Connemara – You Have a Piece of My Heart!

I return to Ireland in September & this trip will be my 9^th visit to a part of the world that has captured a piece of my heart.  Over the last 10 years John & I have spent about 9 months total in Ireland.  For most of that time we were in the area on the west coast known as Connemara.  We usually rent an apartment, cottage or house for our long visits & when not in a rental we love to stay in our favorite B&Bs and small, family run hotels.  We are blessed to be able to travel & we appreciate the wonderful experiences that travel has brought us.

Connemara is on the west coast of the country & is bordered by Lough Corrib near Galway City on the east, Galway Bay to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west & Killary Harbor to the north.  The beauty of Connemara is raw & wild & it thrills me to no end!

The N59 road or as it’s known locally, the “Galway to Clifden Road” pretty much divides Connemara horizontally into the flat, low-lying section south of the N59 that is mostly bog & small lakes & the mountainous section containing the Maumturk & Twelve Bens Mountain ranges to the north.  Both the Maumturks & the Twelve Bens are made of quartzite & are bald, grey faced mountains reaching a maximum height of about 2400 feet.  Although these mountains don’t climb to the height of our Rocky Mountains, I do still find them majestic & love seeing them on the drive from Shannon Airport to Clifden.  I feel as though they’re welcoming me home.  Lucky us, as we have friends in Clifden who do actually welcome us home!

The flat, boggy section of Connemara lying south of the N59 is splattered with small lakes & I can almost imagine a giant coming from behind the Twelve Bens & splashing the area with water to create these small lakes.  On a sunny day (yes, there are many!) it looks as if the area is scattered with diamonds.  The area is bordered by Galway Bay & the Atlantic Ocean & small fingers of sea stretch into this land making for a lovely & to my eyes, unusual but beautiful landscape.

­­For those willing to do some research* there is plenty of fascinating history in Connemara.  The Vikings invaded this land & the British had their influence too.  To say that the British had an influence in the area doesn’t quite cover the often-sad history relating to their influence.

Connemara was no stranger to famines over the centuries, some man-made by invading forces that destroyed the Irish crops & others initiated by nature.  The Famine of the 1840s, aka “an Gorta Mor” was especially devastating as not only did the potato blight destroy that crop but political forces denied the Irish access to the other crops that they were growing for export & to food that other nations were sending them for famine relief.  I cannot do justice to “an Gorta Mor” in my blog but there are plenty of historical resources for those who wish to read more about the topic.

Over the centuries numerous castles were built & some remain today.  My favorite is Aughnanure Castle which is an Office of Public Works (OPW) site, open & available to visitors.  The first time that I gazed upon Aughnanure I felt as though I had stepped back in time & that Sir Lancelot would turn the corner any moment.  Yes, I know that Lancelot is a fictitious character but one can dream, can’t one?

There is much more to share with you about Connemara so please stay tuned for more blog posts about my favorite part of Ireland & thank you for reading my blog.

*These are some of the authors I’ve read & found useful in my research on Connemara:  James Berry, Patricia Kilroy, Robert Lloyd Praeger, Tim Robinson, Thomas Colville Scott & Kathleen Villiers-Tuthill