Ireland: Wild Atlantic Way Tour 2025 (New Places)

 

The combination of places I revisited and places I went to for the first time was a nice balance. Vagabond Tours of Ireland does an amazing job of mixing things up.

Cahir Castle

Our first stop on the tour was Cahir Castle. The setting was absolutely incredible.

Cahir Castle, built in the 13th century, is located on the River Suir

A cannonball remains in the wall of the castle (look to the left of the spout)

Gorgeous view of St. Paul's Church of Ireland from inside the castle

St. Paul's Church of Ireland from the bridge

Cahir Castle is one of Ireland's largest and best-preserved castles.

Gougane Barra

Oh, my. This place has my heart. It was stunning, and the Oratory was so very peaceful.

Located just outside of Gougane Barra National Forest Park, the views from the Oratory were incredible.

The Oratory is one of the most photographed sites in Ireland

I had the opportunity to step inside the chapel for a few minutes.

Holy Well

The view from the Oratory

The Shrine of St. Finbarr dates back to the 6th century. St. Finbarr was the first Bishop and founder of the church and the city of Cork

Bantry House

Located on Bantry Bay, the house is open for tours (no photography was allowed inside). The gardens are of interest; you'll want to take the time to walk up all of the steps in the back of the garden for the best views.

Bantry House has been the residence of the Shelswell-White family since 1765

View of the gardens from the library entrance

The back of the house from the gardens

Bantry Bay

Bantry House with Bantry Bay in the background

Garinish Island

A boat took us to Garinish Island (sometimes also seen as "Garnish Island"), which is in Glengarriff Harbour in Bantry Bay. We saw some seals (no pictures, though) and Maureen O'Hara's house. Once on the island, we walked around and admired the beauty.

Maureen O'Hara's house can be seen from the ferry

The walled garden

Fuchsia inside the walled garden

The sunken garden within the Italian Gardens

Stairway to Heaven

Martello Tower was built in 1805. Its walls are straight, which is not common with other Irish Martello Towers

Kenmare

We were only in Kenmare for the evening, but before we arrived in town, we stopped at the Kenmare stone circle. This stone circle is the biggest one found in southwest Ireland; it is believed that it was positioned according to the setting sun. 

The Boulder Burial is a burial monument in the center of the circle. These are rarely found outside of the southwest of Ireland 

There is a Hawthorn Fairy Tree next to the circle. In Celtic mythology, the tree symbolizes love and protection. Brides gather sprigs and flowers to wear in their hair or bouquet. Traditionally, this tree is believed to bring good luck to the owner of the property it stands on. They are not cut down, and some roads have been diverted in order to keep the tree from being cut. They are often found at a pagan site or a holy well. We were able to tie a wish on the tree, but were warned to be careful not to touch anyone else's wish.

We had just enough time to eat dinner and then take a walk down the street to the Catholic Church. It was open, so we were able to take a peek inside.

Derrynane/Long Beach

Derrynane is the location of Daniel O'Connell's childhood home. I have to admit, I knew very little about him. I had heard the name, but I learned quite a bit from this visit (even if I did nod off a wee bit during the film). 

Daniel O'Connell's grandparents were the first in the family to live here. He added the chapel in 1825 for his wife.

We had the opportunity to walk down to the beach for a little stroll. It was very quiet and peaceful.

Our guide stopped at the top of the hill for another spectacular view of the beach we were just on:

Portmagee

Portmagee is a very small fishing village; it's really just one street. Since we had a busy day, this was another day that we just had time to eat dinner and stroll around a bit. It was a very colorful village.

We spoke with this man about what he caught. We couldn't understand half of what he said!

In 1956, part of the film "The Spirit of St. Louis" was filmed here. Portmagee can be seen as the first sighting of land Charles Lindbergh (played by James Stewart) saw during his solo transatlantic flight from Paris to New York.

View from the pier

We saw this just as we approached the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church was built in the 1990's, but we saw the ruins of Killemlagh Church of Ireland. It was closed in 1922 after the coast guard and RIC left the area.

Kerry Cliffs

This is a must-see. It is a little bit of a hike to get to the cliffs, but the hike is paved and the views are astonishing.

We were treated to a rainbow

Irish Draught/Clydesdale mix with replica beehive huts in the background

Valentia Island

Just as we arrived on the island, we went to the Skellig Experience. Some of the group opted to take a boat trip around Skellig Michael; the rest of us went to the experience. It is well worth it to stop in and look at this museum. The short film was phenomenal.

Birthplace of the Transatlantic Cable

The Skelligs

View of Portmagee from Valentia Island

Cahergal Stone Fort

I visited a couple of other stone circles before. This one was a bit different. There were reconstructed steps as well as a circular dry-stone building. It is believed that someone of some importance lived here about 1000 years ago.

