landscape is
medieval murals and inscribed 9 Inishbofin characterized by stone walls,
with her motto: “Invincible on Road map A3. Co Galway. * 200. reed-fringed lakes and hay
land and on sea”. g from Cleggan (095 45819). meadows, where the corn crake
The island is dotted with Iron n Clifden (095 21163). (see p22) can be seen, or heard.
Age huts and field systems as Inishbofin’s beaches offer
well as promontory forts and The name Inishbofin means bracing walks.
Bronze Age cooking sites. Clare “island of the white cow”. This
Island is rich in bog flora and mysterious, often mist-swathed
fauna, making it popular with island was chosen for its 0 Clifden
walkers. Animal lovers come to remoteness by the exiled Road map A3. Co Galway. * 920.
see the seals, dolphins, falcons 7th-century St Colman, English @ n Mar–end Sep: Galway Road
and otters. Abbot of Lindisfarne. On the site (095 21163). ( Tue & Fri.
of his original monastery is a ∑ discoverireland.ie/west
Environs late medieval church, graveyard
The mainland coastal town of and holy well. At the sheltered Framed by the grandeur of the
Louisburgh offers rugged harbour entrance lies a ruined Twelve Bens mountain range and
with a striking skyline dom inated
by two church spires, this early
19th-century market town passes
for the capital of the Connemara
region and is a good base for
exploring. Clifden was founded
in 1812 by John d’Arcy, a local
landowner and High Sheriff of
Galway, to create a pocket of
respectability within the
lawlessness of Connemara. The
family eventually went bankrupt
trying to bring pros perity and
order to the town. The Protestant
church contains a copy of
the Cross of Cong (see p71).
Today craft shops have
taken over much of the town.
In the centre is the Square, a
place for lively pubs such as
E J Kings (see p329). Connemara
is noted for its sean nós
(unaccompanied singing), but
in Clifden, generally traditional
Clifden against a backdrop of the Twelve Bens mountains music is more common.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
210-211_EW_Ireland.indd 210 08/03/17 11:07 am
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Date 20th August 2012
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THE WEST OF IRELAND 211
Connemara
This wild region in the west of Galway
encompasses bogs, mountains WESTPORT
and a rugged coastline. Major
sights include the J Cleggan Hill Kylemore Abbey
Connemara National Letterfrack
Park and Kylemore Kylemore R344
Lough
Abbey (see p212). Claddaghduff Cleggan N59 CONNEMARA
For those without NATIONAL
a car, coach tours PARK
are available from Sky Road
Galway (see p370). Dan O’Hara’s TWELVE BENS
J
Clifden Homestead Owenglen
Clifden Bay
Alcock and N59
Brown Memorial
GALWAY
Mannin Bay J
Coral Strand R340
Beach •
ROUNDSTONE
Key Ballyconneely R342
Major road BOG
Regional road Roundstone
Minor road R341
National Park boundary
Ferry to Inishbofin
0 kilometres 10
0 miles 5
Jutting out into Clifden Bay Clifden Bay. Clifden Castle, To the south of Clifden, the
is a sand spit and beach, sign John d’Arcy’s Gothic Revival coastal route to Roundstone
posted from Clifden Square. ruin, lies just off the Sky Road, skirts a mass of bogland pitted
South of Clifden, at the start as do several inlets. with tiny lakes. The Alcock and
of the Roundstone Road, is The coastal road north Brown Memorial overlooks the
Owenglen Cascade where, in from Clifden to Cleggan, via bog landing site of the first
May, salmon leap on their way Claddaghduff, is spectacular, transatlantic flight made by
to spawn upstream. passing former smuggling Alcock and Brown in 1919.
coves. Cleggan, a pretty Nearby is Marconi’s wireless
Environs fishing village, nestles into station, which exchanged the
The Sky Road is an 11km the head of Cleggan Bay. first transatlantic radio mes sages
(7mile) circular route with From here boats leave for with Nova Scotia in 1907. The
stunning ocean views. The road Inishbofin and Inish turk. Ballyconneely area has craggy
goes northwest from Clifden Cleggan Hill has a ruined islands and the beautiful Coral
and passes desolate scenery Napoleonic Martello tower Strand Beach. The village of
and the narrow inlet of and a megalithic tomb. Roundstone is best seen during
the summer regatta of traditional
Galway hookers (see p215).
A short drive to the east
of Clifden is Dan O’Hara’s
Homestead. In a rocky setting,
this organic farm recreates the
tough conditions of life in
Connemara before the 1840s.
There is an audio visual display
on the history of Connemara.
E Dan O’Hara’s Homestead
Connemara Heritage & History Centre,
Lettershea, off N59. Tel 095 21246.
Open Apr–Oct: 9am–6pm. & 8 -
The coast seen from the Sky Road = 7 ∑ connemaraheritage.com
For additional map symbols see back flap
210-211_EW_Ireland.indd 211 08/03/17 11:07 am
212 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
The imposing Kylemore Abbey on the shores of Kylemore Lough
q Kylemore Abbey nuns as a girls’ school. Visitors Polladirk River. Visitors come
can view restored rooms in the for the spectacular landscape
Road map A3. Connemara, Co Gal way.
Tel 095 52001. @ from Galway. Open abbey, as well as explore the and to glimpse the famous
9am–7pm daily (last adm 6:30pm). grounds, a restaurant, craft shop, Connemara ponies.
Closed Christmas. 8 groups call to pottery studio and soap factory. Part of the land originally
book. Walled garden: Open daily. & There is also a restored belonged to the Kylemore
0 = 7 limited. ∑ kylemore Victorian walled garden in the Abbey estate. In 1980 it
abbeytourism.ie grounds, featuring the longest be came a National Park. There
double herbaceous borders in are traces of the land’s previous
Sheltered by the slopes of Ireland, a nuttery and a uses all over the park: mega
the Twelve Bens, this lakeside meandering streamside walk. lithic tombs, up to 4,000 years
castle is a romantic, battle old, can be seen as well as old
mented Gothic Revival fantasy. w Connemara ridges marking former grazing
It was built as a present for his areas and arable fields.
wife by Mitchell Henry (1826– National Park The park is open all year,
1911), who was a Manchester Road map A3. Letterfrack, Connemara, while the Visitors’ Centre
tycoon and later Galway MP. Co Galway. Tel 095 41054. Park: near the entrance, just outside
The Henrys also purchased a Open daily. Visitors’ Centre: Tel 095 Letter frack, is open only from
huge area of moorland, 41054. Open Mar–Oct: daily. 7 - March to midOctober. It features
drained the boggy hillside ∑ connemaranationalpark.ie displays on local flora and
and planted thousands of trees fauna and on how the land
as a windbreak for their new A combination of bogland, lakes scape developed and was
orchards and exotic walled and mountains makes up this used. There is also an indoor
gardens. After the sudden National Park in the heart of picnic area. Three sign posted
deaths of his wife and daughter, Connemara. Within its more walks start from the Visitors’
Henry left Kylemore and the than 2,000 ha (5,000 acres) Centre. In summer there are
castle was sold. are four of the Twelve Bens, guided walks, some led by
It became an abbey when including Benbaun, the highest botanists, and various children’s
Benedictine nuns, fleeing from mountain in the range at 730 m activities. Climbing the Twelve
Ypres in Belgium during World (2,400 ft), and the peak of Bens should be attempted only
War I, sought refuge here. For Diamond Hill. At the centre is by experienced walkers equip
many years it was run by the the valley of Glanmore and the ped for all weather conditions.
Connemara Wildlife
The blanket bogs and moorlands of
Connemara are a botanist’s paradise,
especially for unusual bog and heathland
plants. Birdlife is also varied: there are
hooded crows, which can be recognized by
their grey and black plumage, stonechats,
peregrines and merlins – the smallest
falcons in the British Isles. Red deer have
been successfully reintroduced into the
area and a herd can be seen in the National
Park. Badgers, foxes, stoats and otters may
also be spotted, as well as grey seals along
the rocky coast. The merlin nests in old St Dabeoc’s heath, a pretty
clumps of heather and feeds heather, grows nowhere else
mainly on small birds. in Ireland or Great Britain.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
212-213_EW_Ireland.indd 212 08/03/17 11:07 am
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Date 20th August 2012
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THE WEST OF IRELAND 213
e Cong where a bell rang in the kitchen
when a fish took the bait.
Road map B3. Co Mayo. * 350. @
n Old Courthouse (094 954 6542). Just south of Cong is Ashford
Open Mar–Oct: daily. Castle, rebuilt in Gothic Revival
∑ congtourism.com style in 1870 by Lord Ardilaun of
the Guinness family. One of
This picturesque village lies on Ireland’s best hotels (see p300),
the shores of Lough Corrib, just its grounds can be visited by
within County Mayo. Cong boat from Galway and Ought-
means isthmus – the village lies erard. Cong was the setting for
on the strip of land between The Quiet Man, the 1950s’ film
Lough Corrib and Lough Mask. starring John Wayne.
During the 1840s, as a famine
relief project, a canal was built
linking the two lakes, but the r Lough Corrib
water drained through the Road map B3. Co Galway. @ from
porous limestone bed. Stone Galway and Cong. g from Ough t- View over Lough Corrib from the shore
bridges and stone-clad locks are e rard, Cong and Wood Quay, Galway. northwest of Oughterard
still in place along the dry canal.
Cong Abbey lies close to the An angler’s paradise, Lough and the battlemented Menlo
main street. The Augustinian Corrib offers the chance to fish Castle. Longer cruises continue
abbey was founded in the early with local fishermen for brown to Cong or include picnics
12th century by Turlough trout, salmon, pike, perch and on the islands.
O’Connor, King of Connaught eels. Despite its proximity
and High King of Ireland. to Galway, the lake is Environs
The abbey has door- tranquil, dotted with On the banks of Lough Corrib,
ways in a style uninhabited islands Oughterard is known as
transitional between and framed by “the gateway to Connemara”.
Roman esque and meadows, reed- The village has craft shops,
Gothic, stone carv- beds and wooded thatched cottages and friendly
ings and restored shores. The water- pubs. It is also an important
cloisters. The Cross side is home to centre for golf, angling, hiking
of Cong, an ornate swans and coots. and pony trekking. Towards
proces sional cross On Inchagoill, one Galway City, Brigit’s Garden in
inten ded for the of the largest Roscahill has 4.45 ha (11 acres)
abbey, is in the islands, stand the of themed gardens.
National Museum of Carved 12th-century ruins of an early About 4 km (2.5 miles) south-
Ireland in Dublin, doorway of Cong Abbey Christian monastic east of Oughterard (off the N59)
following a successful settlement and is Aughnanure Castle. This
exhibition in the Museum of a Romanesque church. well-restored six-storey tower
Country Life in Turlough. The The lake’s atmosphere is best house clings to a rocky island
most fascinating remains are appreciated on a cruise. From on the River Drimneen. The
the Gothic chapter house, stone Galway, the standard short present castle, built by the
bridges and the monks’ fishing- cruise winds through the O’Flaherty clan, is on the site of
house that over hangs the marshes to the site of an Iron one dating from 1256. The clan
river – the monks had a system Age fort, limestone quarries controlled West Connaught
from Lough Corrib to Galway
and the coast in the 13th to
16th centuries. From this
castle the feuding O’Flaherty
chieftains held out against
the British in the 16th century.
In 1545 Donal O’Flaherty
married the pirate Grace
O’Malley (see p210). The tower
house has an unusual double
bawn (see p24) and a murder
hole from which missiles could
be dropped on invaders.
Connemara ponies roam semi-
wild and are fabled to be from Fuchsias grow profusely in the + Aughnanure Castle
Arab stock that came ashore hedgerows of Connemara, Oughterard. Tel 091 552214.
from Spanish Armada wrecks. thriving in the mild climate. Open Apr–Oct: daily. & 8
7 limited. ∑ heritageireland.ie
212-213_EW_Ireland.indd 213 08/03/17 11:07 am
214 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
t Galway
Galway is both the centre for the Irish-speaking regions in the
West and a lively university city. Under the Anglo-Normans,
it flourished as a trading post. In 1396 it gained a Royal
Charter and, for the next two centuries, was controlled by
14 merchant families, or “tribes”. The city prospered under
English influence, but this allegiance to the Crown cost
Galway dear when, in 1652, Cromwell’s forces wreaked havoc.
After the Battle of the Boyne (see p248), Galway fell into
decline, unable to compete with east-coast trade. However,
the city’s profile has been revived as a developing centre for
high-tech industry.
Inside The Quays seafood restaurant and pub
pace provides plenty of
opportunity to stop off at its “Latin Quarter”. On the corner
shops, pubs and historic sights. of Abbeygate Street Upper
and Shop Street stands
Eyre Square Lynch’s Castle, now a bank, but
The redeveloped square still the grandest 16th-century
encloses a pleasant plaza and town house in Galway. It was
park lined with imposing, owned by the Lynch family,
mainly 19th-century, buildings. one of the 14 “tribes”.
On the northwest of the square A side street leads to the
is the Browne Doorway, a Collegiate Church of St
17th-century entrance from a Nicholas, Galway’s finest med-
mansion in Abbeygate Street ieval building. The church,
Lower. Beside it is a fountain founded in 1320, was extended
adorned with a sculpture in the 15th and 16th centuries,
Houses on the banks of the Corrib of a Galway hooker boat. The but then damaged by the
Eyre Square Centre, over looking Cromwellians, who used it to
Exploring Galway the park, is a modern shopping stable horses. The west porch
The centre of the city lies on the mall built to incor porate is from the 15th century and
banks of the River Corrib, which sections of the historic city there are some finely carved
flows down from Lough Corrib walls. Walkways link Shoemakers gargoyles under the parapet.
