Welcome to our land. Here is some information about Mayo and Connemara, in the West of Ireland.
Mayo
Mayo is a coastal county, boasting magnificent cliffs, countless offshore islands (most of which are uninhabited) and long, empty beaches. Just like the coastline, Mayo’s inland landscape is dominated by the North Atlantic ocean. Our climate is mild, but wet. Our landscape is one of vast blanket bogs, studded with glorious lakes, both very large like Loughs Conn, Mask, Beltra and Carra and extremely small bog pools.
Rising from the surrounding bogs, we love the mountains of the Nephin Beg range, the Partry Mountains and the Sheefry Hills. Mweelrea, at 814 m and Connacht’s highest peak, towers over the ocean to its west and Killary Harbour, Ireland’s only genuine fjord, to its south. The ‘holy mountain’ of Croagh Patrick, on the very shore of Clew Bay, attracts tens of thousands of hikers every year.
Among Mayo’s more attractive towns and villages are the thriving hotspot of Westport and the quiet country retreats of Newport, Mulranny and Belmullet, all by the sea. Perhaps the prettiest of all is the inland village of Cong, set amongst wonderful native and mixed woodland and traversed by the many channels of the Cong River that join Lough Mask to Lough Corrib.
Ballycroy National Park and The Bangor Trail are among the excellent walking destinations in Mayo, not to forget the breath-taking cliff-top trails and hillwalking ways.
County Mayo is sparsely populated, at only 23 persons / km2. Indeed, if the towns of Castlebar, Ballina and Westport are removed, the rural population is just 18/km2. Plenty of space for great outdoor activities !
Follow up your day of walking, cycling, surfing or whatever you’re here to enjoy, with a visit to one of Mayo’s many lovely, traditional, quaint and friendly pubs. Have fun !
Connemara
Past the city and out towards the Atlantic Ocean lies the western half of County Galway. Connemara is known the world over for its dry stone walls, small rocky fields, tiny beaches hidden in the highly indented coastline and its wild internal landscape. The Twelve Bens mountain range looks down over Clifden and Roundstone, towards the islands in the ocean beyond. Connemara offers fantastic hiking trails, the National Park, the Maumturk mountains and so much more.
January 2012 : Further content coming soon. Please check back.
