continued from Planning Your Trip to Ireland Part 6
NORTH FROM GALWAY
COUNTY MAYO
Heading further north is the lovely down of Castlebar, Co. Mayo, quite sophisticated, with fine manor houses and good eating and shopping. It has brilliant seascapes as well, and a great zoo.
Croagh (pronounced CrOHg) Patrick, a mountain associated with St Patrick, is a popular site for religious pilgrims, and about the only place gold has ever been discovered and mined in Ireland.
Like County Galway, the more west you go, the more untouched the countyside. There is a small Irish speaking community around Erris, also great for anyone interested in birdwatching.
COUNTY SLIGO
Further north still on our circuit around Ireland is the glorious sea meets sky scenery of County Sligo. The small city of Sligo, with its many associations wth Irish history and the poet W B Yeats, is a small, charming town with an excellent theatre, The Hawk’s Well. The mountains on either side and the pass to the east of Ireland are full of fabluous Irish legends.
The castles around the area are of the small manor house variety rather than huge Norman type, but still well worth looking at, and there is also the spectacular “Horse’s tail waterfall” not too far out of town.
HEADING EAST FROM SLIGO
You could start heading east from here over into Northern Ireland through the towns of Manorhamilton, Blacklion, and then across the border into Enniskillen, or come through via Belleek as well to get to Enniskillen.
This area is the lake district of Ireland, similar to the one in England. Upper and Lower Lough Erne are 35 square miles and 50 respectively, and dotted with many islands you can explore on day trips or in a rented cruiser.
There are a number of really lovely manor house type castles throughout the region, and an excellent castle and museum at Enniskillen. The fishing and golf here are second to none, and there is a third lake, Lough Melvin, which has some breeds of fish not found anywhere else in Ireland, and thought to be prehistoric.
There are 17 forests or forest parks in the area, plus 2 incredible 18th century manor houses with vast grounds for you to tour.
Continuing on east would eventually take you through Enniskillen, an island in between the two lakes. With its impressive castle and cathedral, museum and manor house, it is well worth a stay.
Then you would continue on through Augher, Clogher and Fivemiletown, eventtually hitting the main road that would take you back down to Dublin. You could certainly stop at the Hill of Tara on your way back, or Armagh, an ancient town which we mention in the northern route from Sligo section.
This a very rural part of Ireland, but still full of fabulous churches and buildings, and friendly people who make fabulous food. Enniskillen is about 3 hours drive from Dublin, heading northwest, so you could easily spend a few days on the lakes and in the forests if you’re interested in a real romantic chance to completely get away from it all.
Planning Your Trip to Ireland Part 8

Continued from Planning Your Trip to Ireland Part 5

INTO THE WEST
Around the Shannon area, in addition to Limerick and the two castles, there is also the techology town of Ennis, now booming thanks to Ireland being such a huge part of the computer age thanks to Mac computer factories and a very literate, English speaking workforce.
County Clare
Going west out of Ennis, you will visit the unique lunar landscape of the Burren, which is pretty much more granite boulder than grass going all the way to the coast and the spectacular Cliffs of Moher.
When the English began to push into Ireland, they made Catholics leave their land-they were said to be sending them to “Hell or Connaught” (Connaught is the western region of Ireland) because the land was so poor compared to the fertile soil they were being evicted from, that it was considered to be a death sentence. Anyone who has seen the film The Field will have a good idea of what it looks like.
Also famous in County Clare is the town of Ballyvaughan, a sleepy little hamlet with a wonderful international Irish music festival every February and seafood to die for. Then there is the town of Lisdoonvarna, where bachelors and unmwarried women go to be matched.
COUNTY GALWAY
Heading north on the main road from Limerick to you will come to Galway, on the west coast nearly directly opposite the country from Dublin.
Galway is a very vibrant town, a great tourist hub for the more wild parts of Galway County and for the ferries which will take you out to the Aran Islands, where many people still speak Irish and live in a traditional way.
All year round, you’ll find festivals which celebrate the various aspects of Irish culture. The medieval parish church in Galway is the biggest in Ireland, and many medieval stone buildings are still standing throughout the city.
County Galway is full of abbeys, castles, ruins, and the most outstanding seafood and pubs. Oughterard is a lovely town about 8 miles outside of the city if you want to sample the best of earth, sea, river and sky.
The area around Lenane was where they filmed many parts of The Quiet Man, and it is an amazing lough like a fjord, which was why the Vikings decided to settle in this area. There are many Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht to the far west. Clifton is the last point of civilisation, a bustling town full of music, pubs, and fabulous food, before you head still further west to the wilds of Galway.

Continues in Planning Your Trip to Ireland Part 7