(see p213) widening out as it and Penrice towers, two of the Quay Street is lined with
reaches Galway Bay. Urban 14 wall towers that used to ring restaurants and pubs, including
renewal since the 1970s has led the city in the 17th century. The Quays (see p329). Tígh
to extensive restoration of the Neachtain is a town house
narrow, winding streets of this Latin Quarter which belonged to “Humanity
once-walled city. Due to its From Eyre Square, William Street Dick”, an 18th-century MP who
compact size, Galway is easy to and Shop Street are the main promoted laws against cruelty
explore on foot, and a leisurely routes into the bustling to animals. Today, it too is a
restaurant and pub (see p330).
Nearby are the Taibhdhearc and
Druid theatres (see p338).
North Galway
The Cathedral of St Nicholas
(1965), built of local limestone
and Connemara marble, stands
on the west bank. From here
you can see Wood Quay, where
Lough Corrib cruises start in the
summer (see p213). National
University of Ireland Galway,
further west, is a large campus
with a 1849 Gothic Revival
quad. Salmon Weir Bridge links
the two banks. Shoals of salmon
rest under the bridge on their
Colourfully painted shopfronts in the historic city of Galway way upstream to spawn.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
214-215_EW_Ireland.indd 214 25/04/16 10:42 am
THE WEST OF IRELAND 215
Galway Hookers VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Galway’s traditional wooden sailing boats, featured on the city’s coat Practical Information
of arms, were known as pucans and gleotogs – hookers in English. Road map B4. Co Galway.
They have broad black hulls, thick masts and white or rust-coloured * 60,000. n The Fairgreen,
sails. Once common in the Claddagh district, they were also used Foster St (091 537 700).
along the Atlantic coast to ferry peat, cattle and beer. Hookers can ( Sat & Sun. _ Galway Arts
be seen in action at the Cruinniú na mBád festival in Kinvara (see p218). Festival (mid-Jul); Galway Races
(late Jul–Aug).
Transport
~ Carnmore, 11 km (7 miles)
NE of Galway. £ Ceannt Station
(091 561444). @ Ceannt Station
(091 562000).
Small Galway hooker sailing by the old quays and Spanish Arch
The Old Quays the city walls was governed by a
The Spanish Arch, where the “king”, the last of whom died in
river opens out, was built in 1954. The only remnants of this
1584 to protect the harbour, once close-knit, Gaelic-speaking
then outside the city walls. Here, community are Claddagh rings,
Spanish traders unloaded their betrothal rings traditionally
ships. Behind the arch is the handed down from mother to
Galway City Museum with daughter (see p336).
exhibits on the city’s history.
Environs
The Claddagh Just west of the city is Salthill,
Beyond the Spanish Arch, on Galway’s seaside resort. The
the west bank of the Corrib, lies beaches at Palmer’s Rock and
the Claddagh. The name comes Grattan Road are particularly
from An Cladach, meaning “flat, popular with families in
stony shore”. From medieval summer. A bracing walk
times, this fiercely independent along the promenade is still Plaque outside Dillon’s Shop, the first
fishing community be yond a Galway tradition. makers of Claddagh rings
Galway City Town
Centre Theatre
1 Cathedral of WATERSIDE ST Hall SLIGO
St Nicholas University Salmon ST VINCENT'S AVE
CLIFDEN
Weir
2 Collegiate Church Bridge WOOD QUAY Browne ATHLONE
of St Nicholas GA OL Cathedral ST FRANCIS ST E Y RE STREET Doorway FOSTER ST
3 Lynch’s Castle of St Nicholas N E WTO N S T R E ET Coach
Station
EYRE
4 Browne Doorway R O A D EGLINTON ST SQUARE
5 The Quays Pub Corrib WILLIAM ST Bus & Train
Stations
6 Spanish Arch Lynch's VICTORIA PL
Castle
7 Galway City
BR I D GE ST H O P S T
Museum Collegiate Church ABBEYGATE ST
MIDDLE ST
LOWER
8 The Claddagh NUNS ISLAND RD of St Nicholas MARKET ST Cornstore ST AUGUSTINE'S ME RC H A NTS R OAD
S
The D OCK RO AD
STREET
The
CR O
William
O'Brien
Bridge
Galway QUAY S T SS ST Quays
Arts Centre Pub
RAVEN
Wolfe Spanish Galway City
Arch
TERRACE
SALTHILL Tone Museum
Bridge
0 metres 200 CLADD AG H Q U AY
0 yards 200
The Claddagh
For key to symbols see back flap
214-215_EW_Ireland.indd 215 25/04/16 10:42 am
216 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
y Aran Islands
Inishmore (Inis Mōr), Inishmaan (Inis Meāin) and
Inisheer (Inis Oírr), the three Aran Islands, are
formed from a limestone ridge. The largest,
Inishmore, is 13 km (8 miles) long and 3 km (2 miles)
wide. The attractions of these islands include the
austere landscape crisscrossed with dry-stone
walls, stunning coastal views and several large
prehis toric stone forts. In the 5th century, St Enda
brought Christianity to the islands, starting a long
monastic tradition. Protected for centuries by their
isolated position, the islands today are a bastion
of traditional Irish culture. Farming, fishing and Looking over the cliff edge at Dún Aonghasa
tourism are the main occupations of the islanders.
J
Kilmurvey Beach Dun Aengus Kilmurvy
(Cill mhuirbhigh)
The attractive sandy beach (Dún Aonghasa)
east of Kilmurvy offers safe
swimming in a sheltered J
cove. The town itself is a Inishmore (inis mór)
quiet place to stay near a
number of the island’s most
important sights.
. Dún Aonghasa
This Iron or Bronze Age
promontory fort (see p24),
KEY has four concentric stone Inishmore (inis mór)
walls. It is also protected
1 Dún Eoghanachta is a circular by a chevaux de frise, a
stone fort dating back to the Iron ring of razor-sharp,
Age, with a single wall terraced pointed stone stakes.
on the inside.
2 Na Seacht Teampaill, the
so-called Seven Churches, make up
a monastic settle ment dedicated to Aran Traditions
St Brecan. Built between the 9th and
15th centuries, some are probably The islands are famous for their knitwear (see p334) and for the
domestic buildings. traditional Aran costume that was still worn by some of the
3 Clochán na Carraige is a older generation not long ago: for women, a red flannel skirt
large, well-preserved beehive hut and crocheted shawl; for men a sleeveless tweed jacket and a
(see p25), probably built by early colourful knitted belt. From time to time you may still see a
Christian settlers on the islands. currach or low rowing
boat, the principal
4 Teampall Chiaráin, dedicated to form of transport
St Ciaran, is a ruined 12th-century for centuries. Land-
church with striking doorways. making, the ancient
Nearby are several stones inscribed and arduous process
with crosses. of creating soil by
5 Dún Eochla is a circular Bronze covering bare rock with
Age fort standing close to the sand and seaweed,
highest point on Inishmore. Currach made from canvas coated in tar continues to this day.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
216-217_EW_Ireland.indd 216 08/03/17 11:07 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
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(Source v2.2)
Date 23rd October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
THE WEST OF IRELAND 217
Ferry routes to the Aran Islands VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
The West of Ireland Practical Information
Rossaveal Road map A4, B4. Co Galway.
GALWAY
* 1,200.
n Kilronan, Inishmore (099
Inverin
61263).
Galway Bay ∑ aranislands.ie
Kilronan Transport
inishmore
inishmaan ~ from Connemara Airport,
The lower Inverin (∑ aerarann islands.ie;
Shannon 091 593034). g from Rossaveal:
Doolin Island Ferries (∑ aranisland
ferries.com; 091 568903); from
Doolin: Doolin Ferry Company
Key (∑ doolinferries.com;
Mar–Oct only; 065 707 5949).
Main road Ferries sail through out the year;
Minor road some go to all three main islands.
Phone for details. Cars cannot
Track
be taken to the islands. From
0 kilometres 2 Beach Kilronan, you can hire bicycles and
0 miles 1 Viewpoint jaunting cars, or go on minibus
tours (087 253 2030).
Kilmurvy J
(Cill mhuirbhigh)
Kilronan
(Cill rónáin)
Dún Duchathair
J . Dún Duchathair
Built on a headland, this Iron Age
Inishmore (inis mór)
construction is known as the Black
Fort. It has dry-stone ramparts.
. Kilronan
The Aran Islands’ main
port is a busy place,
with jaunting cars
(ponies and traps) and
minibuses waiting by
the pier to give island
tours; bicycles can
also be hired. Nearby,
the fascinating Aran
Heritage Centre is
dedicated to the
dis appearing Aran
way of life.
For key to symbols see back flap
216-217_EW_Ireland.indd 217 08/03/17 11:07 am
218 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
the Burren to the west (see
pp190–91). Reputedly founded
by St Colman MacDuagh in
the early 7th century,
Kilmacduagh owes more to
the monastic revival which
led to rebuilding from the
11th century onwards.
The centrepiece of the
extensive site is a large, slightly
leaning 11th- or 12th-century
round tower and a roofless
church, known as the cathedral
or Teampall. The cathedral is a
Mural in the centre of Kinvara depicting a shopfront pre-Norman structure, which
was later remodelled in Gothic
u Kinvara Castle. It is perched just style, with flamboyant tracery
beyond some quaint thatched and fine tomb carvings. In
Road map B4. Co Galway. * 550. @
n Galway (091 537700). cottages and a stone bridge. the surround ing fields lie the
The castle is named after the remains of several other
One of the most charming 7th-century King Guaire of churches that once depended
fishing villages on Galway Connaught, whose court on the monastery. To the
Bay, Kinvara’s appeal lies in here was renowned as the northeast of the Teampall is
its sheltered, seaweed-clad haunt of bards and balladeers. the late medieval Glebe or
harbour and traditional sea- Although the medieval earth- Abbot’s House, a variant of a
faring atmosphere. From works survive, the present 14th- or 15th-century tower
medieval times, its fortunes castle was built in the 16th house (see p24).
were closely linked to century, a quintessential tower
Kilmacduagh, the powerful house (see p24) with sophis-
monastery and bishopric upon ticated machicolations. The o Thoor Ballylee
which the village depended. banqueting hall is still used Road map B4. Gort, Co Galway.
The pier is bordered by a row for “medieval banquets” with Ballylee Castle: @ to Gort.
of fishermen’s cottages. Kinvara Celtic harp music and the Closed due to flood damage; call
remains a popular port of call recital of Irish poetry. Galway Tourist Office on 091 537700
for sailors of traditional Galway to check if open. & = 7 limited.
hookers (see p215) and is known + Dunguaire Castle
for the Cruinniú na mBád Tel 061 360788. Open May–Sep: daily. For much of the 1920s, this
(gathering of the boats) festival & = ∑ shannonheritage.com beguiling tower house was a
in August. Rambles summer home to the poet W B
include historical and Yeats (see pp26–7). Yeats was a
nature trails. Bird- i Kilmacduagh regular visitor to nearby Coole
watchers may spot Road map B4. Outside Gort on Park, the home of his friend
teal, curlews and Corofin Rd, Co Galway. @ to Gort. Lady Gregory (1852–1932), who
oystercatchers Open daily. was a cofounder of the Abbey
by the shore. Theatre (see p92).
This monastic settlement is in On one visit Yeats came upon
Environs a remote location on the Ballylee Castle, a 14th-century
North of Kinvara, borders of Counties Clare and de Burgo tower adjoin ing a cosy
on a promontory Galway, roughly 5 km (3 miles) cottage with a walled garden
on the shore of south west of Gort. The sense and stream. In 1902, both the
Galway Bay, of isolation is accentuated tower and the cottage became
lies Dunguaire by the stony moonscape of part of the Gregory estate and
Round tower and cathedral, the most impressive monastic remains at Kilmacduagh
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
218-219_EW_Ireland.indd 218 25/04/16 11:02 am
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THE WEST OF IRELAND 219
Yeats bought them in 1916. From
1919 onwards, his family divided
their time between Dublin and
their Galway tower. Yeats used
the name Thoor Ballylee as the
address, using the Irish word for
tower to “keep people from
suspect ing us of modern gothic
and a deer park”. His collection,
The Tower (1928), includes several
poems inspired by the house.
An audiovisual tour includes
readings from Yeats’s poetry, but
the charm of a visit lies in the
tower itself, with its spiral stone Gentle hills and woodland by Coole Lake in Coole Park
steps and views from the battle-
ments over forest and farmland. p Portumna The tiny cathedral occupies
the site of a monastery, which
Road map C4. Co Galway. * 1,200.
Environs @ n Galway (091 537700). ( Fri. was founded by St Brendan
Just to the north of Gort is Coole in AD 563, and is believed to
Park, once the home of Lady Portumna is a historic market be the burial place of the saint.
