October 3 Sunday - Galway to Connemara

One thing I forgot to mention ... remember on the last post I alluded to the car behaving in an ugly manner and I wrote it off to the difference with driving on the right side of the car and the left side of the road. Well, the real thing was that the tire had a nail in it and it went flat on the way home last evening. I did'nt dare to stop because of the darkness and unfamiliarity of road shoulders and such ... so I waited till morning to assess the damage. The damage was unrepairable. I changed the tire and kept an eye out for a place to repair the tire. I ust say that Budget car rental was absolutely no help whatsoever. Very rude! Notice the car next to me ... they had lost all their hubcaps ... victims of the endless potholes.

Onward and forward. Our b&b host said that we should NOT miss the Connemara. It was his favorite spot and provided us with lots of information. We pointed the car in the north westerly direction and headed out.

The picture below is of Marlene along the road with Galway Bay in the background. After wending our way through the streets of Galway, we began to encounter some very beautiful scenery.


Soon after leaving the city limits and exploring a cemetary or two we spotted an official looking sign for a castle ... Aughnanure Castle, an official sight where we could use our historic cards that we purchased at Trim Castle. The castle and grounds are kept very well and we had a great visit. Passed by a golf course located on the road leading to the castle.

Beautiful scenery abounds. We are heading in a westerly direction looking for the road heading north at Maam Cross, the R336. This road eventually would bring us to Leenane where we could view the only Fyord in Ireland, Killary Harbor. The town of Leenane is very quaint and the pub where we had soup for lunch was a real local gathering place. We walked through the town a bit, then headedback east a short trek to where the fjord terminates at the Aasleagh Falls.

Did a little hiking and got back into our wonderful Irish bumper car with Clifden as our destination along Rte N59.