The upper steps have been reconstructed

The dry-stoned circular building

Ballycarbery Castle in the background

View of the countryside from the stone fort

Loop Head

This was a really nice stop. In addition to a lighthouse, there is an "Eire" rock sign left over from WWII, although it is hard to tell what it is when you're walking by it. We didn't tour the lighthouse; we walked down by the rock sign. Word of caution: in order to use the facilities, you have to pay to enter the area. 

The rock "Eire" sign

Hazel Mountain Chocolate

This was one of the stops not actually on the itinerary. Shane called ahead to make sure they could accommodate us. Hazel Mountain Chocolate is the only "bean to bar" chocolate place in Ireland. We heard a talk on how the chocolate is made and had a chance to sample a few items. Shane gave us the advice to get hot chocolate first, even before going to the bathroom. OH.MY.WORD! I will never be able to drink hot chocolate again! That was absolutely the best I've ever had. 

Hazel Mountain is owned by a couple. I believe she is Swiss and he is Irish.

My favorite was the Milk Chocolate Honeycomb

Aughnanure Castle

Aughnanure is actually a tower house. It was built in the 16th century, and, following the marriage to Donal an Chogaidh O'Flaherty, Grace O'Malley (the Pirate Queen) lived in the castle. The tower house consists of 4 floors and a very significant banquet hall to show power and influence. The castle played a significant role during the Cromwellian Invasion of Ireland; it protected Galway from invasion.

Carvings in the separate banquet hall

This space had a door, but its purpose is unclear. It may have been used during Mass or held the Black Bell of St. Patrick

Carvings on the outside of the banquet hall demonstration Murrough's status as chieftan. The carvings are believed to represent the family and their power

Inside the castle

The Tower House and Watch Tower

The Castle is located on the banks of the Drimneen River near Galway

Connemara Ponies and Aughnanure Castle

Sky Road

This was a very nice, beautiful drive as we left Clifden and started heading back to Dublin. 

The ViewPoint is the highest point on Sky Road

Kylemore Abbey

While we didn't tour the abbey, this is one of the iconic places in Ireland. The Benedictine Nuns bought the Abbey in 1920 when fleeing Belgium during WWI. 

Kylemore Abbey was built as a residence in 1868, which took 4 years and 100 men to complete. They owned the castle until 1903, when the Duke of Manchester took it over. As fate would have it, gambling debts prevented him from being able to maintain the property, and it was sold to the Benedictine Nuns.

The Sacred Heart Statue was erected by the nuns in 1938 in thanksgiving for safe arrival in their new home

Cong

John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara put the village of Cong on the map when the movie The Quiet Man was filmed here. If you haven't watched it, put it on your list. I re-watched it following my visit and recognized a lot of the filming locations. Cong is a sweet little village, complete with an abbey, a castle, and a statue of Wayne & O'Hara. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to do a full walk to see the castle or the Monk's Fishing Hut. I stepped into The Quiet Man Museum but didn't stay long. There is a walking tour of filming locations available that can be purchased inside the museum.

The Dying Man's house from "The Quiet Man"

Split the difference between Counties Galway & Mayo

The Quiet Man Museum is in the upstairs of this building

Cong Abbey: The first church is said to have been built here in the 7th century.

Ireland's last high king (Rory O'Connor) lived the last 15 years of his life here. After 1542, the abbey was suppressed & fell into ruin.

Benjamin Guinness (of the Guinness dynasty) started the last restoration of the abbey in 1855.

The abbey was dedicated to St. Mary in 1307 following reconstruction.

"The" statue with the abbey in the background

Athlone

This was a stop that a few of us begged Shane for. Sean's Bar is the oldest pub in Ireland; it's in the Guinness Book of World Records. Oh, and there's also a cool castle right in the middle of the town, too.

In 1129, a timber castle was built on this site. 2 years later, lightning struck the building, burning it to the ground. A stone castle was built in 1210 only to collapse a year later.

Around 1290, curtain walls and corner towers were built.

I've arrived!!! Sean's has been on my list since the first time I visited Ireland.

The bar inside. It was very crowded, and the Guinness was...well, very disappointing. But we went there to say we did, not for the beer.

I walked through the bar and found that the place is actually very big. I'm fairly certain the locals come in the back door, where it's not crowded at all. 

This tour was fantastic. Even though there were some places I've already been, I found some things within those sites to feel like it was the first time. I visited places on my list, as well as some places I should have put on my list but didn't know about. The next post will be where we stayed.

Slán go Fóill...