Gregory. Although the house town with scattered sights, Although a great scholar and
was demolished in 1941, the many of which have been enthusiastic founder of mon-
estate farm has been restored restored. Situated on Lough asteries, St Brendan is best
and the fine gardens survive. In Derg, it is a convenient base for known as the “great navigator”.
particular, there is the “autograph cruising the River Shannon (see His journeys are recounted in
tree”, a spreading copper beech p189) and has a modern marina. Navigatio Sancti Brendani,
carved with the initials of George Portumna Castle, built in the written in about 1050, which
Bernard Shaw, W B Yeats, J M early 17th cen tury, was the main survives in medieval manu-
Synge (see pp26–7) and Jack seat of the de Burgo family. scripts in several languages
Yeats . In the farm buildings is It boasts some elaborate including Flemish, Norse
an audio visual display. The interior stonework. Nearby and French. The text
emphasis of the visitors’ centre is Portumna Priory. seems to describe a
is on the life of Lady Gregory: it Most of the remains date voyage to Wales, the
is the start of two sign-posted from 1414 when it was Orkneys, Iceland and
walks, one around the gardens founded by the conceivably the
and the other through beech, Dominicans, but east coast of
hazel, birch and ash woodland traces can also North America.
to Coole Lake. be found of the His voyage and
Cistercian abbey Human heads carved on the tympanum his boat (see
O Coole Park that was prev- at Clonfert Cathedral p194) have
3 km (2 miles) NE of Gort. Tel 091 iously on the site. been re created
631804. Visitors’ centre: Open Easter– The de Burgo estate to the west by modern explorers in an
Sep: daily; park open all year. - of the town now forms attempt to prove that St
7 limited. ∑ coolepark.ie Portumna Forest Park, with Brendan may have preceded
picnic sites and signposted Columbus by about 900 years.
woodland trails leading to The highlight of Clonfert is its
Lough Derg. intricately sculpted sand stone
doorway. The round arch above
+ Portumna Castle the door is deco rated with
Tel 090 974 1658. Open Apr–Sep animal and human heads,
and weekends in Oct. & 8 7 foliage and symbolic motifs.
The carvings on the triangular
a Clonfert tympanum above the arch are
of strange human heads. In the
Cathedral chancel, the 13th-century east
Road map C4. Clonfert, Co Galway. windows are fine exam ples of
Open daily. 7 late Irish-Romanesque art. The
15th-century chancel arch is
Situated near a bleak stretch of adorned with sculptures of
the Shannon bordering the angels and a mermaid.
boglands of the Midlands, Although Clonfert was built
Thoor Ballylee tower house, the summer Clonfert is one of the jewels of over several centuries, the church
home of W B Yeats Irish-Romanesque architecture. has a profound sense of unity.
Winding stone walls on Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands
218-219_EW_Ireland.indd 219 25/04/16 11:02 am
IR_220-221_DPS.indd 220 25/04/16 11:02 am
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Date 8th December 2005
Size 125mm x 217mm
IR_220-221_DPS.indd 221 25/04/16 11:02 am
222 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
East wall and gatehouse at Roscommon Castle
s Turoe Stone nature trail, outdoor and indoor heritage back 1,500 years.
pic nic areas, a playground and The ruins of their gabled
Road map B4. Turoe, Bullaun,
Loughrea, Co Galway. Tel 091 841580. two supervised indoor play areas. 17th-century home are visible
Open mid-May–Aug: daily; Sep–mid- in the grounds. On the lawn lies
May: Sat & Sun only. & 7 - the O’Conor coronation stone,
∑ turoepetfarm.com d Roscommon which dates from 90 BC.
The interior includes a library
Road map C3. Co Roscommon.
The Turoe Stone stands at the * 3,500. £ @ n Jun–Sep: of many books and documents
centre of the Turoe Pet Farm and Harrison Hall (090 662 6342). ( Fri. recording Irish history, a tiny
Leisure Park, near the village of ∑ discoverireland.ie private chapel and a gallery of
Bullaun (on the R350). The white family portraits spanning 500
granite boulder, which stands The county capital is a busy years. In the billiard room is the
about 1 m (3 ft) high, dates back market town. In Main Street is harp once played by Turlough
to the 3rd or 2nd century BC. Its the former gaol, which had a O’Carolan (1670–1738), blind
top half is carved with curvi- woman as its last executioner. harpist and last of the Gaelic
linear designs in a graceful Celtic “Lady Betty”, as she was known, bards (see p28).
style, known as La Tène, also was sentenced to death for the
found in Celtic parts of Europe, murder of her son in 1780, but
particularly Brittany. The lower negotiated a pardon by agreeing g Strokestown Park
half has a smooth section and a to become a hangwoman. Road map C3. Strokestown,
band of step-pattern carving. South of the town centre, Co Roscommon. @ House, Pleasure
The stone was originally found just off Abbey Street, is the Gardens and Museum: Tel 071 963
at an Iron Age ring fort nearby, Dominican Friary, founded in 3013. Open daily. Closed 1 week at
and is thought to have been 1253 by Felim O’Conor, Lord Christmas. & 8 0 = 7
used there in fertility rituals. of Connaught. Set in the north ∑ strokestownpark.ie
Efforts at preservation sometimes wall of the choir is a late 13th-
hamper viewing, so call ahead. century effigy of the founder. Strokestown Park, the greatest
The park around the Turoe Roscommon Castle, an Palladian mansion in County
Stone is designed mainly for Anglo-Norman fortress north of Roscommon, was built in the
children. The Pet Farm has some the town, was built in 1269 by 1730s for Thomas Mahon,
small fields containing farm Robert d’Ufford, Lord Justice of an MP whose family was
animals and a pond. There is also Ireland on land seized from the granted the lands by Charles II
a wooded river side walk with a Dominican Friary, and rebuilt after the Restoration. It
11 years later after being des- incorporates an earlier
troyed by the Irish led by Hugh 17th-century tower house
O’Conor, King of Connaught. (see p24). The design of the new
house owes most to Richard
Cassels, architect of
f Clonalis House Russborough (see p136). The
galleried kitchen, panelled
Road map B3. Castlerea, Co
Roscommon. Tel 094 962 0014. stairwell and groin-vaulted
Open Jun–end Aug: 11am–5pm stables are undoubtedly his
Mon–Sat. & 8 7 limited. work, tailoring Palladian
∑ clonalis.com principles to the requirements
of the Anglo-Irish gentry.
This Victorian manor just The house stayed in the fam-
outside Castlerea is the ily’s hands until 1979, when
an cestral home of the O’Conors, major restoration began. In its
the last High Kings of Ireland heyday, the estate included
The Celtic Turoe Stone carved with graceful and Kings of Connaught. This ornamental parkland, a deer
swirling patterns old Gaelic family can trace its park, folly, mausoleum and the
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp318–20
222-223_EW_Ireland.indd 222 08/03/17 11:07 am
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Date 14th November 2012
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THE WEST OF IRELAND 223
village of Strokestown itself. The Great Famine
By 1979, the estate’s original
12,000 ha (30,000 acres) had The failure of the Irish potato crop in 1845, 1846 and 1848, due
dwindled to 120 ha (300 acres), to potato blight, had disastrous consequences for the people of
but the re creation of the Ireland, many of whom relied on this staple crop. More than a million
Pleasure Gardens and the Fruit died of starvation and disease, and by 1856 over two and a half
and Vegetable Garden have million had been forced to emigrate. The crisis was worsened by
greatly increased the area. unsympathetic landlords who often continued collecting rents. The
Famine had far-reaching effects: mass emigration became a way of
Set in the stable yards, the life (see pp46–7) and many rural communities, particularly in the far
Famine Museum uses the west, were decimated.
Strokestown archives to tell the
story of tenants and land lords
during the 1840s Famine.
During the crisis, landlords
divided into two camps: the
charitable, some of whom
started up Famine Relief
schemes, and the callous, like
the Mahons of Strokestown.
Major Denis Mahon was Peasants queuing for soup during the Famine (1847)
murdered after forcing two-
thirds of the starving peasantry R Boyle Abbey
off his land by a combination of In 1659 it was turned into a
eviction and passages in “coffin castle. The abbey is still Tel 071 966 2604. Open Easter–
mid-Sep: 10am–6pm. &
ships” to North America. A remarkably intact, with a church,
section of the exhibition deals cloisters, cellars, sac risty and E King House
with continuing famine and even kitchens. The nave of the Main St. Tel 071 966 3242. Open Apr–
malnutrition worldwide. church has both Romanesque Sep: Tue–Sat & public hols. 0 = 7
and Gothic arches and there are 8 on request. ∑ kinghouse.ie
well-preserved 12th-century
h Boyle capitals. The visitors’ centre has Environs
exhibits on the abbey’s history. Lough Key is often called the
Road map C3. Co Roscommon.
* 2,200. @ n Jun–Sep: King King House, a loveliest lake in Ireland.
House (071 966 3247). ( Fri. Georgian mansion, The island-studded
∑ discoverireland.ie is the ances tral lake and surrounding
home of the Anglo- woodland make a
Boyle, County Roscommon’s Irish King family, glorious setting for
most charming town, is later Earls of the Lough Key
blessed with fine Georgian and Kingston. Inside is a Forest Park. The
medieval architecture. Boyle contem porary art 320-ha (790-acre)
Abbey is a well-preserved gallery, and displays Carved capital in the nave at park formed part of
Cistercian monastery founded on such subjects as Boyle Abbey the Rocking ham
in 1161 as a sister house to Georgian architec- estate until 1957,
Mellifont in County Louth (see ture, the his tory of the when Rockingham House, a
p249). It survived raids by surrounding area and the John Nash design, burned
Anglo-Norman barons and Irish Connaught chieftains. The down. The woods were added
chieftains, as well as the 1539 house also holds musical, by 18th-century landlords.
suppression of the monasteries. dramatic and cultural events. The Lough Key Experience
takes visitors on an audio
journey through the
19th-century underground
tunnels, up to the Moylurg
viewing tower and along
Ireland’s first Tree Canopy Trail.
There are also several ring
forts (see p24), a river jetty and
an adventure playground
providing entertainment for
children of all ages.
} Lough Key Forest Park
N4 8 km (5 miles) E of Boyle. Tel 071 967
3122. Open Easter–Oct: daily; Nov–Mar:
The gatehouse and remains of the nave at Boyle Abbey Fri–Sun. & 0 = 7
222-223_EW_Ireland.indd 223 08/03/17 11:07 am
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(SourceReport v1.1)
Date 20th August 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
IRELAND REGION B Y REGION 225
NORTHWEST IRELAND
Donegal • Sligo • Leitrim
Towering cliffs, deserted golden beaches and rocky
headlands abound along the rugged coast of Donegal,
which incorporates some of Ireland’s wildest scenery.
To the south, Sligo is steeped in prehistory and Celtic
myth, with its legacy of ancient monuments and natural
beauty enriched by associations with the poet,
W B Yeats. By contrast, Leitrim is a quiet county of
unruffled lakes and waterways.
In Celtic mythology Sligo was the power English alongside the O’Neills (see p259).
base of the warrior Queen Maeve of Protestant settlers moved on to land
Connaught (see p30), and the county’s confiscated from the two clans, but they
legacy of prehistoric sites shows that the left much of Donegal and its poor soil to
area was heavily pop ulated in Celtic times. the native Irish, who lived there in isolation
Later, however, both County Sligo and from the rest of Ulster. County Donegal
neighbouring County Leitrim often remains one of the most remote parts of
seemed to be little affected by events Ireland, and it is no coincidence that it
taking place in the rest of Ireland. The has the country’s largest number of Gaelic
Normans, for example, barely dis turbed speakers. There is a wealth of traditions and
the rule of local Gaelic clans. culture to be found around the county and
Donegal, on the other hand, is part of on islands such as Tory Island (see p228).
Ulster and has played an active role in the While the beauty of Donegal lies
history of the north. The O’Donnells held principally along the coast, Sligo’s finest
sway over most of Donegal in the Middle landscapes are found inland, around
Ages, but they fled to Europe in 1607 Lough Gill and among the sparsely
following their ill-fated stand against the populated Bricklieve Mountains.
The 19th-century interior of Hargadon’s bar in Sligo town, with its original counter and stout jars
Fanad Head Lighthouse, County Donegal
224-225_EW_Ireland.indd 225 08/03/17 11:07 am
226 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
Exploring Northwest Ireland Inishtrahull
The supreme appeal of Donegal lies in the natural beauty Ballyhillin
of its coast, with windswept peninsulas, precipitous cliffs Malin Head
and a host of golden beaches. There is a scattering of small
seaside resorts which make good bases, and Donegal town TORY ISLAND Ballyliffin Malin Culdaff
is well placed for exploring the southern part of the county. Gap of Mamore Cardonagh
The cultural heartland of the Northwest lies in and around Tory Soun d HORN ROSGUILL PENINSULA Slieve Snaght Greencastle
Sligo, the only size able town in the region, from where you HEAD Portsalon 615m Moville
can reach several prehistoric remains and other historic BLOODY Dunfanaghy FANAD INISH O WEN
PENIN SULA
sights. Further south, lovely scenery surrounds Lough Gill FORELAND Brinlack Gortahork PENINSULA Lough Swilly Buncrana
and the more remote Lough Arrow. In Leitrim, a county of Gola Island Creeslough Rathmullan
lakes and rivers, the main centre of activity is the lively Owey Island Bunbeg Rathmelton
Errigal
boating resort of Carrick-on-Shannon. Rosses 752m Bridgend
Bay THE Kilmacrenan GRIANÁN AILIGH
Burtonport ROSSES
MOUNTAINS
Arranmore DE RRYVEAG H Londonderry
Island Dungloe Cark LETTERKENNY Belfast
366m Swilly
Crohy Head Foyle
Gweebarra Fintown
Bay
Narin Maas DONE GAL Lifford Strabane
Glenties Stranorlar Castlefinn
Loughros Pt Lavagh More Ballybofey Finn
M o u n t a i n s
ARDARA 672m Omagh
Glengesh Pass B l u e S t a c k
GLENCOLMCILLE
Malin More DONEGAL Derg
Malin Beg Carrick Inver
SLIEVE LEAGUE Laghy
KILLYBEGS Donegal LOUGH
Bay
ROSSNOWLAGH DERG
Pettigoe
Assaroe Abbey
BALLYSHANNON Belleek Lower
Bundoran Lough Erne
Mullaghmore Erne
Lough
Inishmurray Melvin Enniskillen
Beautiful Lough Eske in the county Grange YEATS Garrison
of Donegal COUNTRY THE ORGANIC
LISSADELL HOUSE CENTRE
Rosses Point Drumcliff Manorhamilton
Sligo Bay
Dromore
Killala West SLIGO PARKE'S CASTLE Enniskillen
Bay Lough
Gill Dromahair Dowra
Ballysadare
Inniscrone
Slieve Gamph or SLIGO Drumkeeran Lough
Collooney
Ballina Allen Iron Mountains
Key The Ox Mountains Ballymote
Major road LOUGH ARROW Drumshanbo
Secondary road Tubbercurry Keadew Leitrim Ballinamore
Minor road Gorteen Ballinafad Lough Shannon
Key LE ITRIM Carrigallen
Scenic route Charlestown Lough Boyle
Main railway Gara
CARRICK-ON-
Minor railway Ballaghaderreen SHANNON Mohill
International border Roscommon Dromod
County border Roosky
Summit
0 kilometres 20
Longford
0 miles 20
For additional map symbols see back flap
226-227_EW_Ireland.indd 226 25/04/16 10:42 am
NOR THWEST IRELAND 227
Getting Around
Inishtrahull
The N56, linking Letterkenny and
Donegal, provides access to much of
Malin Head Ballyhillin the Northwest’s best scenery, with
minor roads branching off it around
Malin the coast’s rocky peninsulas. A few
Culdaff
TORY ISLAND Ballyliffin Cardonagh buses serve this route, but travelling
Tory Soun d HORN ROSGUILL PENINSULA Portsalon Slieve Snaght Greencastle around without a car is easier further
Gap of Mamore
south, with buses running daily from
615m
HEAD
Donegal along the N15 to Sligo.
