Ireland: The Galway Area (Part 2)

Yesterday I talked about some overall and initial aspects of our recent road trip across Ireland, including driving, weather, the Tullamore Distillery, Irish coffee at Sean’s Bar, the Irish National Stud, and the Cliffs of Moher. Today I’ll talk more about what we did during the 3 days we spent in Galway.

One of the most memorable things we did on the entire trip was sign up for a sheepdog experience. There are lots of sheep in Ireland, and sheepdogs keep them safe and rotating around different fields. Not only was it incredible to watch a sheepdog at work, but we also got to feed and hold younger sheep (including week-old babies) afterwards.

We’ll see castles later in the trip, but there are also lots of round towers scattered across Ireland due to an incentive offered by a king many years ago. There’s one north of Galway at an art school that is particularly unique, as unlike many Irish castles, its interior has been painstakingly restored and is actively used for events.

We spent most of one day at two places: Kylemore Abbey and Connemara National Park. Kylemore is a huge estate that includes a visitor center, a chocolatier, the abbey itself, a lake, and a huge walled garden. It was absolutely worth the time to spend a few hours there.

Connemara National Park is full of hiking loops catered to the distance you want to walk. We opted for the longest, hardest hike up to Diamond Peak. The views were spectacular, and we definitely got our steps in! I was glad to bring some podcasts to listen to while we walked.

Linnane’s Lobster Bar was a wonderful place to end the day for a hearty seafood meal. Before researching Ireland, my perception was that this was a land of corned beef, lamb, and fish and chips, and that’s certainly true…but it’s also an island, so there’s a variety of seafood everywhere. Oysters, mussels, crab, and lobster are available quite affordably. I highly recommend the crab legs in garlic butter at Linnane’s.

Even though we were staying in Galway, we didn’t spend much time there, though we did have a few good meals. Some Irish friends (Pat and Glai) joined us for dinner at Oscars one night, and we also had fun wandering around a street market on Sunday before we headed out of town. My highlight there was Sheridan’s Cheesemongers, where we bought two Irish cheeses (sheep and cow), Irish crackers, and Irish chutney. Also, I was later told that I missed out on Dough Bros pizza.

On the way out of Galway we stopped at the lovely Bunratty Castle. Similar to the previously mentioned round tower, the castle was mostly renovated, giving us a good idea of what it felt like to live there. I like that we could freely explore the castle. There were also some animals and presentations in the surrounding area, and if we had known, we could have stayed for a grand feast at supper in the castle.