Galway, Patrick Pearse, Glinsce, Ballyconeely and Clifden - an eventful day heading north

Publisearre: 09.01.2023

14.06.2022

After breakfast at the hotel opposite the Jungle Café in Galway, we initially drive west on the well-developed N59 and turn south at Maam Cross onto the Regional Road R336.

The weather forecast promised 12-13 degrees, clouds and rain, and only occasionally sun.

But we don't get any rain, the sun fights its way through the clouds for a short time and we are happy about 15, 16 and briefly even 19 degrees. There is a lot of green left and right of us, and now we can also see quite high hills and mountains.

Lakes, sea, sheep from time to time and wide moorland stretch around us.

We see peat diggers and a lot of peat, which is piled up in large piles to dry. From now on, most of the signs are practically only in Gaelic.

Patrick Pearse

In 1908, he opened a bilingual school here after experiencing bilingual teaching in Belgium for a year. He firmly believed that Irish and English should be taught side by side and advocated for the preservation of the Irish language and independence. As one of the three main leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916 in Dublin, which was supposed to force independence from England, he was arrested and executed by the English in May 1916. What a tragic story.

You can visit the cottage where he lived. It is located a short walk behind the information center above a lake in the middle of beautiful nature.

We continue along the coast to the west and unexpectedly discover beautiful bays, such as Tra Mor.

A little further on, we stand next to Hummer Roisen and look out over the water at the next mountains.

The sign from the WAW (Wild Atlantic Way) tells us that we are in Glinsce.

In Roundstone we have a cup of tea and a few nice photo opportunities before we head towards Ballyconneely.

Soon after, the Mannin Bay begins, a wide bay with beautiful sand and green water.

Unfortunately, the bad weather is now brewing, so we quickly continue our journey to be able to drive the Loop Road near Clifden before the rain. At 12 degrees water temperature, we wouldn't have gone swimming - others are bravely venturing out to sea...

The Sky Road/Loop Road near Clifden

Around 14km long circular road offers sensational views of the surroundings on the peninsula in front of Clifden. The road here is often so narrow that driving is quite strenuous, as you can never really see far into the oncoming traffic due to the walls and endless curves.

On the way back from the highest point to Clifden, we hang behind a thick mobile home. This way we are safe from sudden frontal surprises. Only a cow lying on the road is not impressed. We arrive in Clifden at 5.30 pm.

We check into our B&B and take a walk through the town of Clifden, eat at one of the various restaurants in this 2000-person town, and are in the room before 9 pm to write the various diaries and sort the pictures.