NOTE: The N59 is the 50 mile long main road that runs through the Connemara region of County Galway from Galway City to Clifden town. It continues on from Clifden to Westport, County Mayo through another region of County Galway called Joyce Country. Today's journey will be an exploration of Connemara.

From Galway City, join the N59 driving northwest towards Clifden. You will pass through the villages of Moycullen, Oughterard, Maam Cross and Recess before reaching Clifden. Your first stop is Aughnanure Castle in Oughterard. About 9 miles from Moycullen you will see the sign for the Ardnasilla Golf Club and Aughnanure Castle on your right at a 3-way junction. Turn right and follow the signs for the castle.

Allow 60 minutes for this site.

Aughnanure Castle was built in the 15th century by the one time powerful ruling clan, the O'Flarehty's. The most prominent feature of this site is the tower keep. The entire property has some unusual features that you won't find in many Irish castles. One of which is the secret room, which is located in the floor between the lord's chamber on the top floor and the great hall below. Visiting the lord's chamber you will notice an enclosure on the side of the room that looks like a garderobe, medieval toilet. On closer inspection you will note that there is a large hole in the floor where prisoners would have been "deposited". It's quite possible that this room was used as a garderobe

Another unusual feature of this property are the rare double bawn walls. Between the walls is the remains of a boat slip that was used during the castle's occupation. Trade on Lough Corrib was common in those days. Ships would pass through Galway Harbor and into the lake and eventually to the castle.

You will also note the remains of one of the guard towers close to the castle entrance. This is a fine example of the others that would have surrounded this keep on both walls.

Inside the ground floor of the keep you will see an artists representation of what this site looked like during the peak of activity.

Return to the N59 and turn right to continue your journey. You will pass through the village of Oughterard now, the "Gateway to Connemara". This is a quaint and quiet village that boasts some of he finest food in the region. Stop into the Old Thatch Pub for a real traditional pub experience, or to Flaherty's Restaurant to sample the steamed mussels and Guinness.

Continue through Oughterard on the N59. You will pass the Moy River and Falls on your left as you leave the village.

Next you will pass through Maam Cross where you can stop to see a replica of the Quiet Man Cottage. This is a thatched traditional cottage that is set up as in the film. The Quiet Man was filmed in many locations around Connemara. Your next stop is the Quiet Man Bridge.

Allow 15 minutes for each stop.

Continue on the N59 towards Clifden and you will see a small sign for the Quiet Man Bridge on your left. This is a semi private road but you can cross over the bridge and park on the side of the road to see the bridge. This bridge was the scene where John Wayne's character, Sean Thornton, stopped with Mickaleen Og and the horse and cart to look out to White O'Morn Cottage at the beginning of the movie.

Continue up the N59 and you will come into Clifden town. Clifden was a planned town, meaning that it was designed with deliberation. You will see this in the triangular shape of the town, which is on a one-way traffic system . As you enter, turn left to join the main route around the town. At the first junction turn right and follow this road to the "town center". Stay in the left lane as you approach the top of the road. You will see the sign for the Sky Road and will turn left to proceed.

NOTE: If you wish to see the town, do so now as you will not be coming back this direction. Allow 1-2 hours.

Allow 1 hour for the castle trek, or 15 minutes on Sky Road alone.

The Sky Road is a small peninsula that juts out from Clifden. This is a very scenic but short drive. About one mile from Clifden you will see a stone gatehouse on your left. Park here and get out to stretch your legs if you wish to see Clifden Castle, now in ruin. The walk is about one mile down the narrow dirt road through the gatehouse.

Clifden Castle was built by John D'Arcy (1785-1839) in a Gothic Revival style in the early 19th century. John was a man of drive, energy and determination. He founded Clifden in 1812 and built his castle around the same time. He was married twice and had fourteen children in all, leaving one to assume that this was a very full and noisy family home.

The new owners, the Eyre family from Bath in England, purchased the town and castle for £21,245. The Eyre's lived at the castle until the 1920s when the lands were eventually purchased by the government and divided out among the tenants.

Sadly, the castle had no outright owner and, in time, was stripped bare of its slates and timbers and eventually fell to ruin.

One of the interesting features of this property is the standing stones. D'Arcy had these stones erected to imitate other standing stones around Ireland. It isn't unknown why he did this, but the stones have been surveyed and it has been determined that they are not as ancient as D'Arcy would have us believe.

Continue along Sky Road and a short distant up you will see the ocean. Pull over and you can see the castle ruins at the bottom of this hill as well as the inlet from the sea and oyster beds. Sky Road will eventually come out at the N59 just north of Clifden. Turn left to join the N59 driving away from Clifden.

A few miles along the N59 you will see the sign for Kylemore Abbey.

Allow 2-3 hours for this stop.

Kylemore Abbey was originally built as Kylemore Castle by Manchester textile tycoon Michael Henry in the 1860's and was a present to his beloved wife. They'd fallen in love with the area when on their honeymoon in 1849 and reportedly spent £155,000 to buy the land. They spent a further £250,000 to create a fantastical dream world. Boggy land was drained and thousands of trees were planted to serve as a windbreak for the Medieval styled fruit orchard and exotic gardens, which has just been

Tragedy struck the family when Henry's beloved wife died after contracting Nile Fever in 1874. In her honor he commissioned the building of the Gothic Cathedral, which is situated at the far end of the estate and is accessibly by the tree-lined footpath. It's an exact replica of Norwich Cathedral in England. His wife was embalmed and her body buried in the mausoleum next to the church.

In 1892, Henry's daughter was killed in a freak accident when her horse threw her into a nearby river. Henry was so overwhelmed with grief that he put the estate up for sale in 1894 but was taken off market when the estate failed to fetch a reasonable price. It was finally sold to a US tycoon named Zimmerman from Cincinnati, Ohio as a gift for his daughter, the Duchess of Manchester. But not long after it was sold to an order of Benedictine Nuns who still run a private girls school there today. There are a few rooms open in the abbey, as well as the styled gardens, tree walk and the church.

When you're ready to continue, turn left at the abbey entrance and rejoin the N59 now driving north. Follow this road for about five miles and you will see the sign for the R344 to Recess. Turn right and join the R344. This is the mountain pass that takes you between the Maumturk Mountains (left) and the Twelve Pins (right) to the N59 at Recess.

This glacial valley is one of the few remaining areas in Ireland where turf is still cut by hand. You will see many reeks of sod stacked to dry here and may even see a man cutting.

When you reach the N59 again at Recess you will see the sign for the N59 to Galway. Turn left to join the N59 driving south back towards Galway. You will pass through Recess then Maam Cross before coming back to Oughterard, Moycullen and then Galway City.