Connemara Islands Guided Walking Break

Exclusive  4 Night Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Package.  You will spend the first three nights in Clifden Town staying in the Clifden Station House Hotel and the last night on Inis Mór staying in the Aran Islands Hotel in Kilronan.  This guided walking break includes dinner, bed and breakfast each day, return ferry tickets to Inishbofin and Inis Mór, and a packed lunch on your Aran Island Trip.  During your stay you will visit the beautiful islands of:

Inishbofin · Omey Island · Inis Mór

Tour Schedule Arriving May 8th:

Day 1; May 8th -Arrival at Clifden Station House Hotel – Explore the town by day and enjoy a Gourmet 4 Course Meal in the Carriage Restaurant each evening. Guests have full complimentary access to our Leisure Centre with Swimming Pool and can book treatments in Renew Spa.

Day 2; May 9th – Omey Island Day Trip*. Cross the tidal strand onto Omey Island, Connemara’s most unique experience. Rugged shore, bracing ocean air and playful wildlife make this Island a must visit. Omey is a looped 8km walk, taking 2 and a half hours. It is an easy flat walk. Omey Island has a wealth of antiquities. The ruins of Teampaill Féichín (Feichin’s Church), a medieval church built on a 7th century Christian settlement lie close to the north coast. The church was covered in sand until 1981 and it is surrounded by the remains of a semi-sunken village that was wiped out during the Famine. *meeting time is 12:30pm sharp in Omey Island Carpark as this is tide dependent

Day 3; May 10th: Inishbofin Day Trip. Inishbofin is a magnificent Galway island lying off the Connemara coast. It has spectacular scenery, walking, archaeology, flora and fauna . The island has been inhabited for 6000 years,  was a very important early Christian site and was also an island fortress in the 17th century. An inspiration for poets and arts it has also become a food and musical destination. You will take the ferry from Cleggan to Inishbofin at 11:30am and the walk on the island is an 8km looped walk of moderate difficulty. The West Quarter loop takes in some of the most stunning Atlantic Coast scenery in Connemara offering views of the Island’s blow holes and sea arch, sea stags where the Island seal colony can be seen, the Dún More Cliffs and Iron Age promontory fort ruins, picturesque Trá Gheal beach and famine road. The track winds over grass paths, turf banks and shingle beach pebbles. Meet at Cleggan Pier at 11:15am sharp to take the 11:30am Ferry.

Day 4 – Travel to Inis Mór. Depart Clifden at 9am and drive to Rossaveal Harbour where you will board the 10:30am Ferry to take you to the largest of the Aran Islands. You will be staying in the Aran Islands Hotel,  a lovely boutique hotel right in Kilronan, the largest village on Inis Mór. Your guided walk will be approximately  3 to 4 hours, covering 9km, and taking in the stunning labyrinth of fields and lanes of Aran. The route includes beach, trail, limestone pavement and tarmac road. Explore 6000 years of history and archaeology including Dun Aengus, a magnificent stone hill fort on the Atlantic cliffs, see bronze age landscapes and houses. Along the way you will visit one of Irelands great geological wonders; pol na bpeist ( the wormhole). Quiet island villages, early Christian churches, Celtic standing stones and the former homes of The O’Flaherty Lords with connections to Wilde, Synge and modern cultural giants.

Day 5  – Depart Aran Islands on the ferry of your choice; 8:15am, 12 midday, or 5pm.

 

Tour Schedule Arriving May 29th:

Day 1; May 29th: Arrival at Clifden Station House Hotel – Explore the town by day and enjoy a Gourmet 4 Course Meal in the Carriage Restaurant each evening. Guests have full complimentary access to our Leisure Centre with Swimming Pool and can book treatments in Renew Spa.

Day 2; May 30th: Inishbofin Day Trip. Inishbofin is a magnificent Galway island lying off the Connemara coast. It has spectacular scenery, walking, archaeology, flora and fauna . The island has been inhabited for 6000 years,  was a very important early Christian site and was also an island fortress in the 17th century. An inspiration for poets and arts it has also become a food and musical destination. You will take the ferry from Cleggan to Inishbofin at 11:30am and the walk on the island is an 8km looped walk of moderate difficulty. The West Quarter loop takes in some of the most stunning Atlantic Coast scenery in Connemara offering views of the Island’s blow holes and sea arch, sea stags where the Island seal colony can be seen, the Dún More Cliffs and Iron Age promontory fort ruins, picturesque Trá Gheal beach and famine road. The track winds over grass paths, turf banks and shingle beach pebbles. Meet at Cleggan Pier at 11:15am sharp to take the 11:30am Ferry.

