Visit Connemara.

Calling all enthusiasts! If you’re not afraid of the great outdoors, and want to immerse yourself in a world where nature reigns supreme, then Connemara is one of Ireland’s must-visit regions! Located in County Galway, Connemara is a region of sumptuous, inhospitable wilderness. No wonder it’s one of Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions, along with the Cliffs of Moher! What’s more, Michel Sardou created a stir with his famous song about the “Lakes of Connemara”!
Interested? Follow the guide!

History of Connemara

Home of the Gaeltacht

Before exploring Connemara further, it’s important to know that the region is one of the largest strongholds of the Gaeltacht (which means “Gaelic country” in Irish). In other words, Connemara is an area still strongly attached to its heritage: Irish Gaelic is still spoken here (in addition to English), and the population still lives to the rhythm of ancestral Irish traditions.

So it’s hardly surprising to come across a few Gaelic-speaking Irishmen along the way!

Among Connemara’s other subtleties are its incredible peat bogs. These are natural expanses of decomposing organic matter. This allows the local population to extract an extremely rich material: peat. Among other things, it is used as fuel for heating fireplaces, and can also be used in the distillation of Irish whiskey.

The region also specializes in sheep farming and has a great reputation in the equestrian field. The Connemara pony is bred here, an Irish horse resulting from successive crosses between horses of various breeds and Irish horses. Extremely popular with the international equestrian community, this horse possesses numerous qualities that enable it to evolve in particularly hostile and precarious environments (similar to Connemara).

Last but not least, Connemara is the home of artisanal smoked salmon! In fact, there’s a local smokehouse where you can visit, discover the smoking process and buy local products. All in all, an exceptional taste experience.

Visit Connemara…

National park, lakes, valleys and wilderness as far as the eye can see

If Connemara is so famous around the globe, it’s not just because of Michel Sardou’s song. Above all, the region is known the world over for the incredible beauty of its landscapes.

For here in Connemara, man makes himself very small, leaving the place to wide open spaces, wild nature, dark mountains, thick, mysterious forests, deep lakes and vast expanses of red moorland… Not to mention its immense peat bogs, where it’s not uncommon to come across an Irishman harvesting peat by hand.

Because of its lush nature, Connemara is subject to a rather harsh climate, exposed to wind and constant humidity, which makes this region so wild and challenging. It’s a lush green region, but also one of astonishing color: with its brown pebbled mountains, light-colored rocky outcrops, glowing moorland and stretches of grass of a green that exists nowhere else! It’s like being alone on Earth, far from civilization!

And it’s precisely because Connemara is such a wild land that it’s absolutely worth the detour!

The easiest way to discover Connemara is to explore the Connemara National Park: a 2,000-hectare enclave of nature, criss-crossed by exceptional hiking trails!

This is your chance to explore the park’s wide open spaces in depth, climb Diamond Hill and enjoy 360-degree views of the Irish region.

If you’d like to go even further, don’t hesitate to discover the region’s emblematic villages: Clifden, Letterfrack, Leenane… Then push open the door to Kylemore Abbey, an exceptional attraction! It’s a Victorian castle and abbey in the heart of Connemara. An absolute must-see!

Finally, don’t miss the lakes of Connemara: there are countless of them, and they all have a wild beauty all their own!