county galway

The Corrib View lodge was an amazing place to stay. It was well run. The host was very friendly and easy to talk to. The place was spotlessly clean. A pot of tea and home baking on arrival added a lovely touch. The other guests were all staying to fly fish in Lough Corrib for trout. July 31st dawned bright and clear and a little chilly to start with. Our host sent us on our way with two home made plum muffins.

Two film stars. And John wayne and Maureen O’Hara.

By the time we reached the little village of Cong, only a few kilometers away, the temperature was on the rise. We stopped at the John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara bronze for the obligatory tourist photo and a little rest. This part of Connemara was immortalised in the film “The Quiet Man.” This ensures a steady trail of tourists to keep the local emporia in business forevermore.

Taking the R345 road, we follow the northern fringes of Lough Corrib. It is dotted with hundreds of little islands. The water sparkles in the morning sun. The road twists this way and that, a motorcycling heaven. The smell of wild flowers wafts up as we pass. The heady perfume is sweet. The road veers left onto the R336. It crosses the Bealan Na Brock river by a honey coloured stone bridge. We climb steadily into the moorland-covered hills. Sheep rest on the road. We pick our way around them. Maunwee Lough lies at the crest. Its waters are dark and still and show the surrounding hills in them like a mirror. This section of road has been lifted straight out of the McKenzie country in New Zealand. It brought back many great memories for me of riding that country.

The road drops down into Maam Cross. Here lies an abandoned rail yard with some old wagons and coaches being slowly reclaimed by nature. But plans are afoot to restore this section of the Connemara railway. The signal box has already been attended to. In days past a broad gauge railway ran from Galway to Clifden. Only the old station, engine shed, and water tower in Clifden still exist. The remains in Maam Cross are also present.

Turning left onto the N59 the road follows the west side of Lough Corrib. It continues to the pretty little town of Oughterard. Two riders stop for coffee and a bun in the sun. On leaving this lovely little place we turn off the main road onto a road named Annaghkeelaun. It is mainly single track and runs through beautiful wooded countryside dotted with rather large beautiful houses. Rather an exclusive area I think. Deciduous trees line the road. The smell of freshly mown lawns is carried on the breeze. One big advantage of riding a motorcycle is you get to experience all the smells. Some beautiful. Some rustic.

We cross the N59 Galway road onto the L1320. This road cuts cross country in peace and quiet. Then, it joins the R336 on the coast. This part of the country is vast open bogs. Lakes litter the landscape in all directions. Peat is being cut and loaded onto trailers. The smell of burning peat drifts on the wind as we pass remote homesteads. It is earthy and not at all unpleasant. The road is quite busy. We turn off onto the single track R374. This track runs NW away into remote Connemara. Andy slows down and puts his hazard lights on. A car between he and I slows down. I pull around the car to take a peek at what has caused the slow down. Cows loose on the road! A bit of cowboying on motorcycles is called for.

Rounding up cattle the modern way

Crossing a rebuilt bridge we stop at what appears to be an old harbour. The area is overgrown with grass and weeds. It is clear that once upon a time this was a fishing boat harbour. It was accessible at high tide. Drawn as ever to anything nautical I have to stop to investigate.

An abandoned rowing boat provides a photo op.

We move on and rejoin the R336 and the tourist traffic. We run onto the R340 and 342. We continue along the sinuous route. We head towards the turn off for the Alcock and Brown and Marconi transmitter site. This was a must see for me on this tour. I was not disappointed. You can read more here.

Walking among the ruins of Marconis transatlantic transmitter station is quite moving. When I first went to sea, morse code was still in daily use.

The large cairn marking Alcock and Brown’s landing site stands dominantly upon Derrigimlagh Bog. It is unfortunate that some people deem it necessary to deface it with inane scribbles.

From the air, it looked like a grass field. On landing, the Vickers Vimy plane ended up on its nose after the wheels sank into the boggy ground.

We are now holed up in the Sea Mist guesthouse in Clifden. We will have another rest day tomorrow to get our laundry done. The coming days do not look promising from a weather perspective. I fear we will need full wet weather gear. We shall see.

Alcock and Brown stand proudly in Clifden.

Having dropped our laundry off at the local emporium pour lavage, we took a look around the local museum housed in the old railway engine shed. We grabbed a coffee to wash down a very nice strawberry roulade. I had it on very good authority from the curator of the musem that the coffee and strawberry roulade at Steam cafe was not to be missed. I must concur.

I hope to report tomorrow that my hunt for a decent Irish stew has been successful. It is on the menu in a local restaurant. Dinner shall be the test.

Today has been a good day. Why? Hang on and I will tell you.

Todays itinerary was suggested by a work colleague of mine. As mentioned yesterday Brian is the HR Director onboard ship and he is from round these parts. But before we got to his neck of the woods there was some sightseeing to do.

We left Clifden campsite and dropped down into the town and lo and behold what did we see. Two things of interest. One was a statue of two famous aviators, Alcock and Brown and the other was a collection of vintage and veteran motorcycles with riders wearing numbered tabards.

The first transatlantic flight landed just south of Clifden. You can read more here. This was rather poignant as we has also visited the landing site of the first Trans Tasman flight made by Guy Menzies when doing our South Island motorhome trip a few years ago.

We set of to run around the circuitous route to the west of Clifden known as the Sky Road. You quickly appreciate how it got its name as the road climbs steadily out of Clifden. It is narrow in a car never mind a motorhome. At times it is precipitous but once at the top….oh my!

Whilst snapping away at the views and trying to talk to the horse who it turns out has zero conversation, these guys turned up.

These chaps were doing the annual Galway Rally. This is its 44th year. I got talking to them. Of course I did. The chap wearing vest 71 is from Fox glacier in New Zealand. You could not make this stuff up. He comes over every year to ride with his friend, sat on the bike wearing 76. His friend owns both bikes but lends one out so they can ride together. The chap from new Zealand met his friend some 20 years ago whilst on holiday. He comes over from New Zealand every year since to take part in the rally.

Our dog Leia was interested too and wowed a few onlookers with her good looks

From there we set off for my colleagues home village where the family used to own the local hotel. We thought we would go a take a few photos for him. Little did we know his brother still lived in the village. The roads got really narrow at times. Thank goodness there is little traffic.

The road from Mam Cross across the moors and along the Lough to the village of Clonbur could easily have been lifted out of New Zealand. The hills, the moors and even the plants and trees all looked the same. There is me trying to look suave in my driving gear.

Brians brother Eddie came over to greet us whilst we were having some lunch on the old family hotel. . My goodness he is a clone! We had a great chat.

We continued onto Cong just over the border in County Mayo. Its claim to fame was that The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara was filmed there. It is a stunning little place. A short walk away is Ashford Castle which is now an exclusive Hotel resort and Spa and featured in the film.

A statue of the two leading actors immortalises the films poster.

We back tracked to Conbur and saw this little surprise.

Another little surprise find, missed if you don’t deviate off the normal tourist route.

We took Eddies recommendation of the back road through the hamlet of Finney before arriving at our spot for the night. A parking bay alongside Lough Doo. We are alone. It is perfect. Except for the biting sand flies that have rather taken a fancy to us.