BLOODY Dunfanaghy INISH O WEN Moville The rail network barely reaches
FORELAND Brinlack FANAD Lough Swilly PENIN SULA the Northwest, though there are
Gortahork PENINSULA Buncrana daily trains between Sligo and
Creeslough
Gola Island Carrick-on-Shannon.
Bunbeg Rathmullan
Owey Island Errigal Rathmelton
Rosses 752m Bridgend
Bay THE Kilmacrenan GRIANÁN AILIGH
Burtonport ROSSES
MOUNTAINS
Arranmore DE RRYVEAG H Londonderry
Island Dungloe Cark LETTERKENNY Belfast
366m Swilly
Crohy Head Foyle
Gweebarra Fintown
Bay
Narin Maas DONE GAL Lifford Strabane
Glenties Stranorlar Castlefinn Thatched cottage near Malin Head on Inishowen Peninsula
Loughros Pt Lavagh More Ballybofey Finn
M o u n t a i n s
ARDARA 672m Omagh
Glengesh Pass B l u e S t a c k Sights at a Glance
GLENCOLMCILLE 1 Tory Island u Rossnowlagh
Malin More DONEGAL Derg 2 Bloody Foreland i Ballyshannon
Malin Beg Carrick Inver
3 Derryveagh Mountains o Lissadell House
SLIEVE LEAGUE Laghy 4 Horn Head a Parke’s Castle
KILLYBEGS Donegal LOUGH 5 Rosguill Peninsula s Sligo
Bay
ROSSNOWLAGH DERG 6 Fanad Peninsula d Lough Arrow
Pettigoe
Assaroe Abbey 8 Grianán Ailigh f Carrick-on-Shannon
BALLYSHANNON Belleek Lower 9 Letterkenny g The Organic Centre
Bundoran Lough Erne 0 The Rosses
Mullaghmore Erne Tours
Lough
Inishmurray Melvin Garrison Enniskillen q Ardara 7 Inishowen Peninsula
Grange YEATS w Glencolmcille p Yeats Country
e Slieve League
COUNTRY THE ORGANIC
LISSADELL HOUSE CENTRE r Killybegs
Rosses Point Drumcliff Manorhamilton t Donegal
Sligo Bay y Lough Derg
Dromore
Killala West SLIGO PARKE'S CASTLE Enniskillen
Bay Lough
Gill Dromahair Dowra
Ballysadare
Inniscrone
Slieve Gamph or SLIGO Drumkeeran Lough
Collooney
Allen
Ballina The Ox Mountains Ballymote Drumshanbo Iron Mountains
LOUGH ARROW
Tubbercurry
Keadew
Ballinafad Lough Shannon Leitrim Ballinamore
Gorteen
Key LE ITRIM Carrigallen
Charlestown Lough Boyle
Gara
CARRICK-ON-
Ballaghaderreen SHANNON Mohill
Roscommon Dromod
Roosky
Longford
View from Carrowkeel Bronze Age cemetery above Lough Arrow
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp301–2 and pp320–21
226-227_EW_Ireland.indd 227 25/04/16 10:42 am
228 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
coast and looks across to the
cliffs of nearby offshore islands,
including Tory. A short distance
further south, the tiny village
of Bunbeg has a pretty
harbour, but elsewhere the
rocky landscape is spoiled by a
blanket of holiday bungalows.
3 Derryveagh
Mountains
Road map C1. Co Donegal.
The wild beauty of these
mountains provides one of the
high spots of a visit to Donegal.
Errigal Mountain, the range’s
tallest peak at 751 m (2,466 ft),
attracts keen hikers, but the
cream of the mountain scenery
Quartzite cone of Errigal, the highest of the Derryveagh Mountains lies within Glenveagh National
Park. Covering nearly 16,000
1 Tory Island There are ruins of a monastery ha (40,000 acres), this takes
founded by St Columba (see in the beautiful valley occupied
Road map C1. Co Donegal. * 100.
g from Magheraroarty Pier near p38) nearby, or else you can by Lough Veagh, and Poisoned
Gortahork and Bunbeg (daily in explore the island’s Glen, a marshy valley
summer: 074 953 5061; weather dramatic cliffs and enclosed by dramatic cliffs.
permitting in winter: 074 953 1340). sea bird rookeries. The park also protects the
∑ toryislandferry.com largest herd of red deer
E Dixon Gallery in the country.
The turbulent Tory Sound West Town. Tel 074 913 5011. Glenveagh Castle stands
separates this windswept island Open Easter–Sep: daily. on the southern shores of
from the northwestern corner Lough Veagh, near the
of mainland Donegal. Given that visitors’ centre. This splendid
rough weather can cut off the 2 Bloody granite building was
tiny island for days, it is not Foreland constructed in 1870 by
surprising that Tory’s inhabitants Road map C1. Co Donegal. John Adair, notorious
have developed a strong sense @ to Letterkenny. for his eviction of many
of independence. Most of the families from the area
islanders speak Gaelic and they Bloody Foreland, which Fountain at after the Famine (see
even have their own monarch: gets its name from the Glenveagh p223). The castle was
the powers of this non-hereditary rubescent glow of the rocks at given to the nation in the 1970s
position are minimal, but the sunset, boasts magnificent by its last owner, a wealthy art
current incumbent is heavily scenery. The R257 road skirts dealer from Pennsylvania.
involved in promoting the the coast around the headland, Shuttle buses whisk you up
interests of his “subjects” and in provid ing lovely views. The most the private road to the castle
attracting visitors to the island. scenic viewpoint is on the north from the visitors’ centre.
During the 1970s, the Irish
government tried to resettle
most of the islanders on the
mainland, but they refused to
move. Their campaign of resist-
ance was led by Tory’s school of
Primitive artists. This emerged
after 1968, inspired by a local
man called James Dixon who
claimed he could do better than
a visiting English painter, Derek
Hill. Since then, the school of
artists has drawn a growing
number of tourists; the Dixon
Gallery opened in 1992 in the
main village of West Town. Glenveagh Castle overlooking Lough Veagh
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp301–2 and pp320–21
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NOR THWEST IRELAND 229
Looking across to Dunfanaghy, gateway to the Horn Head peninsula
You can go on a guided tour 4 Horn Head village, is worth a visit as
of the sumptuous interior or Road map C1. Co Donegal. @ to much for its setting on a
just stroll through the formal Dunfanaghy from Letterkenny. n The promontory over looking
gardens and rhododendron Workhouse, Dunfanaghy (074 913 Sheephaven Bay as for its
woods. Trails weave all around 6540). Jul & Aug: daily, Sep–Jun: Mon– architectural or historical
the castle grounds; one path Sat. - = 7 ∑ dunfanaghy interest. It has been restored
climbs steeply to reward you workhouse.ie from the remains of a castle
with a lovely view over erected in the 16th century
Lough Veagh. Carpeted in heather and rich in by the MacSweeneys, a family
Glebe House and Gallery birdlife, this is the most scenic of Scottish mercenaries.
overlooks Lough Gartan, 6 km of the northern Donegal head-
(4 miles) south of the visitors’ lands, with lovely views of the
centre. This modest Regency sea and mountains. Its appeal is 6 Fanad Peninsula
mansion was the home of the enhanced by Dunfanaghy, a Road map C1. Co Donegal.
painter, Derek Hill, who was delightful town with an air of @ to Rathmelton & Portsalon
also a keen collector. The house affluence and Presbyterianism from Letterkenny.
reveals his varied tastes, with unusual in this area. The local
William Morris wall papers, beach, Killahoey Strand, offers A panoramic route winds
Islamic ceramics and paintings excellent swimming. between the hilly spine and
by Tory Island art ists. The rugged coast of this tranquil
gallery contains works by 5 Rosguill peninsula. The eastern side is
Picasso, Renoir and Jack B by far the most enjoyable and
Yeats among others. Peninsula begins at Rathmelton, a
The Colmcille Heritage Road map C1. Co Donegal. charming Plantation town
Centre, less than a kilometre founded in the 17th century.
south, uses stained glass Rosguill Peninsula juts out into Elegant Georgian homes and
and illumi nated manuscripts the Atlantic Ocean between handsome old warehouses flank
to trace the life of St Columba Sheephaven and Mulroy bays. its tree-lined Main Street.
(Colmcille in Gaelic), who was The simplest way to see it is Further north, Portsalon offers
born in nearby Church Hill to follow the 11-km (7-mile) safe bathing and great views
in AD 521 (see p38). A flagstone Atlantic Drive, a from nearby Saldanha Head.
in Lacknacoo is said to mark the circular route Near Doagh Beg, on the
site of the saint’s birthplace. which skirts the way to Fanad Head in
cliff tops at the tip the far north, the cliffs
Y Glenveagh National Park of the headland. have been eroded into
and Castle Doe Castle, 5 km arches and other
Off R251, 16 km (10 miles) N of (3 miles) north dramatic shapes.
Churchill. Tel 076 100 2537. Park & of Creeslough
Castle: Open daily. & 8 0 -
7 ltd. ∑ glenveaghnationalpark.ie
E Glebe House and Gallery
Tel 074 913 7071. Open Easter & May–
Sep: Sat–Thu. & 7 limited. 8 -
E Colmcille Heritage Centre
Tel 074 913 7306. Open Easter & May–
Sep: daily. &
∑ colmcilleheritagecentre.ie Doe Castle on Rosguill Peninsula, with its 16th-century battlements
228-229_EW_Ireland.indd 229 08/03/17 11:07 am
230 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
7 A Tour of the Inishowen Peninsula
Inishowen, the largest of Donegal’s northern
peninsulas, is an area laden with history, from early
Christian relics to strategically positioned castles and
forts. The most rugged scenery lies in the west and
north, around the the steep rock strewn landscape of
the Gap of Mamore and the spectacular cape of Malin
Head, the northern most point in Ireland. Numerous
beaches dot the coastline and cater for all tastes, Tower on Banba’s Crown, Malin Head
from the remote Isle of Doagh to the busy family
resort of Buncrana. From the shores, there are views J 4 Carndonagh Cross
This 7th-century
to Donegal’s Derryveagh Mountains to the west and early Christian cross
the Northern Ireland coast in the east. The Inishowen is carved with
Peninsula can be explored by car as a leisurely day trip. human figures and
inter lacing lines.
3 Gap of Mamore
The road between Mamore Hill
and the Urris Hills is 250 m Isle
of
(820 ft) above Doagh Malin
sea level and Trawbreaga
offers panoramic Bay Culdaff
views.
Lenan Head J Clonmany
Gleneely
2 Dunree Head
On the headland, Dunree
Fort overlooks Lough Swilly. Lough Swilly
It was built in 1798 to
counter the threat of French
invasion. Since 1986, it has
been a military museum.
Carrowkeel
1 Buncrana Lough Foyle
Buncrana has 5 km (3 miles) of
sandy beaches and two castles.
Buncrana Castle was rebuilt in
1718 and the intact keep of
O’Doherty Castle dates from Muff
Norman times. Bridge
End
Letterkenny
J
Londonderry Key
Tour route
Other roads
Viewpoint
7 Grianán Ailigh
At the neck of the Inishowen Peninsula, perched on
a hilltop, stands this formidable circular stone fort.
The solid structure that can be seen today is the
Shores of Lough Swilly near Dunree Fort result of extensive restoration in the 1870s.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp301–2 and pp320–21
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NOR THWEST IRELAND 231
Tips for Drivers
Tour length: 157 km (98 miles).