Day 3; May 31st: Omey Island Day Trip*. Cross the tidal strand onto Omey Island, Connemara’s most unique experience. Rugged shore, bracing ocean air and playful wildlife make this Island a must visit. Omey is a looped 8km walk, taking 2 and a half hours. It is an easy flat walk. Omey Island has a wealth of antiquities. The ruins of Teampaill Féichín (Feichin’s Church), a medieval church built on a 7th century Christian settlement lie close to the north coast. The church was covered in sand until 1981 and it is surrounded by the remains of a semi-sunken village that was wiped out during the Famine. *meeting time is 10am sharp in Omey Island Carpark as this is tide dependent

Day 4; June 1st: – Travel to Inis Mór. Depart Clifden at 9am and drive to Rossaveal Harbour where you will board the 10:30am Ferry to take you to the largest of the Aran Islands. You will be staying in the Aran Islands Hotel,  a lovely boutique hotel right in Kilronan, the largest village on Inis Mór. Your guided walk will be approximately  3 to 4 hours, covering 9km, and taking in the stunning labyrinth of fields and lanes of Aran. The route includes beach, trail, limestone pavement and tarmac road. Explore 6000 years of history and archaeology including Dun Aengus, a magnificent stone hill fort on the Atlantic cliffs, see bronze age landscapes and houses. Along the way you will visit one of Irelands great geological wonders; pol na bpeist ( the wormhole). Quiet island villages, early Christian churches, Celtic standing stones and the former homes of The O’Flaherty Lords with connections to Wilde, Synge and modern cultural giants.

Day 5  – Depart Aran Islands on the ferry of your choice; 8:15am, 12 midday, or 5pm.

Prices:

€499 per person sharing or

€698 Single Occupancy.

Check-in date, Clifden on Monday 8th May or Monday May 29th

 Limited availability. Booking is only available by calling reservations direct on 095-21699. Terms & Conditions apply.

Inis Bo Finne (Island of the White Cow) lies seven miles off the Connemara coast. The island is 5.7km by 4km, and the main activities on the island today are tourism, farming and fishing. There are five townlands, West Quarter, Fawnmore, Middle Quarter, Cloonamore and Knock. Several safe award winning sandy beaches strewn with shells and with crystal clear water make swimming, snorkelling and diving a joy. For the more adventurous, the islands waters make for spectacular diving.

Inishbofin is a breeding area for many species of birds. The rarest or most threatened species breeding on the island at present are the Corncrake. The Corncrake have been nesting and breeding on Inishbofin for many years. For the athletic traveller to Connemara there are exciting mountain walks, hill climbing and excellent shore angling. Inishbofin has become an important centre for traditional Irish music and song with its own Ceilí band. Inishbofin plays host to many visiting musicians and artists.

It is estimated that Bofin was inhabited as far back as 8000 – 4000 B.C. The first documented history of the island dates from early Christian times. As you sail around the tower and signal light into the harbour you will notice Cromwell’s 16th Century Barracks. It was used as a prison for catholic priests from all over the country after the English Statute of 1585 declared them guilty of high treason.

Inis Mór or Inishmore is the largest of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland. With an area of 31 km2 (12 sq mi) and a population of about 840, it is the second-largest island off the Irish coast (after Achill) and most populous of the Aran Islands.

The island is in the Irish-speaking Gaeltacht and has a strong Irish culture. Much of the island is karst landscape and it has a wealth of ancient and medieval sites including Dún Aonghasa, described as “the most magnificent barbaric monument in Europe” by George Petrie. The island is 5.7km by 4km, and the main activities on the island today are tourism, farming and fishing. There are five townlands, West Quarter, Fawnmore, Middle Quarter, Cloonamore and Knock.

There is a small museum illustrating the history of Dún Aonghasa and its possible functions, while the Aran Sweater Market is also a focal point for visitors who can trace the culture and history associated with the Aran sweater through the on-site museum. Nearby are a Neolithic tomb and a small heritage park at Dún Eochla, featuring examples of a traditional thatched cottage and poteen distillery. The Tempull Breccain (Church of Brecan), commonly called the Seven Churches of Aran, is a complex of churches and other buildings dedicated to the 5th-century Saint Brecan, once a popular destination for pilgrims. In the centre of the island, at its highest point is the Inishmore Lighthouse, it was decommissioned in 1857 and replaced by the lights at Eeragh and Inisheer.

Omey Island is a tidal island situated near Claddaghduff on the western edge of Connemara in County Galway, Ireland. From the mainland the island is inconspicuous and almost hidden. It is possible to drive or walk across a large sandy strand to the island by following the arrowed signs. At high tide, the water is deep enough to cover a car.

In the early-to-mid-1990s a team of archaeologists from University College Dublin began work to study the monastic heritage of the island, long known for being the site of a monastery and settlement reportedly founded by the prodigious St Feichin. In fact, its name derives from the Irish Iomaidh Feichín meaning Feichín’s bed or seat.

In several places shell middens can be found on the island. Some of those have been carbon-dated to AD 1000–1500.^[1] The ruin of Teampaill Feichin, the medieval parish church, excavated from the sand in 1981, stands on the site of the abbey said to have been founded by Saint Feichín. Nearby is a Holy Well with a small shrine around it.^[1] can be found on the island. Some of those have been carbon-dated to AD 1000–1500. The ruin of Teampaill Feichin, the medieval parish church, excavated from the sand in 1981, stands on the site of the abbey said to have been founded by Saint Feichín. Nearby is a Holy Well with a small shrine around it.