We drove today to the larger city of Galway.
Along the way we stopped in the very cute town of Adare (population of the area is about 1200). It is described as the "prettiest village in Ireland". It's a very posh village with many original thatched roofs and it will host the 2027 Ryder Cup.
We had a coffee here (ok, and a cinnamon bun), spent some time in the Holy Trinity Abbey Church and enjoyed a walk around the village. This would be a good place to spend some times doing walks and relaxing but we had more to do today.
We next drove through the city of Limerick. It's quite industrial and more modern so a 20 minute drive through the city satisfied our curiosity.
But more importantly, we had a mission today. We had a reservation at the Homestead Cottage, a 1 Michelin starred restaurant in Doolin. We had first read about this in CNN and we had to make a pilgrimage. It is rustic inside but the food lived up to our expectations and we spent a couple of hours enjoying the very personal experience. It was worth the diversion and the food & experience are not to be forgotten.
https://www.homesteadcottagedoolin.com
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/homestead-cottage-clare-ireland-michelin-star
The restaurant is described as in the middle of no-where, however, it actually is a 5 minute drive away from what is described as the most popular site in Ireland, The Cliffs of Moher.
The Cliffs of Moher are jointly owned by Clare County Council and private farmers, with the majority of the land being owned by 38 farmers. I bring up the ownership as it feels very commercial. You pay 15 Euros each to park, then walk across the street to climb to the cliffs. It is not a difficult climb but there were people everywhere and the weather had turned gray and very windy, really a biting cold wind, so we walked up for the obligatory photos but didn't linger as it really felt too Disney-like for our taste.
We made our way to Galway and decided we had enough of eating out so we stopped by good ole' reliable Marks & Spencer for salads to eat in the room.
The next day we drove the Connemara. The weather had improved and it was sunny and glorious.
First we drove to Dog's Bay and enjoyed a short stroll on the beach. Again, it looks nice but too cold for a swim, at least for a boy from Florida.
We saw many beautiful landscapes along the way. The tagging from my photos says we went through Bunowen-Emlaghmore, Doohulla, Foorglass, Errislannen- Derrigimlagh, Derrycunlagh/ Derrylea- Ardagh, Leeane (where we saw both sides of a beautiful rainbow), until we got to Leenaun.
The name means valley at the head of the sea and is a village and 1,845 acre townland in County Galway, Ireland, on the southern shore of Killary Harbour and the northern edge of Connemara.
It is a beautiful site on the edge of the harbour.
Leenaun was the setting for the 1990 film The Field, and of British-Irish playwright and filmmaker Martin McDonagh's plays The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Lonesome West.
And Leenaun is also home to a friend we have known since our Tokyo days, Belinda Gaynor. In fact, having left JPM, she is now working with her family at the family's bar, Gaynor's. And, in fact, there is where the move The Field was filmed, hence the full name of the bar is Gaynor's The Field Bar. https://www.facebook.com/Thefieldbarleenane
We had a wonderful lunch next door to the bar of fresh mussels grown in the harbour as well as fantasticl fish & chips. We then we drove together to the posh village of Westport.
Westport's origins are tied to the Browne family. The Brownes were a noble family from Sussex, England, who arrived in Mayo in the 16th century and gradually acquired land around the county, particularly in the Westport area. It is at the south-east corner of Clew Bay, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean on the west coast of Ireland.
We took a long walk around Westport House and grounds to the edge of the bay. And of course there was non-stop chatting as we caught up on each other and our mutual friends and ex-colleagues.
Westport is within County Mayo, the origins of our dear friend Mike O'Malley's family. There were O'Malley this and that's signposted everywhere. No doubt we had found the correct place. We also saw the statue of Grace O'Malley, also known as the "Pirate Queen". There must be some story there!
It was a delightful afternoon and time flew by quickly.
After returning to Galloway we had a bite at the Michelin Yum restaurant, Darog. https://www.darogwinebar.com We had a delightful couple of glasses of wine, nice snacks and a friendly chat with the Hungarian owner in this petite and comfortable restaurant.
Here we stayed at the The Hardiman Hotel. http://www.thehardiman.ie
They describe themselves as "Standing proudly on the famous Eyre Square since 1852, The Hardiman Hotel is one of the most iconic hotels in Galway City."
While it had been refurbished, and only hold themselves out as a 4 star, it lacked a little polish, though I will say they have worked hard to keep the interior fresh with nice looking contemporary furnishings.
Galway felt a bit more standard city like, and as it has almost 90,000 people it is the 5th most populous city in Ireland.
I would suggest that a traveler perhaps spend only 1 night here, then drive to further sites, and stay in a cute village, rather than taking a circular drive and remaining in the city.