Stopping-off points: Malin,
Greencastle and Carndonagh all
have pubs and eating places;
picnic sites are dotted around the
coast. The Guns of Dunree
Military Museum has a café. There Enjoying the views from the ramparts of the Grianán Ailigh
is a 3- km (1.8- mile) scenic walk
between Moville and Green castle 8 Grianán Ailigh
(see also pp365–7). west, Letterkenny is Donegal’s
Road map C1. Co Donegal. largest town. It is also the region’s
@ from Letterkenny or Londonderry. main business centre, a role it
Open 10am–4pm daily. took over from Londonderry after
n Letterkenny (074 912 1160). partition in 1921. The likeable
town makes a good base from
Donegal’s most impressive and which to explore the northern
intriguing ancient monument coast of Donegal and, for
stands just 10 km (6 miles) west anglers, is well placed for access
of the city of Londonderry (see to the waters of Lough Swilly.
pp262–3) at the entrance to the Letterkenny has one of the
lovely Inishowen Peninsula. longest main streets in Ireland,
5 Malin Head Overlooking Lough Swilly and which is dominated by the
This part of the peninsula is a Lough Foyle, the circular stone 65-m (215-ft) steeple of
Culdaff good stop for enjoying the
superb Atlantic views from structure, measuring 23 m St Eunan’s Cathedral. A Neo-
Malin Head. At the highest (77 ft) in diameter, is believed Gothic creation built in the late
point, Banba’s Crown, stands to have been built as a pagan 19th century, it looks particularly
a tower built in 1805 to temple around the 5th century impressive when floodlit at
Gleneely monitor shipping. BC, although the site was night. It contains Celtic-style
probably a place of worship stonework, a rich marble altar
before this date. Later, Christians and vivid stained-glass windows.
Donegal County Museum is
adopted the fort: St Patrick is
Inishowen Head said to have bap tized Eoghan, located in a former workhouse
J
founder of the O’Neill dynasty,
building. It offers informative
the Stone Age to the 20th
royal residence of the O’Neills,
Moville here in AD 450. It became the dis plays on local history from
but was damaged in the 12th century. It also has a collec tion
cen tury by the army of Murtagh of archaeological artifacts
O’Brien, King of Munster. found in Donegal, some of them
The fort was restored in the dating from the Iron Age.
1870s. Two doorways lead from
the outside into a grassy arena E Donegal County Museum
Lough Foyle ringed by three terraces. The High Rd. Tel 074 912 4613.
Open Mon–Sat (pm only Sat).
most memorable feature of the
fort, however, is its magnificent Closed Christmas and public hols. 7
vantage point, which affords
stunning views in every direction.
At the foot of the hill stands
an attractive church, dedicated
to St Aengus and built in 1967.
6 Greencastle Its circular design echoes that
Key A resort and fishing port, of the Grianán.
Greencastle is named after the
Tour route overgrown castle ruins just
Other roads outside town. Built in 1305 by 9 Letterkenny
Viewpoint Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster,
the castle guarded the Road map C1. Co Donegal. * 19,500.
entrance to Lough Foyle. @ n Neil T Blaney Rd (074 912
1160). ∑ discoverireland.ie
Straddling the River Swilly, with
0 kilometres 5 the Sperrin Mountains to the
0 miles 5 east and the Derryveagh The imposing spire of St Eunan’s Cathedral
Mountains (see pp228–9) to the in Letterkenny
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232 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
handloom weaving. Ardara
is also worth a stop for its
pubs, much loved for their
fiddle sessions.
Environs
A drive along the narrow
peninsula to Loughros Point,
10 km (6 miles) west of town,
provides dramatic coastal
views. Another picturesque
route runs southwest from
Ardara to Glencolmcille, going
over Glengesh Pass, a series
of bends through a wild,
Isolated cottage near Burtonport in the Rosses deserted landscape.
0 The Rosses unusual cliff formations. From
the small fishing village of
Road map C1. Co Donegal. @ to
Dungloe or Burtonport from Letter Burtonport, 8 km (5 miles)
kenny. n seasonal: Dungloe (074 952 north of Dungloe, car ferries
1297). g to Arranmore from sail daily to Donegal’s largest
Burtonport (074 952 0532). island, Arranmore. The rugged
northwest coast here is ideal
A rocky headland dotted for cliff top walks, and from the
with more than 100 lakes, south coast you can enjoy fine
the Rosses is one of the most views across to the Rosses. Most
pic turesque and unspoilt of Arranmore’s population of
corners of Donegal. It is also 500 lives in Leabgarrow, where
a strong Gaeltacht area, with the harbour is located.
many people speaking Gaelic.
The hub of the Rosses, at the
southern end of the headland, q Ardara Hand-loom worker in Ardara
is Dungloe, a bustling market Road map C2. Co Donegal. * 700.
town and major angling centre. @ from Killybegs or Donegal.
n Donegal (074 972 1148). w Glencolmcille
Environs ∑ ardara.ie Road map B2. Co Donegal.
There is a glorious sheltered * 260. @ from Killybegs.
beach 8 km (5 miles) west of Ardara, the weaving capital of n Donegal (074 972 1148).
Dungloe at Maghery Bay. Donegal, abounds shops selling ∑ glencolmcille.ie
From here you can also walk locally made tweeds and
to nearby Crohy Head, an area handknitted sweaters. Some Glencolmcille, a quiet, grassy
known for its caves, arches and larger stores put on dis plays of valley scattered with brightly
coloured cottages, feels very
much like a backwater, in spite
of the sizeable number of
visitors who come here.
The “Glen of St Colmcille” is a
popular place of pilgrimage due
to its associations with the saint
more commonly known as St
Columba. Just north of the
village of Cashel, on the way to
Glen Head, is the church where
St Columba worshipped: it is
said that between prayers the
saint slept on the two stone
slabs still visible in one corner.
Another attraction here is the
Folk Village Museum, which
depicts rural Donegal lifestyles
through the ages. It was started
in the 1950s by a local priest
Old irons at the Folk Village Museum in Glencolmcille called Father James McDyer.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp301–2 and pp320–21
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NOR THWEST IRELAND 233
r Killybegs
Road map C2. Co Donegal. * 3,000.
@ from Donegal. n Donegal (074
972 1148). ∑ killybegs.ie
Narrow winding streets give
Killybegs a timeless feel, which
contrasts sharply with the
industriousness of this small
town. The sense of prosperity
stems in part from the manu-
facture of the Donegal carpets
for which the town is famous,
and which adorn Dublin Castle
(see pp80–81) and other palaces
around the world.
Killybegs is one of Ireland’s
busiest fishing ports and the
quays are well worth seeing
Slieve League, one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe when the trawlers arrive to off-
load their catch: gulls squawk
Concerned about the high rate reaching Bunglass Point and overhead and the smell of fish
of emigration from this poor Amharc Mor, the “good view”. fills the air. Trawlermen come
region, he sought to provide jobs From here, you can see the from far and wide – so do not
and a sense of regional pride, whole of Slieve League, its sheer be surprised if you hear Eastern
partly by encouraging people to cliffs rising dramatically out of European voices as you wander
set up craft cooperatives. There the ocean. around the town.
are regular craft demonstrations – Only experienced hikers
such as spinning – at the should attempt the treacherous
museum and the folk village ledges of One Man’s Pass. This
shop sells local wares. is part of a trail which climbs
There is plenty to explore westwards out of Teelin and
in the valley, which is littered up to the highest point of
with cairns, dolmens and other Slieve League – from where
ancient monuments. The nearby you can admire the Atlantic
coast is lovely too, the best walks Ocean shimmering 598 m
taking you west across the grassy (1,962 ft) below. The path then
foreland of Malinbeg. Beyond continues on to Malinbeg, 16 km
the small resort of Malin More, (10 miles) west. During the
steps drop down to an idyllic summer, for a less strenuous
sandy cove hemmed in by cliffs. but safer and equally rewarding
excursion, pay a boat-owner
E Folk Village Museum from Teelin to take you out to Trawler crew in Killybegs relaxing after
Dooey. Tel 074 973 0017. Open see Slieve League from the sea. unloading their catch
Easter–Sep: daily. & 8 - = 7
The Irish Gaeltachts
e Slieve League The term “Gaeltacht” refers to Gaelic-speaking areas of Ireland. Up
to the 16th century, virtually the entire population spoke the native
Road map B2. Co Donegal. @ to tongue. British rule, however, undermined Irish culture, and the
Carrick from Donegal or Killybegs.
Famine (see p223) drained the country of many of its Gaelic-speakers.
One of the highest cliff faces in The use of the local language has fallen steadily since. Even so, in the
Europe, Slieve League is Gaeltachts 75 per cent of the people still speak it, and road signs are
spectacular not just for its sheer exclusively in Irish – unlike in
elevation but also for its colour: most other parts of Ireland.
at sunset the rock is streaked The Donegal Gaeltacht
stretches almost unbroken
with changing shades of red, along the coast from Fanad
amber and ochre. The 8-km Head to Slieve League and
(5-mile) drive to the eastern end boasts the largest number of
of Slieve League from Carrick Irish-speakers in the country.
is bumpy but well worth Ireland’s other principal
enduring. Beyond Teelin, the Gaeltachts are in Galway
road becomes a series of Irish road sign in the Gaeltacht region and Kerry.
alarming switchbacks before
232-233_EW_Ireland.indd 233 08/03/17 11:07 am
234 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
of Pettigo. The island is totally
covered by a religious complex,
which includes a basilica, built
in 1921, and hostels for pilgrims.
The pilgrimage season runs
from April to September. People
spend three days on the island,
eating just one meal of dry bread
and black tea per day. Although
only pilgrims can visit Station
Island, it is interesting to go to
the jetty to savour the atmos
phere and get a good view of
the basilica near the shore.
The imposing 15th-century Donegal Castle
t Donegal arches. About 1.5 km (1 mile)
further on is Donegal Craft
Road map C2. Co Donegal. * 2,300.
@ n The Quay (074 972 1148). Village, a showcase for the work
∑ donegaltown.ie of local craftspeople.
The town has some nice
Donegal means “Fort of the hotels (see p301) and makes a
Foreigners”, after the Vikings good base for exploring the
who built a garrison here. How southern part of the county.
ever, it was under the O’Donnells
that the town began to take + Donegal Castle
shape. The restored Donegal Tirchonaill St. Tel 074 972 2405.
Castle in the town centre Open Easter–midSep: daily; midSep–
incorporates the gabled tower Easter: Thu–Mon. & 8 7 limited.
of a fortified house built by the = Donegal Craft Village
family in the 15th century. The Ballyshannon Rd. Tel 074 972 2225. Holiday-makers enjoying the fine sandy
adjoin ing house and most other Open Apr–Sep: Mon–Sat; Oct–Mar: beach at Rossnowlagh
features are Jacobean – added Tue–Sat. - 7 limited.
by Sir Basil Brooke, who moved u Rossnowlagh
in after the O’Donnells were Road map C2. Co Donegal. * 55.
ousted by the English in 1607 y Lough Derg @ from Bundoran & Donegal.
(see pp42–3). n May–Sep: The Bridge, Bundoran
Brooke was also responsible Road map C2. Co Donegal. g Jun– (071 984 1350).
midAug (pilgrims only). @ to Pettigo
for laying out the market from Donegal. ∑ loughderg.org
square, which is known as the At Rossnowlagh, Atlantic waves
Diamond. An obelisk in the Pilgrims have made their way to break on to one of Ireland’s finest
centre commemorates four Lough Derg ever since St Patrick beaches, draw ing crowds of
Franciscan monks who wrote spent 40 days praying on one of both bathers and surfers to this
the Annals of the Four Masters the lake’s islands in an attempt tiny place. Even so, the village
in the 1630s, tracing the history to rid Ireland of all evil spirits. remains far more peaceful than
of the Gaelic people from 40 The Pilgrimage of St Patrick’s the resort of Bundoran, 14 km
days before the Great Flood up Purgatory began in around 1150 (9 miles) south. In addition, the
until the end of the 16th and still attracts thousands of cliffs at Rossnowlagh provide
century. Part of it was written at Catholics every summer. Their scope for exhilarating coastal
Donegal Abbey, south of the destination is the tiny Station walks. Away from the sea, you
market square along the River Island, close to Lough Derg’s can visit the Donegal Historical
Eske. Built in 1474, little now southern shore and reached by Society Museum, housed in a
remains of the abbey but a few boat from a jetty 8 km (5 miles) striking Franciscan friary built in
Gothic windows and cloister north of the border village the 1950s. The tiny but
Basilica on Station Island viewed from the shores of Lough Derg
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp301–2 and pp320–21
234-235_EW_Ireland.indd 234 08/03/17 11:07 am
NOR THWEST IRELAND 235
o Lissadell House
Road map B2. Carney, Co Sligo.
Tel 071 916 3150. £ or @ to Sligo.
Open late Mar–end Oct: 10am–6pm.
8∑ lissadellhouse.com
A Greek Revival mansion built in
the 1830s, Lissadell is famous
more for its occupants than
its architecture. It used to be the
home of the GoreBooths who,
unlike some of the AngloIrish
gentry, have contributed much
to the region over the four
centuries they have been in
County Sligo. During the
Famine (see p223), Sir Robert
charitably mortgaged the house
to help feed his employees.
