Into the West
Joyce's Ireland Irish Tours of The West Coast of Ireland

From Shannon we drive north to Clifden, County Galway,a lovely little town known as the "Jewel of Connemara". We will be accommodated at the lovely Dun Ri Guest House for the next two nights. We will take our evening meal at one of Clifden's many fine restaurants, and then there will be time for a stroll after dinner before the music starts in the pubs.

Before we do anything strenuous today, we will stop for morning coffee at Kylemore Abbey. We'll have time to wander the wooded lakeside grounds and visit the Abbey and its famous walled gardens.

We then walk at Killary Fjord: one of the most enchanting walks in Ireland. The trail follows an old famine road in the heart of Connemara, winding its way between the mountains and the sea.

This morning after breakfast we will take a guided walk at Omey Island (5 miles). This is a beautiful little island located just off the Connemara shore and we can reach it by walking across the sand at low tide. We will take a circular walk around the island travelling by ancient tracks beside a lake and then out across lovely quiet sandy beaches.

In the evening we will take the ferry out to Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands. We will be accommodated at a beautiful guest house at the foot of the fort of Dun Aenghus.

Our walk will take us along lanes, tracks, and green roads. We will be able to visit Dun Aenghus, a massive semi-circular ring fort lodged on the edge of cliffs that drop 300 ft into the Atlantic.

"Walking about the by-ways of Inis Mor, experiencing its barren rocks, shorn cliffs and rough seas so enchants that it cries out and claws at your soul. This isolated and untamed island quickly conquers and captivates your spirit."

This morning, after breakfast we will take the morning ferry back to Rossaveal and then head on to Slieve Elva in the Burren region of County Clare. The Burren, a strange lunar-like region of bare carboniferous limestone which occupies around one hundred square miles of County Clare. Below the surface of the Burren is the most remarkable assemblage of spectacular caves, streams, potholes and "turloughs"(vanishing lakes)

We will make our way to the "Matchmaking" town of Lisdoonvarna where we will spend our final two nights. After dinner, we can venture into the village in search of traditional music in the pubs.

After rising at a civilised hour and consuming a full Irish breakfast, we will be met by Maryangela Keane, our local expert guide for the day. She will take us to sites of botanical, geological and archaeological interest.This will include walking in two separate parts of the Burren with a break for lunch.

In Springtime you will never see anything like the carpets of primroses, or the white flower of the blackthorn cascading over all the hedgerows. Rare and spectacular plants occur in abundance. Nowhere else in Ireland, Britain or even north west Europe can such quantities of the blue Spring Gentian, cream Mountain Avens or yellow Shrubby Cinquefoil be encountered. Orchids grow everywhere in the Burren and 23 out of the 27 Irish species are to be found here.

Our last walk will be at the spectacular Cliffs of Moher. Leaving the bustling car park behind, we can enjoy relative solitude walking along the cliffs towards Hag's Head. On the grassy bank at the lower cliff look out for puffins: they make their nests on the grass. We can also hope to see and hear fulmars, guillemots, kittiwakes, and if we're really lucky, peregrine falcons. Then it?s Goodbye to Ireland after our drive back to Shannon Airport