Day 8: Connemara, Cong and Galway

My family in front of Ashford Castle
see all photos »

Our day began with a drive through the lovely region of Connemara which has a beautiful and varied landscape from high mountains to peat bogs.

Our drive took us to the village of Cong, situated in County Mayo, the major film location to the movie the Quiet Man starring John Wayne and Maureen O' Hara.

We walked the boardwalk again and took pictures and savored the scenry and atmosphere on our last night in Ireland.

My family are big fans of the Quiet Man and watch it every St. Patrick's Day. It was great to be able to see alot of the locations from the film. A local guide took us on the tour of the village and showed us all the sites. After the tour everyone went back to the center and were dressed up in costumes from the movie to re-enact certain scenes from the film.

The Pat Cohan Pub from the movie
see all photos »

After the tour we stopped off at the Fairhill House Hotel to grab some lunch at Eddie's Bar. The bar itself was really beautiful and full of old historic items and stained glass windows. The food was so-so.

Next we stopped at a beatiful location with rolling green hills, stone walls, and grazing sheep set aside Lough Corrib. We were able to get off the bus and take some pictures before continuing on our way. The area was called Clonbur and I think it was private ground that belonged to a local farmer.

Clonbur
see all photos »

We continued through Connemara before our guide suprised us with a stop at a Connemara Marble factory. The owner showed us how they transform the beautiful stone to jewelry and other items. We were then given a chance to browse through their shop. I bought a beautiful celtic cross and connemara marble ring.

Our tour continued through Connemara showing some of the more remote locations for the Quiet Man film before arriving back in Galway. Along the way we came across a bunch of sheep in the road, which isn't too unusual in Ireland. What was odd was that all five of them were in a line coming down the road like a convoy. I managed to get my camera out just in time to get a picture of them!

Connemara
see all photos »

Back at the hotel we had another lovely dinner followed by another great walk around Galway Bay. We walked the boardwalk again and took pictures and savored the scenry and atmosphere on our last night in Ireland.