The most famous member
of the GoreBooth family is Sir
Robert’s granddaughter,
Constance Markievicz (1868–
1927), a leading nationalist who
Lissadell House dining room with Gore-Booth family portraits took part in the 1916 Rising
(see pp48–9). She was the first
fascinating collection includes and the winding banks of the woman to be elected to the
displays of Stone Age flints, Irish Erne”. He lies buried in the British House of Commons and
musical instruments and other graveyard of St Anne’s Church, later became Minister for
local artifacts. off Main Street. There is a Labour in the first Dáil. W B
Rossnowlagh never fails to fine view over the river Yeats, who first visited the
make the news in July, when it from here: you can see house in 1894, immortalized
hosts the only parade to take the small island of Inis Constance and her sister, Eva,
place in the Republic by the Saimer where, according in one of his poems,
Protestant organization, the to legend, Greeks describing them as “Two
Orange Order (see p53). founded the first girls in silk kimonos, both
colony in Ireland beautiful, one a gazelle”.
E Donegal Historical after the Great Flood. Built in grey limestone, the
Society Museum Beyond, you can exterior of Lissadell House
Tel 071 985 1726. Open daily. glimpse a large is rather austere. The
Irish Army base: interior, on the other
Ballyshannon’s hand, has an appeal ing
i Ballyshannon position on a atmosphere of faded
steeply rising bluff Mural of the family dog in grandeur, with
Road map C2. Co Donegal. * 2,600.
@ from Bundoran & Donegal. overlooking the Lissadell’s dining room copious memorabilia
River Erne has always of the building’s
In Ballyshannon, wellkept made the town a former occupants. The
Georgian homes jostle for strategic military site. finest rooms are the gallery
space along hilly streets on the About 1.5 km (1 mile) north and the dining room, decorated
banks of the River Erne, near west of town lie the scant ruins with extraordinary fulllength
where it flows into Donegal of Assaroe Abbey, founded by murals of the GoreBooth family,
Bay. This is a bustling town, full Cistercians in 1184. A graveyard their famous butler Thomas
of character and off the main with some ancient burial slabs Kilgallon, the gamekeeper,
tourist track – though it gets and head stones is all that head woodman and a dog.
packed during July’s festival remains. Nearby, two water The house is now a private
of traditional music, which is wheels installed by the monks family home and is open to the
one of the best of its kind in have been restored. The Water public only for guided tours
the country. Wheels has a small heritage during certain months of the
The festival apart, Bally centre as well as a café. year. Check the website for the
shannon is most famous as latest details. You can also
the birthplace of poet William E The Water Wheels explore the paths skirting the
Allingham (1824–89), who Assaroe Abbey. Tel 071 985 1580. seashore, and the beach itself is
recalled his home town in the Open Easter–end Oct: Sun only. a lovely spot, with spectac ular
lines “Adieu to Ballyshanny - = 7 views across the bay.
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236 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
p A Tour of Yeats Country
Even for people unfamiliar with the poetry of
W B Yeats, Sligo’s engaging landscapes are reason
enough to make a pil grimage. This tour follows a
varied route, taking you past sandy bays and
dramatic limestone ridges, through forest and
alongside rivers and lakes. Lough Gill lies at the
heart of Yeats country, enclosed by wooded hills
crisscrossed by walking trails. In summer, boats ply
the length of the lough, or you can head to one
of the northwest’s best beaches, at Rosses Point. 5 Ben Bulben
The eerie silhouette of Ben Bulben rises
abruptly out of the plain. You can climb to
the top, but go with great care.
Donegal
Carney
Drumcliff
Drumcliff Bay
4 Lissadell House
Yeats was a close friend of the
Gore-Booth sisters who lived at
Lissadell. The house is closed to J
the public (see p235). Sligo Harbour
3 Drumcliff
Although he died in France, in
1948 Yeats’s body was laid to Colgagh
rest in Drumcliff churchyard. The Lough
ruins of an old monastic site J
include a fine High Cross.
Key Garavogne
Tour route
Other roads
Boat trips
Viewpoint
Galway
Tips for Drivers
Length: 88 km (55 miles).
Stopping-off points: North of
Sligo, the best choice of eating 1 Sligo
places is at Rosses Point, although This town is a good place
there are good pubs in Drumcliff to begin a tour of Yeats
and Dromahair. Lough Gill country. It has many
provides most choice in terms 2 Rosses Point connections with the poet
of picnic spots. Yeats and his brother used to and his family, whose
Boat trips: visit www.sligoboat spend their summers at this literary and artistic legacy
charters.com or www.roseofinnis pretty resort. It stands at the has helped to inspire
free.com (see also pp365–7). entrance to Sligo Bay, and a Sligo’s thriving arts scene
steady flow of boats passes by. (see p238).
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p302 and pp321–3
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NOR THWEST IRELAND 237
W B Yeats and Sligo
As a schoolboy in London, Yeats
(see p27) longed for his native Sligo,
and as an adult he often returned
here. He lovingly describes the
county in his Reveries over Childhood
and Youth, and the lake-studded
landscape haunts his poetry. “In a
sense”, Yeats said, “Sligo has always
been my home”, and it is here that he
wished to be buried. His gravestone in Parke’s Castle viewed from across the calm
Drumcliff bears an epitaph he penned
W B Yeats him self: “Cast a cold eye on life, on waters of Lough Gill
(1865–1939) death. Horseman pass by.” a Parke’s Castle
Road map C2. 6 km (4 miles) N of
Dromahair, Co Leitrim. Tel 071 916
4149. £ or @ to Sligo. Open late
Mar–late Sep: 10am–6pm daily (last
adm 5:15pm). & 7 limited. 8
∑ heritageireland.ie
J
This fortified manor house
Drumcliff dominates the eastern end of
Lough Gill. It was built in 1609
Enniskillen by Captain Robert Parke, an
English settler who later
became MP for Leitrim. It has
7 Parke’s Castle
This 17th-century fortified manor been beautifully restored by the
house commands a splendid view Office of Public Works using
over the tranquil waters of Lough 17th-century building methods
Gill. It is a starting point for boat 6 Glencar Lough and native Irish oak.
trips around the lough. “There is a waterfall … that all Parke’s Castle was erected
my childhood counted dear”, on the site of a 16th-century
wrote Yeats of the cataract tower house belonging to the
which tumbles into Glencar
Colgagh O’Rourkes, a powerful local
Lough Lough. A path leads down clan, and stones from this
J to it from the road. earlier struc ture were used in
the new building. The original
foundations and part of the moat
were incor p orated, but otherwise
Lough gill J 8 Isle of Innisfree Parke’s Castle is the epitome of a
Planta tion manor house (see p43).
“There midnight’s all a It is protected by a large en -
glimmer, and noon a closure or bawn, whose sturdy
purple glow”, is how wall includes a gatehouse and
Yeats once described turrets as well as the house itself.
Dromahair Innisfree. There is not Among the most distinctive
much to see on this architectural features of Parke’s
tiny island but it is a Castle are the diamond-shaped
romantic spot. In
Carrick- summer, a boatman chimneys, mullioned windows
on-Shannon and the parapets. There is also a
ferries visitors here.
curious stone hut, known as the
“sweathouse”, which was an early
Irish sauna. Inside, an exhibition
and audiovisual dis play cover
9 Dooney Rock Parke’s Castle and various his-
A steep path leads from the road to toric and prehistoric sites in the
Dooney Rock, from where glorious 0 kilometres 3 area. There is also a working forge.
views extend over the lough to Ben 0 miles 2 Boat trips around sights on
Bulben. Trails weave through the Lough Gill that are associated
surrounding woods and by the lake. with the poet, W B Yeats, leave
from outside the castle walls.
236-237_EW_Ireland.indd 237 08/03/17 11:07 am
238 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
R Sligo Abbey
Abbey St. Tel 071 914 6406.
Open mid-Apr–mid-Oct: daily; mid-
Oct–early Nov: Fri–Sun. & 8
E Sligo County Museum
Stephen St. Tel 071 911 1679. Open
Tue–Sat (Oct–Apr: am only).
E Model Arts & Niland Gallery
The Mall. Tel 071 914 1405. Open Tue–
Sun. 8 - 7 ∑ themodel.ie
Hargadon’s bar (see p330), one of Sligo town’s most famous watering holes
Environs
s Sligo distance west from the abbey Improbably set in the suburbs
is O’Connell Street, with the of Sligo, Carrowmore Mega
Road map C2. Co Sligo. * 20,000.
k 071 916 8280. £ @ n Old town’s main shops and lithic Cemetery once held the
Bank Building, O’ Connell St (071 916 Hargadon’s bar – an old Sligo country’s largest collection of
1201). ( Fri. ∑ sligotown.net institution complete with a Stone Age tombs. Quarrying
dark, wooden interior, snugs destroyed much, but about 40
The port of Sligo sits at the and a grocery counter. Near the passage tombs (see pp250–51)
mouth of the River Gara vogue, junction with Wine Street, and dolmens (see p36) survive
sandwiched between the overlooking Hyde Bridge, among the abandoned gravel
Atlantic and Lough Gill. The is the Yeats Memorial pits, with some in private
largest town in the Building. This houses the gardens and cottages.
North west, it rose to Yeats Society, who are The huge unexcavated cairn
prominence under the dedi cated to com- atop Knocknarea mountain
Normans, being well memora ting the life of dates back 5,000 years and is
placed as a gateway the poet. The Yeats said to contain the tomb of the
between the provinces International Summer legendary Queen Maeve of
of Ulster and Connaught. School is held here too: a Connaught (see p30). It is an
The appearance of Sligo renowned annu al festival hour’s climb starting 4 km
today is mainly the result of of readings and lectures on (2.5 miles) west of Carrowmore.
growth during the late 18th the poet’s life and work. Tobernalt Holy Well, by
and 19th centuries. Just the other side of Hyde Lough Gill 5 km (3 miles) south
Sligo is perfectly situated Bridge is a statue of the of Sligo, means “cliff well”, after
for touring the ravishing poet, engraved with lines a nearby spring with alleged
countryside nearby, and it from his own verse. Sligo curative powers. It was a holy
is also a good centre for County Museum has site in Celtic times and later
traditional music. While Yeatsian memo rabilia became a Christian shrine.
at first sight it can seem Bronze statue of and local artifacts but Priests came here to celebrate
a bit sombre, the town W B Yeats the entire Niland Mass in secret during the 18th
is thriving as the arts Collection including the century, when Catholic worship
capital of Northwest Ireland. paint ings by Jack B Yeats is in was illegal. The Mass rock, next
Sligo’s link with the Yeats the Model Arts & Niland to an altar erected around 1900,
family is the main source of Gallery in The Mall. This out- remains a place of pilgrimage.
the town’s appeal. W B Yeats standing centre also puts on
(see pp236–7), Ireland’s best- temporary exhibitions of T Carrowmore Cemetery
known poet, was born into major Irish and international Tel 071 916 1534. Open Easter–Oct.
a prominent local family. The contemporary art. & 8 ∑ heritageireland.ie
Pollexfen warehouse, at
the western end of Wine
Street, has a rooftop turret from
which the poet’s grandfather
would observe his merchant
fleet moored in the docks.
The town’s sole surviving
medieval building is Sligo
Abbey, founded in 1253. Some
original features remain, such
as the delicate lancet windows
in the choir, but this ruined
Dominican friary dates mainly
from the 15th century. The best
features are a beautifully carved
altar and the cloisters. A short Altar by the holy well at Tobernalt, overlooking Lough Gill in Sligo
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p302 and pp321–3
IR_238-239_NW_cat.indd 238 25/04/16 11:03 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.1)
Date 5th December 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
NOR THWEST IRELAND 239
d Lough Arrow
Road map C3. Co Sligo. @ to
Ballinafad. n Jun–Sep: Boyle (071 966
2145). ∑ discoverireland.ie
People go to Lough Arrow to
sail and fish for the local trout,
and also simply to enjoy the
glorious countryside. You can
explore the lake by boat, but
the views from the shore are
the real joy of Lough Arrow.
A full circuit of the lake is
recommended, but for the most
breath taking views head for the Passage tomb in Carrowkeel cemetery above Lough Arrow
southern end around Ballinafad.
This small town lies in a gorgeous f Carrick-on- restored in a cross-border
spot, enclosed to the north Shannon joint venture billed as a symbol
and south by the Bricklieve of peaceful cooperation
and Curlew Mountains. Road map C3. Co Leitrim. * 3,000. between Northern Ireland and
The Carrowkeel Passage £ @ n May–Sep: The Old Barrel the Republic.
Tomb Cemetery occupies a Store (071 962 0170). Away from the bustle of
∑ leitrimtourism.com
remote and eerie spot in the the marina, Carrick is an old-
Bricklieve Mountains to the The tiny capital of Leitrim, fashioned place, with
north of Ballinafad. The best one of the least populated 19th-century churches and
approach is up the single track counties in Ireland (although convents, refined Georgian
road from Castlebaldwin, 5 km this is changing), stands in a houses and shopfronts. The
(3 miles) northeast of the site. lovely spot on a tight bend of town’s most curious building
The 14 Neolithic passage the River Shannon. is the quaint Costello Chapel
graves, which are scattered The town’s river location on Bridge Street, one of
around a hilltop overlooking and its proximity to the Grand the smallest in the world.
