Monday April 25th: Galway to Tully, Ireland
Bob: Consulting our book of driving tours of Ireland, I cobbled together a plan to first drive along the coast of Galway Bay a while and then cut pretty much due North through the mountains into Connemara and try to find a B&B there for the next few nights. So after breakfast we paid our bill and drove westward along the coast past the ferry terminal to Costelloe. The landscape of small stone cottages and fields with the dry stone walls so prevalent on the shores of Galway Bay started to give way to a curious kind of moorland that featured large open expanses of very rough, rocky ground with that long Irish grass growing amongst the boulders. Just like on the rocky expanses of the Canadian Shield in the province of Ontario, that rocky landscape had the occasional beautiful blue lake. In the distance we could also see the Maumturk Mountains of Connaght to the North and some low, rounded coastal mountains on a peninsula just to the West. |
Monika: We said Good Bye to a very nice B&B and started on our drive through the Connemara mountains. The first section was along Galway Bay past the turnoff to the ferry to the Aran Islands. We then made a loop around the next peninsula with beautiful views. |
Bob: At Screeb we turned left and followed the coastal road around that peninsula, giving us striking views of those low, rocky, absolutely barren mountains along the way. As we drove southwest to Kilkieran, we passed through some small settlements and crossed the occasional stream running down into the bay. Very pretty! We stopped at one of the larger inlets where we found not just a couple of fishing boats, but also a big pile of old shellfish shells that were apparently a byproduct of their catch. Monika took along a scallop shell that she found in that pile, quite large and perfectly intact. |
Monika: At one point we stopped for a photo op at a little inlet. Several boats were moored, but more interesting, in the water and on land were large deposits of mussel shells. I almost dove into the water to pick the prettiest, but then found one I liked on land. |
Bob: As we rounded the southern tip of the peninsula and turned back inland the land became quite deserted. We were all puzzled by seeing a person walking intently along when we could see absolutely no habitation or other signs of life out to the horizon. Where were they going and why? |
Monika: On we went, driving up the other side of the peninsula we had the stark and barren mountain range right in front of us. Another stop was at a little lake. The two swans that were there swam away when we stopped, but the picture of the lake with the swans swimming away was still very nice. |
Bob: Our route now pointed pretty much due North into the Inagh Valley that lies between the coastal ranges and the Maumturk Mountains. At the lower end of the Inagh Valley was the very blue and very pretty Logh Inagh. We were struck by the contrast of some of the low, rounded mountains in front of us that were covered with a sheen of green vegetation rather than being bare and stony like the coastal mountains. |
Monika: The next stretch was the very pretty Inagh valley that runs through the mountains. A long lake defines almost all of the valley and the view of the stark mountains with stands of pines was breathtaking, especially in the beautiful sunshine that we again enjoyed. Of course, another picture session was in order. |
Bob: Coming out onto the N59, we first essayed to find a B&B at Leenane at the head of the fjord that forms Killary Harbor, but our search was fruitless so we turned back to Letterfrack on the N59 for lunch. Checking the way signs at the intersection, we headed out on the peninsula where the signs indicated several B&Bs were located. We finally fetched up for the night at a nice B&B in Tully that overlooked the west coast. |
Monika: From the valley we drove on along the only fjord in Ireland to the little town of Leenane, where we had hoped to find a B&B, but did not find anything. So we decided to go back west trying to find something. Near the Connemara National Park, that we did want to see, we found the town of Letterfrack and decided to stop, have lunch, and regroup. There was a little cafe and bakery and we all found something to eat. In the middle of the village, we had seen a sign to a B&B in Renvyle and decided to try that. My first attempt led us onto a rather narrow road that ended with snarling guard dogs trying to chase us off. Then we backtracked and found the right road to Renvyle. At Tullycross we found more signs for B&Bs. And finally, at Tully we found an actual B&B that had indeed a double and a single for three nights. From the dining room we could look out onto an arm of the Atlantic Ocean and the large mountains across from it. It was quite a dramatic view. |
Bob: After moving in we took a one hour walk down to Tully and then over to the sea shore and along it a short distance before returning back up the slope to the town, where we paused to mail some of our postcards at the post office. Continuing up the main (and only) street in town to our B&B. |
Monika: After we rested a little while, we decided to take a walk down to the Atlantic Ocean. It was a nice little walk that led down to a little beach area where several curraghs were pulled up onto the sand. Quite a photographic opportunity. |
Bob: After our dinner snack, we settled in for the evening in front of a very cozy peat fire. I updated the journal while Lois and Monika struggled to put together a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle of the Aran Islands that Lois had acquired as a freebie when she had purchased a sweater out on Innishmor Island (I could almost hear the saleslady saying, "And that's not all!!). The puzzle was an intriguing one with a montage of very nice scenes from the Aran Islands, but the very fact that there were so many different subsidiary pictures in the montage made it devilishly difficult. Working on a table in the dining room was also, in retrospect, a poor choice as they had to remove the puzzle at the end of the evening so that we could have breakfast there the next morning, and putting it all back in the box destroyed much of their work. |
Monika: pulled up onto the sand. Quite a photographic opportunity. The walk back to the village was very pleasant and we could see the main street - actually the only street - of the village from the way. We discussed what all we wanted to do and decided to stay for three nights to have plenty of time to walk and drive in the Connemara Mountains. |
| Index |
| Prolog | Map of Transatlantic Cruise | Map of Drive in Ireland | Epilog |
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