By Alan K. Lee
Introduction
My wife and I had the pleasure of visiting Ireland in the summer of 2025. We split our time between Dublin and the west coast of Ireland, in and around Galway. Galway is an easy train ride or drive from Dublin and makes a good base from which to explore the west coast of Ireland. The Cliffs of Moher (Ireland’s number one tourist attraction), the Aran Islands, the Burren, and Connemara are all easily accessible from Galway by car. Several tour companies (e.g. Galway Tour Company and Lally Tours) offer day tours to all four for those visitors (like my wife and I) that choose not to rent a car.
History and Culture
Western Ireland is culturally closer to its Celtic roots than the more cosmopolitan and English influenced east coast. Most of the population has deep Celtic roots. A significant percentage of the population speaks Gaelic (or Irish as the British call it) on a regular basis, although everyone speaks English as well, and road signs are in both English and Gaelic. The city of Galway is a bit of an exception in that it was conquered by the Normans in the 13th century and early in its history attempted to keep the Celts out of the city entirely. And about a quarter of the residents of Galway were born outside of Ireland, as is the case in Dublin.
The residents of Connemara, to the north of Galway, and the Burren, to the southwest, are more traditionally Irish than Galwegians. While we didn’t get to really explore the culture of Connemara, the Burren, and the Aran Islands in our brief visits, we did get at least a taste of the culture from our tour guides. And, as in both Dublin and Galway, the locals that we did interact with were friendly and welcoming.
Galway
Galway grew up around a castle that was built by the King of Connacht in 1124. One hundred years later, the city came under Norman rule. In the Middle Ages, fourteen merchant families (the “Tribes of Galway”) ruled the city, which became an important trading port. Twelve of the fourteen “tribes” were of Norman descent and two were Irish. Today, Galway is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Ireland, with a population of about 85,000.
While we primarily used Galway as a jumping off point for tours of the Burren, one of the Aran Islands, the Cliffs of Moher, and Connemara, we also had some time to explore the city. Eyre (pronounced “air”) Square is the heart of Galway. It’s surrounded by restaurants and shops, the train station is next door, and it hosts festivals and concerts throughout the year. There was an arts and crafts festival going on while we were there. We started each day with breakfast at one of the restaurants bordering the square (try Esquires Organic Coffee Company). All of our tours started from near the square (aka John F. Kennedy Park).
From the northwest corner of Eyre Square, William Street takes you into the Latin Quarter, a lively (and crowded) area with plenty of shops, restaurants, pubs, and attractions, like Lynch’s Castle. William Street becomes the well-named Shop Street after a few blocks, then High Street, and finally Quay Street before reaching the River Corrib and Wolfe Tone Bridge. Turning left just before the bridge brings you to the Spanish Arch, one of the two remaining sections of the original city wall. Walk through the arch to get to Galway City Museum.
There is a nice walking path upstream along the east bank of the River Corrib that will take you from Wolfe Tone Bridge to the Bridge of Hope, a pedestrian and cycling bridge leading to Galway Cathedral. Just northwest of the cathedral, we wandered through the south campus of Galway University, then back across the Corrib and past the ruins of Terryland Castle before returning to our Airbnb.
No visit to Galway is complete without a visit to an Irish pub, and there is a long list to choose from in downtown Galway, particularly in the Latin Quarter. We sampled a few pints at Jack J. Foley’s across the street from Eyre Square, Blake’s Bar on Eglington Street, a couple of blocks from the square, and Seven Bridgestreet, which is both its name and its address.
Music is also a big part of Galwegian culture. You can find street musicians performing during the day in downtown Galway and in many, if not most, of the downtown pubs in the evening.
The Aran Islands
The day after arriving in Galway, we took a bus tour through the Burren to the small town of Doolin, where we boarded a ferry that took us to the nearest of the Aran Islands, Inisheer (or Inis Oirr in Gaelic). Inisheer is the smallest of the three islands, Inishmaan (Inis Meain) and Inishmore (Inis Mor) being the others.
After getting off the ferry, we explored the town (An Tra) and the shoreline for a while, then my wife hiked up to the ruins of O’Brien’s Castle. I didn’t feel like making the climb, so I hung out on the beach and explored the town some more.
When we rendezvoused an hour or so later, we had a little more time to wander around before boarding the ferry again, but we really didn’t have enough time on the island to get more than just a glimpse. It’s a beautiful place and I wish we had more time to spend there.
The Cliffs of Moher
The ferry returning to Doolin from Inisheer takes a detour to cruise along the base of the Cliffs of Moher. The nearly vertical cliffs range from 400 to 700 feet in height and the view from the water is truly spectacular – one of the highlights of our visit to Ireland.