Lough Arrow, are elaborate Canal were crucial to Carrick’s It was built in 1877 by local
corbelled structures. One is development. They are also businessman Edward Costello,
comparable with Newgrange the main reasons for its now to house the tombs of himself
(see pp250–51), except that the thriving tourist industry. There and his wife.
burial chamber inside this cairn is a colourful, modern marina,
is lit by the sun on the day of where private boats can g The Organic
the summer solstice (21 June) moor in summer and boats
as opposed to the winter are available for hire. Centre
solstice. On a nearby ridge are Already a major boating centre, Road map C3. Rossinver, Co Leitrim.
the remains of Stone Age huts, Carrick has benefited from the Tel 071 985 4338. Open 10am–5pm
presumably those occupied reopening of the Shannon-Erne Tue–Sun (closed weekends Nov–Feb).
by the farmers who buried Waterway, one end of which & 8 7 ∑ theorganiccentre.ie
their dead in the Carrowkeel begins 6 km (4 miles) north at
passage graves. Leitrim. The channel was Situated about 3.2 kilometres
(2 miles) from Rossinver on the
Kinlough Road, The Organic
Shannon-Erne Centre is a non-profit-making
Waterway company that provides training,
information and demon-
This labyrinthine system of strations of organic gardening,
rivers and lakes passes through cultivation and farming.
unspoiled border country, linking The centre is located on a
Leitrim on the Shannon and 7.7-ha (19-acre) site at Rossinver
Upper Lough Erne in Fermanagh. in the unspoilt countryside of
It follows the course of a canal
which was completed and then sparsely populated north Leitrim.
abandoned in the 1860s. The There are display gardens for
channel was reopened in 1993, visitors including a children’s
enabling the public to enjoy garden, a taste garden and a
both the Victorian stonework heritage garden. The Eco Shop
(including 34 bridges) and the sells seeds, cuttings and
state-of-the-art technology used Cruiser negotiating a lock on the vegetables, as well as books and
to operate the 16 locks. Shannon-Erne Waterway kitchen equipment. Some items
can also be bought online.
IR_238-239_NW_cat.indd 239 25/04/16 11:03 am
240-241_EW_Ireland.indd 240 08/03/17 11:07 am
IRELAND REGION B Y REGION 241
THE MIDLANDS
Cavan • Monaghan • Louth • Longford • Westmeath
Meath • Offaly • Laois
The cradle of Irish civilization and the Celts’ spiritual home,
the Midlands encompass some of Ireland’s most sacred
and symbolic sites. Much of the region is ignored, but
the ragged landscapes of lush pastures, lakes and bogland
reveal ancient Celtic crosses, gracious Norman abbeys
and Gothic Revival castles.
The fertile Boyne Valley in County Meath was The Boyne Valley returned to prominence in
settled during the Stone Age and became 1690, when the Battle of the Boyne ended
the most impor tant centre of habitation in in a landmark Protestant victory over the
the country. The remains of ancient sites Catholics (see pp42–3).
from this early civilization fill the area and Although part of the Republic since 1921,
include Newgrange, the finest Neolithic Monaghan and Cavan belong to the ancient
tomb in the coun try. In Celtic times, the province of Ulster, and the former retains
focus shifted south to the Hill of Tara, the strong links with Northern Ireland. The
seat of the High Kings of Ireland and the rounded hills called drumlins, found in both
Celts’ spiritual and political capital. Tara’s counties, are typical of the border region
heyday came in the 3rd century AD, but it between the Republic and Northern Ireland.
retained its importance until the Normans Grassland and bog dotted with lakes are
invaded in the 1100s. most characteristic of the Midlands, but the
Norman castles, such as the immense Slieve Bloom Mountains and the Cooley
fortress at Trim in County Meath, attest Peninsula provide good walking country.
to the shifting frontiers around the region In addition to Meath’s ancient sites, the
of English influence known as the Pale historical highlights of the region are
(see p136). By the end of the 16th century, monasteries like Fore Abbey and
this area incorporated nearly all the Clonmacnoise, this last ranking among
counties in the Midlands. Europe’s greatest early Christian centres.
Carlingford village and harbour, with the hills of the Cooley Peninsula rising behind
Lakes and wetlands of Lough Oughter, County Cavan
240-241_EW_Ireland.indd 241 08/03/17 11:07 am
242 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
Exploring the Midlands Omagh
Aughnacloy
Drogheda is the obvious base from which to explore Blackwater
the Boyne Valley and neighbouring monastic sites, such
as Monasterboice. Trim and Mullingar, to the Enniskillen Middletown
southwest, are less convenient but make Blacklion Armagh
pleasanter places in which to stay. The northern Sligo MONAGHAN
counties of Monaghan, Cavan and Longford are Mullan Rosslea Clontibret Garnagh Newtownhamilton
quiet backwaters with a patchwork of lakes that Dowra Swalinbar Clones
attract many anglers. To the south, Offaly and Laois Iron Mountains Derrynacreeve MONAGHAN Newry
Ballybay
are dominated by dark expanses of bog, though there Belturbet Rockcorry Muckno Castleblayney Killeen Rostrevor
is a cluster of sights around the attractive Georgian town Cootehill Lake Drumbilla Forest Park
Slieve Foye
of Birr. For a break by the sea, head for the picturesque DRUMLANE Annalee CARLINGFORD Carlingford Lough
village of Carlingford on the Cooley Peninsula. Lough
Oughter Stradone Shercock DUNDALK
Cavan Carrickmacross Dundalk
Bellananagh Bailieborough Louth Bay
Erne CA VAN Castlebellingham
Arvagh Kingscourt LOUTH
Lough Ballyjamesduff Ardee
Gowna Nobber Dunleer
Sligo Kilcogy Virginia
Lough Lough Ramor MONASTERBOICE
Newtown Granard Sheelin Oldcastle Collon
Forbes OLD MELLIFONT Clogherhead
Shannon Longford Castle- FORE KELLS Blackwater SLANE ABBEY DROGHEDA
Lanesborough Ardagh TULLYNALLY pollard ABBEY Boyne NEWGRANGE AND
CASTLE
Galway LONGFORD Lough Navan Balreath THE BOYNE VALLEY
Deeravaragh Athboy Balbriggan
CORLEA Lough Delvin HILL OF TARA
West doorway of Nuns’ Church at Clonmacnoise TRACKWAY Ballymahon Owel Dublin
Royal Canal
Lecarrow TRIM MEA TH
MULLINGAR Ashbourne
Lough Ballymore Ballivor Laracor
Ree WESTME A TH
Key Lough Belvedere Kinnegad Enfield Dunboyne
Ennell
House
Motorway ATHLONE Moate Rochfortbridge Kilcock Dublin
Major road
Galway KILBEGGAN Carbury
Secondary road Lucan
CLONMACNOISE Edenderry
Minor road TULLAMORE DEW
Scenic route Ferbane HERITAGE CENTRE Tullamore
Main railway OFF AL Y
Clonfert Grand Canal Grand Canal
Minor railway Cloghan Killeigh
International border Shannon Banagher Portarlington Dublin
County border Kilcormac Monasterevin
Summit BIRR Mountmellick EMO COURT
SLIEVE BLOOM
Kinnitty
Arderin Portlaoise ROCK OF
527m MOUNTAINS DUNAMASE
Getting Around Shinrone Mountrath Stradbally Athy Dublin
Borris
In the Midlands, there is an extensive network Roscrea in Ossory LAOIS
of roads and rail lines fanning out across the Abbeyleix Ballylynan Barrow
country from Dublin. As a result, getting around Thurles
on public transport is easier than in most other Moneygall Newtown
areas. The Dublin–Belfast railway serves Limerick Durrow Carlow
Dundalk and Drogheda, while Mullingar and Kilkenny
Longford town lie on the Dublin–Sligo route.
The railway and M7 road between Dublin and Cashel Enniscorthy
Limerick give good access to Laois and Offaly.
For additional map symbols see back flap
242-243_EW_Ireland.indd 242 08/03/17 11:07 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Explorer template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.3)
Date 17th October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
THE MIDLANDS 243
Omagh
Aughnacloy
Enniskillen Blackwater
Middletown
Blacklion Armagh
Sligo MONAGHAN
Mullan Rosslea
Clontibret Garnagh
Dowra Swalinbar Clones Newtownhamilton
Iron Mountains Derrynacreeve MONAGHAN Castleblayney Newry
Ballybay
Belturbet
Rockcorry
Muckno Killeen Rostrevor
Slieve Foye
Cootehill Lake Forest Park
Annalee Drumbilla
DRUMLANE CARLINGFORD Carlingford Lough
Lough
Oughter Stradone Shercock DUNDALK
Cavan Carrickmacross Dundalk
Bellananagh Bailieborough Louth Bay
Erne CA VAN Castlebellingham
Arvagh Kingscourt LOUTH
Lough Ballyjamesduff Ardee
Gowna Nobber Dunleer
Sligo Kilcogy Virginia
Lough Lough Ramor MONASTERBOICE
Newtown Granard Sheelin Oldcastle Collon
Forbes OLD MELLIFONT Clogherhead Statue in Birr Castle’s
Shannon Longford Castle- FORE KELLS Blackwater SLANE ABBEY DROGHEDA formal gardens
Lanesborough Ardagh TULLYNALLY pollard ABBEY Boyne NEWGRANGE AND
CASTLE
Galway LONGFORD Lough Navan Balreath THE BOYNE VALLEY Sights at a Glance
Deeravaragh Athboy Balbriggan
CORLEA Lough Delvin HILL OF TARA 1 Monaghan
TRACKWAY Royal Canal Owel 2 Drumlane
Ballymahon Dublin
Lecarrow TRIM MEA TH 3 Corlea Trackway
MULLINGAR Ashbourne
Lough Ballymore Ballivor Laracor 4 Tullynally Castle
Ree WESTME A TH
Lough Kinnegad 5 Fore Abbey
Ennell Belvedere Dunboyne 6 Kells
House
ATHLONE Enfield Kilcock
Moate Rochfortbridge Dublin 7 Dundalk
8 Carlingford
Galway KILBEGGAN Carbury
Lucan 9 Monasterboice
CLONMACNOISE Edenderry 0 Drogheda
TULLAMORE DEW
Ferbane HERITAGE CENTRE Tullamore q Newgrange and the Boyne Valley
pp248–51
Clonfert Grand Canal OFF AL Y Grand Canal w Old Mellifont Abbey
Cloghan
e Slane
Shannon Banagher Kilcormac Killeigh Portarlington Dublin r Hill of Tara
Monasterevin t Trim
Mountmellick y Mullingar
BIRR EMO COURT
SLIEVE BLOOM
Kinnitty u Kilbeggan
Arderin Portlaoise ROCK OF i Athlone
527m MOUNTAINS DUNAMASE o Clonmacnoise pp254–5
Shinrone Mountrath Stradbally Athy Dublin p Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre
Roscrea Borris LAOIS a Birr
in Ossory Ballylynan s Slieve Bloom Mountains
Abbeyleix Barrow d Emo Court
Thurles
Moneygall Newtown f Rock of Dunamase
Limerick Carlow
Durrow
Kilkenny
Cashel Enniscorthy 0 kilometres 20
0 miles 20
The town of Trim, situated on the River Boyne
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p302 and pp321–3
242-243_EW_Ireland.indd 243 08/03/17 11:07 am
244 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
2 Drumlane
Road map C3. 1 km (0.5 miles) S of
Milltown, Co Cavan. @ to Belturbet.
Standing alone by the River
Erne, the medieval church
and round tower of Drumlane
merit a visit as much for their
delightful setting as for the
ruins themselves. The abbey
church, founded in the early
13th century but significantly
altered about 200 years later,
features fine Romanesque
carvings. The nearby round
tower has lost its cap but is
unusual for the well-finished
stonework, with carvings of
birds on the north side.
3 Corlea Trackway
Ruins of the monastery in Drumlane
Road map C3. Kenagh, Co Longford.
1 Monaghan The pride of the museum’s Tel 043 322 2386. @ to Longford.
Open May–Sep: 10am–6pm daily (last
historical collection is the
Road map D2. Co Monaghan. adm: 45 mins before closing). & 8
* 6,000. @ n Clones Rd (047 Cross of Clogher, an ornate = 7 limited.
81122). ∑ monaghantourism.com bronze altar cross which dates
from around 1400. The Corlea Trackway Visitor
The spruce and thriving town The Gothic Revival Cathedral Centre interprets an Iron Age
of Monaghan is the urban of St Macartan perches on a bog road built in the year
highlight of the northern hilltop south of the town, with 148 BC. The oak road is the
Mid lands. Planted by James I in fine views over Monaghan. longest of its kind in Europe.
1613 (see p43), it developed An 18 m (60 ft) length of
into a prosperous industrial E County Museum preserved road is on permanent
centre, thanks mainly to the Hill St. Tel 047 82928. Open11am– display in a specially designed
local manufacture of linen. A 5pm Mon–Fri, noon–5pm Sat. hall to prevent the ancient
crannog (see p37) off Glen Road Closed public hols. 7 limited. wood from cracking in the heat.
is the sole trace of the town’s
Celtic beginnings.
Monaghan centres on three
almost contiguous squares.
The main attraction in Market
Square is the 18th-century
Market House (now an arts
centre), a squat but charming
building with the original oak
beams still visible. To the east
lies Church Square, very much
the heart of modern Monaghan
and lined with dignified
19th-century buildings, such as
the Classical-style courthouse.
The third square, which is
known as the Diamond, was the
orig inal marketplace. It contains
the Rossmore Memorial, a
large Victorian drinking foun tain
with an ornate stone canopy
supported by marble columns.
Do not miss the award-
winning County Museum, which
tells the story of Monaghan’s
linen and lace-making industries. Corlea Trackway
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p302 and pp321–3
244-245_EW_Ireland.indd 244 08/03/17 11:07 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.1)
Date 5th December 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
THE MIDLANDS 245
a Norman building said to
mark the site of the first
monastery. The tiny church
nearby incorporates a
15th-century anchorite’s cell.
6 Kells
Road map D3. Co Meath. * 5,500.
