In Ireland, there are only redheads”, “Don’t forget your umbrella, it rains all the time”, and “Apart from drinking pints of Guinness, what are you going there for anyway?” The list is long, but here is an overview of the clichés that hover over Ireland. A country that, in addition to its very particular culture and legends, breathes above all freedom and authenticity. Sometimes, it is enough to move away for a few hours from big cities such as Dublin or Cork to recognize that the Emerald Isle shines with its green landscapes as far as the eye can see, its sheep, its lakes, and its surrounding mountains.
Road trip in Ireland, day 1
An hour’s drive from Dublin, Galway opens the doors to an authentic and warm Ireland, where the Irish language, Gaelic, is still spoken. The city set to become the European Capital of Culture in 2025 proves this with its festive atmosphere, lively streets, colorful houses,s and, of course, its popular pubs. One of them, O’Connells, near Eyre Square, is legendary. It was in this 1970s bar and in a setting that seemed to come straight out of the series “Peaky Blinders”, that Ed Sheeran filmed the video for “Galway Girl”. Here, we take Irish Coffee classes, the ideal experience to impress the gallery as soon as we return home.
After this invigorating interlude, we cross County Galway. The increasingly grey sky nibbles at the last rays of the orange sun. We have to follow the N59 and go back north (less than half an hour) to arrive in the ConnemaraLakess region. In the vehicle that takes us there, we try to restrain our desire to sing at the top of our voices the words of a song that we will not quote (“Terre brûlée au vent, des moors de pierres…”), and try to make the most of these picturesque landscapes capable of making Manet, Courbet and other realist painters of the 19th century jealous.
Connemara is lakes, steep valleys, miles of peat bogs, sheep, sheep, more sheep, cows too, picturesque shacks… A region of incredible calm, where you feel almost cut off from the world. But night falls on this magnificent landscape, and if it hasn’t rained a single second since our arrival, it’s starting to get chilly (October obliges). So we get back on the road and go deeper and deeper into the dense forest to sleep in the sublime Currarevagh House, a family guesthouse that has existed for seven generations.
Road trip in Ireland, day 2
One of Connemara’s cultural gems is Kylemore Abbey, which is every bit as good as its English cousin Downton (follow the N59 west, then the R344 on the right). This Benedictine abbey, founded in 1920, sits on a mountainside and is reflected in Pollacapall Lake. Its neo-Gothic church and Victorian gardens alone are a testament to Ireland’s rich history and treasures. Still on, the road to the West, we must continue towards Letterfrack to discover another gem of Connemara: Its oysters. David Keane, producer and great enthusiast of these molmollusksakes us to his farm in Ballinkill Bay, the westernmost peninsula of the region, to let us taste the oysters of Connemara. Some will say that they have a nutty taste, others, a more acidic flavor. In any case, these oysters make us experience various emotions, and our host tells us above all that they are largely exported to France.
We continue our road trip in Ireland towards the southwest, towards Clifden, on a winding road crossing valleys and plains. We leave the lakes of Connemara to find the Atlantic and its icy waters licking the black sand of the coast. We arrive at Sky Roa, a road running high (at 150 meters) along this steep part of the Atlantic coast, thus offering a superb panorama of the ocean, the islands scattered here and there and the famous Cliffs of Moher on our left. “Breathe with your eyes” shouts Mick, our wacky white-bearded guide, halfway between a Santa Claus and a Leprechaun. We catch our breath and, at the same time, the road leading us to our second hotel, Cashel House .websitee
Road trip in Ireland, day 3
Third day and still no rain on was the horizon. The opportunity to fly to Inis Mór (pronounced Inish More), the largest of the Aran Islands. The journey begins aboard a small propeller plane.
8 minutes. That’s the flight time and the time we have to make the most of the sea, which gradually gives way to an incredible patchwork of tiny fields, delimited by stone walls.
800 inhabitants and 150 sheep populate this wild setting. The setting is enhanced by the Dun Aengus cliff offering a spectacular panorama, but also by its beautiful folkloric stalls where the famous Aran sweaters (traditional Irish sweaters in pure wool) are knitted. Where to eat? At Teach Nan Phaidi, a picturesque cottage where homemade soups, goat cheese, set w, and scones are on the menu.
The sky is clouding over, we have to leave the island by ferry to go to Doolin, in County Clare, still on the Atlantic coast. We will sleep at Gregans Castle, a luxurious 4-star hotel set in a 118th-century manor.
Road trip in Ireland, ay 4
Before hitting the road again for Dublin and ending this wonderful road trip in Ireland, we must stop in Lahinch, in the Burren region, a little paradise for lovers of foraging and wild food. Oonagh O’Dwyer, a local producer and head of the Burren Ecotourism Network, shares her love for the land and the sea. She guides us along the coast in search of wild delicacies, such as seaweed, mussels, and aandherbs. With the taste of salt on our lips and the wind blowing through our hair, we find ourselves, for a moment, dreaming of dropping everything and living on goat cheese and wool sweaters in a cottage by the sea. Because in Western Ireland, we come above all to seek rest for the soul and for the heart, a taste of better (that’s Sardou who says it).
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