The Sky Road

It was a beautiful sunny morning so we set out with Paul as our guide to see the best of the Connemara, the coastal region to the north of Galway. We headed out through Shrule to Cong where we stopped to visit the ruins of the Cong Abbey. With Paul's interest in fishing, it should be of no surprise that we went down to the River Cong to look for fish and to see the Monk's Fishing House. The town of Cong was the filming location for John Ford's The Quiet Man way back in 1952 and this still draws tourists today.

 The remains of Cong Abbey

Some of the finely details stone carving

The Monk's Fishing House

After Cong, we drove over to the small village of Leenane at the head of Killary Harbour, Ireland's only fjord. We had a light lunch before going out to see the Aasleagh Falls. We then backtracked through Leenane and headed over to Clifden on the west coast. It was from here that we drove out along the Sky Road, an 11 km drive along beside Clifden Bay and Streamstown Bay and over Slyne Head. The views out over the North Atlantic Ocean and all the islands off the coast were absolutely fantastic and well worth the drive out there. 

 The upper reaches of Lough Corrib

 The Aasleagh Falls

Three views from the Sky Road

The day was getting on and although Paul wanted to show us more of the delights of the Connemara, time was against us. Paul's wife Helen was driving up from Limerick and we needed to get home to cook dinner. So we drove back through Clifden and Maam Cross to Cong where Paul went shopping for the meat. Back at Paul's we met Helen, had a wonderful dinner and a great night in.