Galway, Cong, Cliffs of Moher

We left Enniskillen on Sunday September 15 and drove to Clarinbridge, a small town on the outskirts of Galway.  We spent three nights at a small thatched roof cottage in this small town, spending one day exploring Galway and Cong, and the another seeing the sights around the cliffs of Moher. 

We spent several hours walking through the Latin quarter of Galway. This is the older historic part of the city and is now the touristy part of the city. I tired of shops and crowds before the others, but everyone seemed to have their fill by early afternoon. We returned to the car and took a drive to Cong, a small village about 30 minutes away. It was nice to get away from the crowds and while we got to Cong a little late for stores, we had a nice walk through forests on the outskirts of town and the ruins of the Cong abby.

On September 17 Angie, M, and I headed out to see a sheep dog demonstration and the Cliffs of Moher. C spent the day relaxing by herself in Clarinbridge as all the traveling, the crowds of Galway, and being around us had taken their toll. Our first stop was the Caherconnell sheep dog demonstration. We followed Google and drove along back country roads to get there. Some of the roads were single lane and very narrow. Luckily there were few cars on those roads and the ones we met were traveling at a slow enough speed that allowed one of us to find a wide spot to allow the other to travel through. We got to the sheep dog demonstration a bit early and M enjoyed the gift shop, eyeing a fleece-lined flannel shirt that he wound up buying after much deliberation. The sheep dog demonstration was interesting and pretty impressive and we learned a little about how the dogs are trained. Each dog has its own personality with some being more willing to follow directions than others. 

After the sheep dog demonstration we headed out for the Cliffs of Moher. The weather was great and we decided to park in a private lot near Lisconner on the south end of the cliffs. The cliffs run from a bit south of Doolin to just north of Lisconner, with the main visitor center located in the middle. There is a trail along the cliffs that are reported to allow people to walk from Doolin to Lisconner, though I’m not sure if walking the entire length is currently (2024) open. Most guides describe an out and back trip from Doolin to just beyond the visitor’s centre and back. There is a conflict of some sort on the Lisconner side as we were met with trail closed and no trespassing signs when we got to the end of the road. No one seemed to be paying attention to them so we joined the others and made our way to the edge of the cliffs. The views were spectacular in the afternoon sun. After 30-45 minutes of taking in the scenery, I stood up and looked down the trail from were we had come and saw a person waving us back. We returned and were scolded by a local farmer for not having permission to be there. When we returned to the car park, the women there dismissed it as “local politics.” In any case, the views and weather were wonderful. It would be a fun day to walk along the bluff.