@ n 046 924 8856. Open 9:30am–
5pm Mon–Fri. ∑ discover
ireland.ie/eastcoast
Signposted by its Irish name,
Ceanannus Mór, this modest
Authentic Victorian kitchen in Tullynally Castle town provides an unlikely
backdrop to the monastery for
Environs landscaped in the 1760s. The which it is so famous.
Just 10 km (6 miles) north of grounds include Victorian terraces, Kells Monastery was set up
Corlea Trackway, Ardagh is walled kitchen and flower by St Columba in the 6th
considered the most attractive gardens, two small lakes, a century, but its heyday came
village in Longford, with pretty Chinese and a Tibetan garden. after 806, when monks fled here
stone cottages gathered around from Iona. They may have been
a green. The River Shannon, the scribes who illuminated the
Lough Ree, River Inny and Lough 5 Fore Abbey superb Book of Kells, now kept
Gowna make Longford an Road map C3. Fore, Castle Pollard, at Trinity College, Dublin (see p68).
angler’s paradise. The “hot water” Co Westmeath. Tel 044 966 1780. The monastery centres on a
stretch at Lanesboro is famous @ to Castle Pollard. Open daily. rather gloomy 18th-century
for attracting coarse fish, and church beside which stands a
canoeists head for the white- The ruins of Fore Abbey lie in decapitated round tower. There
water rush at Ballymahon. glorious rolling countryside are several 9th-century High
about 8 km (5 miles) east of Crosses; the South Cross is in
Tullynally Castle. St Fechin set the best condition.
4 Tullynally Castle up a monastery here in 630, but Just north of the enclosure is
what you see now are the St Columba’s House, a tiny
Road map C3. Castle Pollard, Co
Westmeath. Tel 044 966 1159. @ to remains of the only Benedictine steep-roofed stone oratory,
Mullingar. Castle: Open to pre-booked abbey founded around 1200. similar to St Kevin’s Kitchen at
groups only. & 8 obligatory. 7 Located on the northern border Glendalough (see p144).
Tea rooms & gardens: Open Jun–Aug: of the Pale (see p136), Fore The Market Cross, a High
11am–5pm Thu–Sun & bank hols; Apr, Abbey was heavily fortified in Cross that once served to mark
May & Sep: 11am–5pm Sat, Sun & the 15th century as protection the entrance to the monastery,
bank hols. & 7 limited. - = against the native Irish. now stands outside the Old
∑ tullynallycastle.ie The ruined church was part Courthouse. It was used as a
of the original Norman priory, gallows during the uprising in
This huge structure, festooned but the cloister and refectory 1798 (see p45). The battle scene
with turrets and battlements, is date from the 1400s. On the hill on the base is a subject rarely
one of Ireland’s largest castles. opposite lies St Fechin’s Church, used in High Cross art.
The original 17th-century tower
house was given a Georgian
gloss, but this was all but
submerged under later Gothic
Revival changes. The Pakenham
family have lived at Tullynally
since 1655. Thomas Pakenham
now manages the estate.
The imposing great hall leads
to a fine panelled dining room
hung with family portraits. Of
equal interest are the Victorian
kitchen, laundry room and the
adjacent drying room.
The 8,000-volume library
looks out on to rolling wooded
parkland, much of which was Ruins of Fore Abbey, a medieval Benedictine priory
244-245_EW_Ireland.indd 245 08/03/17 11:07 am
246 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
9 Monasterboice
Road map D3. Co Louth.
@ to Drogheda. n 041 983 7070.
Open daily.
Founded in the 5th century
by an obscure disciple of
St Patrick called St Buite, this
monastic settlement is one of
the most famous religious sites
in the country. The ruins of the
medieval monastery are
enclosed within a graveyard in
A fisherman’s cottage on the Cooley Peninsula a lovely secluded spot north of
Drogheda. The site includes a
7 Dundalk Carlingford is an interesting roofless round tower and two
place to explore, with its pretty churches, but Monasterboice’s
Road map D3. Co Louth. * 32,000.
£ @ n Jocelyn St (042 933 5484). whitewashed cottages and greatest treasures are its
( Fri. ∑ dundalk.ie ancient buildings clustered along 10th-century High Crosses.
medieval alleyways. The ruins of Muiredach’s High Cross is the
Dundalk once marked the King John’s Castle, built by the finest of its kind in Ireland, and
most northerly point of the Normans to protect the entrance its sculpted biblical scenes are
Pale, the area controlled by to the lough, still dominate the still remarkably fresh. They
the English during the Middle village. The Holy Trinity Heritage depict the life of Christ on the
Ages (see p136). Now it is the Centre, which is housed in a west face, while the east face,
last major town before the medieval church, traces the described in detail opposite,
Northern Irish border. history of the port from Anglo- features mainly Old Testament
Dundalk is also a gateway Norman times. scenes. The cross is named
to the magnificent countryside Carlingford is the after an inscription on
of the Cooley Peninsula. The country’s oyster the base – “A prayer
County Museum is housed capital, and often for Muiredach by
in an 18th-century distillery in holds an oyster whom this cross
the town. In three exhibition festival in August. was made” – which
galleries it gives an imaginative The lough is a Detail from a tomb in is perhaps a refer-
history of the county, from the popular water- Monasterboice graveyard ence to the abbot
Stone Age to the present day. sports centre too, of Monasterboice.
and in summer you can embark The 6.5-m (21-ft) West Cross, also
E County Museum on cruises around the lough known as the Tall Cross, is one of
Jocelyn St. Tel 042 932 7056. from the quayside, where the largest in Ireland. The carving
Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sat. there is a marina. has not lasted as well as on
Closed 1 Jan, 25 & 26 Dec. 7 The Carlingford Adventure Muiredach’s Cross, but you can
Centre organizes walking tours, make out scenes from the Death
plus sailing, kayaking, canoeing of Christ. The North Cross,
8 Carlingford and windsurfing. features a Crucifixion and a
carved spiral pattern.
Road map D3. Co Louth. * 1,500.
@ n Old Railway Station (042 937 Environs
3033). Carlingford Heritage Centre: A scenic route weaves around
Dundalk St (042 937 3454). the Cooley Peninsula, skirting the
Open 10am–12:30pm, 2–4:30pm coast and then cutting right
Mon–Fri. Carling ford Adventure through the mountains. The
Centre: Tholsel St (042 937 3100). section along the north coast
Open 9am–6pm Mon–Fri. is dramatic: just 3 km (1.8 miles)
∑ carlingfordheritagecentre.com northwest of Carlingford, in the
Slieve Foye Forest Park, a
This is a picturesque fishing corkscrew road climbs to give
village, located between the a gorgeous panoramic view.
mountains of the Cooley The Tain Trail, which you can
Peninsula and Carlingford Lough. join at Carlingford, is a 30-km
The border with Northern Ireland (19-mile) circuit through some
runs through the centre of this of the peninsula’s most rugged
drowned river valley, and from scenery, with cairns and other
the village you can look across to prehistoric sites scattered over
the Mountains of Mourne on the the moorland. Keen hikers will Round tower and West High Cross
Northern Irish side (see pp288–9). be able to walk it in a day. at Monasterboice
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p302 and pp321–3
246-247_EW_Ireland.indd 246 08/03/17 11:11 am
THE MIDLANDS 247
Ireland’s High Crosses
High crosses exist in Celtic parts of both Britain and Ireland. Yet in their profusion and
craftsmanship, Irish High Crosses are exceptional. The distinctive ringed cross has become
a symbol of Irish Christianity and is still imitated today. The beautiful High Crosses
associated with medieval monasteries were carved between the 8th and 12th centuries.
The early crosses bore only geometric motifs, but in the 9th to 10th centuries a new style
emerged when sculpted scenes from the Bible were introduced. Referred to as “sermons
in stone”, these later versions may have been used to educate the masses. In essence,
though, the High Cross was a status symbol for the monastery or a local patron.
Capstone, showing St Anthony and
St Paul meeting in the desert
Pillar stones The High Cross at
inscribed with crosses, Ahenny (see p203) is
like this 6th-century typical of 8th-century
example at Riasc (see “ornamental” crosses.
p162), were precursors These were carved
of with interlacing
patterns and
Muiredach’s Cross Tenon spirals similar to
those used in
Each face of this 10th-century Celtic metalwork
cross at Monasterboice features and jewellery.
scenes from the Bible, including
the east face seen here. The
5.8-m (19-ft) cross consists
of three blocks of sandstone
fitted to gether by means of
tenons and sockets.
The ring served a functional as
The Last Judgment well as a decorative purpose,
shows Christ in Glory providing support for the head
surrounded by a crowd and arms of the stone cross.
of resurrected souls. The Angle
devil stands on his right moulding Moses smites the rock to
clutching a pitch fork, obtain water for the Israelites.
ready to chase the
damned souls into Hell.
Adoration of
the Magi The Dysert
David struggling O’Dea Cross
with Goliath (see p193) dates
from the 1100s
and represents the
late phase of High
Cross art. It features
the figures of Christ
Socket and a bishop carved
in high relief.
Base
The Fall of Man shows Tenon
Adam and Eve beneath
an apple-laden tree,
with Cain slaying Abel
alongside. Both scenes
are frequently depicted
on Irish High Crosses.
246-247_EW_Ireland.indd 247 08/03/17 11:11 am
248 IRELAND REGION B Y REGION
0 Drogheda
Road map D3. Co Louth. * 30,000.
£ @ n Mayoralty St (041 983
7070). ( Sat. ∑ drogheda.ie
In the 12th century, this
Norman port near the mouth
of the River Boyne was one of
Ireland’s most important towns.
However, the place seems
never to have recovered from
the trauma of a vicious attack Drogheda and the De Lacy Bridge seen from across the River Boyne
by Cromwell in 1649 (see p43),
in which 2,000 citizens were including guns used in the and sacred enclosures. The
killed. The town still has its War of Independence. most important Neolithic
original street plan and has monuments in the valley are
a rich medieval heritage. E Drogheda Museum three passage graves: supreme
Little remains of Drogheda’s Millmount Square. Tel 041 983 3097. among these is Newgrange
medieval defences but Open 10am–5:30pm Mon–Sat, 2–5pm (see pp250–51), but Dowth and
St Lawrence Gate, a fine Sun. Closed 7 days at Christmas. & 8 Knowth are significant too.
13thcentury barbican, has 7 limited. ∑ droghedamuseum.ie The Boyne Valley also encom
survived. Nearby, there are two passes the Hill of Slane and the
churches called St Peter’s. The q Newgrange and Hill of Tara (see p252), both of
one belonging to the Church of which are major sites in Celtic
Ireland, built in 1753, is the the Boyne Valley mythology. Indeed, this whole
more striking and has some Road map D3. Co Meath. £ to region is rich in associations
splendid grave slabs. The Drogheda. @ to Slane or Drogheda. with Ireland’s prehistory.
Catholic church is worth n Brú na Bóinne Interpretative Centre
visiting to see the embalmed (041 988 0300). Closed 24–28 Dec.
head of Oliver Plunkett, an
archbishop martyred in 1681. Known as Brú na Bóinne, the
South of the river you can “Palace of the Boyne”, this river
climb Millmount, a Norman valley was the cradle of Irish
motte topped by a Martello civilization. The fertile soil
tower. It provides a good view supported a sophisticated
and is the site of the Drogheda society in Neolithic times. Much
Museum, which contains evidence survives, in the form River Boyne near the site of the
interesting historical artifacts, of ring forts, passage graves Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne
In 1688, the Catholic King of England, James II, was deposed from his throne, to be replaced by his
Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband, William of Orange. Determined to win back the crown, James
sought the support of Irish Catholics, and challenged William at Oldbridge by the River Boyne
west of Drogheda. The Battle of the Boyne took place on 1 July 1690, with James’s poorly
trained force of 25,000 French and Irish Catholics facing William’s hardened army of 36,000
French Huguenots, Dutch, English and Scots. The Protestants
triumphed and James fled to France, after a
battle that signalled the beginning of total
Protestant power over Ireland. It ushered in
the confiscation of Catholic lands and the
suppression of Catholic interests, sealing
the country’s fate for the next 300 years.
William of Orange leading his troops at the Battle of the Boyne, 1 July 1690
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p302 and pp321–3
248-249_EW_Ireland.indd 248 08/03/17 11:07 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.1)
Date 5th December 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm
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The ideal travel companion, full of insider advice on what to see and do, plus detailed itineraries and
comprehensive maps for exploring this spectacular country.
Spend a weekend in Dublin, tour the North Antrim coastline or drive around the beautiful Ring of Kerry:
everything you need to know is clearly laid out within colour-coded chapters. Discover the best of Ireland
with this indispensable travel guide.
Inside DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Ireland:
- Over 30 colour maps help you navigate with ease
- Simple layout makes it easy to find the information you need
- Comprehensive tours and itineraries of Ireland, designed for every interest and budget
- Illustrations depict Bunratty Castle, Dublin's Trinity College, the Giant's Causeway and more
- Colour photographs of Ireland's scenic coastline, national parks, castles, vibrant towns and cities, and more
- Detailed chapters, with area maps, cover Dublin and beyond, southeast Ireland, Cork and Kerry, the Lower
Shannon, the west of Ireland, northwest Ireland, the Midlands and Northern Ireland
- Historical and cultural context gives you a richer travel experience: learn about the country's history,
landscape and wildlife, Celtic heritage, music and literature, sporting events and festivals
- Essential travel tips: our expert choices of where to stay, eat, shop and sightsee, plus how to get around, visa and health information
DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Ireland is a detailed, easy-to-use guide designed to help you get the most from
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