Connemara Life

Classical music filters through the elegant dining room as hairstylist Louise Jordan adjusts the soft golden curls of model Clara McSweeney.

Travelling is all about the journey. Sure, it’s nice to focus on one place for a good period of time, but you’re not exactly embarking on a great expedition when you’re camped out in the same spot.

If mortar and bricks could talk, what stories would be told by the walls of Kylemore Abbey? For almost 150 years, its halls and stairways have witnessed the lives of many people, all united behind the granite facade to become part of one intriguing history...

In May 2012, Clifden marked the bicentenary of its founding with a week-long festival of talks, heritage walks, concerts, and street entertainment as well as a traditional boat regatta. The main focus of the celebrations was to honour the town’s founder, John D’Arcy...

I grew up at the foot of a mountain on the shores of the Atlantic in a place called Cashel in Connemara. Although I was born in Dingle in County Kerry, I am a Connemara girl through and through.

Inishbofin is an island that lies roughly eleven kilometres off the coast of north-west Connemara. A vibrant star in the galaxy of islands that guards Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way, it is a place that has borne witness to a history as rich and interesting as anywhere else in the country.

Nestled in the foothills of the Maumturk Mountains and overlooking Killary Fjord sits the family-run Killary Adventure Company. In 2016, it celebrates over thirty-five years bringing the spirit of adventure to those who cross its threshold.

Most college students who travel to Ireland come back with tales of castles visited and pints of Guinness drunk. Few return home debating whether the highlight of the trip was having an audience with the Irish prime minister or getting notes from a director with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Here’s a piece of friendly advice: don’t miss Westport while you’re in the West! Judged by Irish Times readers a couple of years back as ‘the best place to live’ in Ireland, it must be pretty close to ‘the best place to visit’ as well.

For Neasa and John, keeping their wedding simple and relaxed was really important, and the help of friends made their special day on the island of Inishbofin intimate and unforgettable.

Laura and Brian are both natives of western Ireland—Laura is from Galway and Brian from Sligo—so their Connemara wedding displayed all the beauty of their roots with all the hope for a grand future together.

Garrett and Ethel have always had a special place in their hearts for Connemara, so deciding to have their wedding at the picturesque Rosleague Manor was the perfect way to celebrate their love for one another with friends and family.

Darina Allen is probably the most famous person you’ve never heard of. If you live in the United States, that is. The rest of the world is quite familiar with her. Though she’s sometimes called the Julia Child of Ireland, Allen is, in fact, a true original.

The village of Letterfrack, nestled beside Connemara National Park and Diamond Hill, treats visitors and residents to some of Connemara’s most stunning scenery and a peaceful atmosphere. This quiet yet vibrant community is home to the National Centre for Excellence in Furniture Design and Technology...

Ireland’s West is a wonder to behold. From the artistry and magic of her centuries-old stone walls that crisscross the rolling green hills to the rocky, untamed shores of the Atlantic, Connemara is a veritable feast for the senses.

Despite its growing reputation of late, some people surprisingly still do not know where Galway is exactly. I always tell them: ‘Leave Dublin, head directly west for two hundred kilometres, and once you hit the ocean again you’re there.’

Each year, the last Monday of July officially kicks off Galway Race Week. Tradition has it that racegoers dress up for the event, both to support those racing and for fun. It’s the time of year that men pull out their three-piece suits and women search for the perfect hat.

Connemara Carpets has had more than forty years of experience providing durable luxury carpets of the highest quality to clients worldwide.

The original trail route from Clifden to Galway meanders through some of the most spectacular scenery western Ireland has to offer, but the polarising isolation of Connemara’s many lakes, rivers, and mountain ranges spurred the need to build the original railway track in 1891.

History allows us to look back and appreciate the enormous strides achieved by pioneers in science and technology. Sadly, stories are often forgotten, replaced by the next great advance or discovery...

The rugged landscape of Connemara and the fierce beauty of its coastline frame the lives of those who call the west of Ireland home. Its rich history has been formed through centuries of tradition, the unwavering strength of its people, and a dedication to the land.

The Clifden Arts Festival will shortly be celebrating its fortieth birthday, and it has been getting bigger and better each year.

Ann-Marie and John’s Christmas wedding was celebrated in the beautiful town of Letterfrack, County Galway, with blue skies and lots of friends and family.‘Tom and I chose to get married in Connemara because I am from Letterfrack,’ Ann-Marie says.

The picturesque village of Tullycross in Renvyle, Connemara, is gaining a reputation as the destination of choice for US colleges to base their Ireland study abroad programmes, especially if they want to offer students a community-engaged experience.