Back in Doolin, our tour group had lunch at McGann’s Pub, then we bused to the top of the cliffs, giving us an entirely different perspective. We hiked the trail to the north for about three quarters of a mile along the very edge of the cliffs, past O’Brien’s Tower, with awesome views all along the way. We even got a little bit of sunshine while there.
The next day, we took another tour through the Burren (see below) that took us to the top of the cliffs for a second time. We booked both tours in hopes that the weather would be good on at least one of the days. The weather wasn’t as good on our second visit as the previous day, so we just did the short hike along the cliff tops to the south that we hadn’t done, then went to the visitor center (well worth spending some time there) and a gift shop before having to return to the bus.
The Cliffs of Moher are the most popular tourist destination in all of Ireland for good reason. About 1.5 million people visit every year. In the summer, you can expect to be sharing the view from the top with several thousand other people at any given time. But that doesn’t detract from the experience very much. If you have only one day in the area, though, take the ferry to Inisheer and the return trip along the base of the cliffs. Even on a rainy day, it will be awesome.
The Burren
The Burren, southwest of Galway, is a land of otherworldly beauty. Much of the land is bare rock, ancient limestone hills with little or no vegetation. It’s not hard to imagine that you have gone back in time a hundred million years and are walking the surface of a more primeval Earth. The limestone was, in fact, formed from sediments laid down in a tropical sea more than 300 million years ago. It’s also not hard to imagine that you have traveled to another planet entirely.
The Burren is also the home of an ancient Celtic culture that dates back 6000 years. The Burren today is a place of tradition, music, the land, and great local food. Our tour hardly touched on all of that, but was still an enjoyable and worthwhile outing.
Our tour through the Burren stopped at only a few places other than the Cliffs of Moher, but was definitely worth doing. We first stopped (briefly) at Dunguaire Castle.
Our second stop was at Aillwee Cave. It’s not the most spectacular cave that I have toured, but the 45 minute guided tour was interesting. There’s also more going on there (officially the Aillwee Burren Experience), including a birds of prey and falconry exhibit and a farm shop specializing in local produced cheeses, neither of which we had time to experience.
After our visit to the top of the Cliffs of Moher, our group had lunch at a different pub in the Doolin area (O’Donohue’s), and made a stop along Galway Bay where the limestone bedrock is exposed, as it is in many places throughout the Burren.
Connemara and Kylemore Abbey
Connemara, the region northwest of Galway, is often described as the “authentic” Ireland. Whether that is an accurate description or not, tradition and history are clearly important in the region. Gaelic is spoken by many of the residents as their primary language. Road signs are in both Gaelic and English. And what we saw in Connemara is what I envisioned when I thought of the Irish countryside.
Our tour’s first stop was the crossroads community of Leeane (Leenaun). The town has a couple of restaurants, a pub, several hotels and inns, and the Connemara Sheep and Wool Center, which is actually worth checking out if you’re in the vicinity.
Leenane is located near the head of Killary Fjord, a 9½ mile long inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s scenic enough, but bears little resemblance to the fjords of Norway or Alaska.
From Killary Fjord, the tour took us to Kylemore Abbey. Originally called Kylemore Castle, it was built as a private residence by Mitchell Henry, a wealthy English businessman, after he and his wife Margaret honeymooned in Connemara.
The castle was completed in 1871, has 70 rooms, 33 bedrooms, four bathrooms, and 40,000 square feet of living space. Unfortunately, Margaret Henry died in 1874 while on a trip to Egypt. Mitchell Henry built a church and mausoleum on the estate grounds to honor his late wife, but didn’t spend much time at Kylemore after her death. Mitchell Henry died in 1910 and is buried along with his wife in the mausoleum. In 1920, the castle was purchased by the Irish Benedictine Nuns and became Kylemore Abbey. From 1923 to 2010, the nuns ran a girls boarding school and a day school for local girls. The nuns still own and live on the estate grounds.
Today, tourism supports the nuns, and the abbey is a bit of a tourist trap, although an impressive one. A walled Victorian garden is located on the estate, to the west of the abbey. It’s about a 15 minute walk or a five minute shuttle bus ride from the abbey. The gothic church built by Mitchell Henry is a seven or eight minute walk to the east of the abbey. It is also open to the public.
From Kylemore Abbey, our tour returned to Galway, with one stop to explore a peat bog, which was actually fairly interesting, and another along Galway Bay in the western suburbs of Galway.
Conclusion
The Cliffs of Moher, the Aran Islands, the Burren, Connemara, and the city of Galway are all well worth visiting. All can be seen in a short four or five day visit like we did, but I don’t think you’d run out of worthwhile things to see and do in a ten day or even two week visit. There’s a lot there for the traveler, whether it’s the history, the food, the music, the land, or whatever else brings you there.
Posted May 28, 2026
All photos © Alan K. Lee