Attractions

Built around 1500, this superbly preserved fortress signposted 4.2km east of Oughterard was home to the 'Fighting O'Flahertys', who controlled the region for hundreds of years after they fought off the Normans. The …

Photogenically perched on the shores of Pollacapall Lough, 4.3km east of Letterfrack, this crenellated 19th-century neo-Gothic fantasy was built for a wealthy English businessman, Mitchell Henry, who spent his honey…

Standing guard over Inishmore, Dun Aengus, 8km west of Kilronan, has three massive drystone walls that run right up to sheer drops to the ocean below. Believed to be up to 2000 years old, the fort is protected by re…

Immediately southeast of Letterfrack, Connemara National Park spans 2957 dramatic hectares of bog, mountains, heath and woodlands.The park encloses a number of the Twelve Bens, including Bencullagh, Benbrack and Ben…

Exhibits at this modern museum covering the city's history from 1800 to 1950 include an iconic Galway hooker fishing boat, a collection of currachs (boats made of a framework of laths covered with tarred canvas) and…

The Spanish Arch is thought to be an extension of Galway's medieval city walls, designed to protect ships moored at the nearby quay while they unloaded goods from Spain, although it was partially destroyed by the ts…

Erected around 1520 by the O'Hynes clan, Dunguaire Castle, 900m north of town, occupies the former site of the 6th-century royal palace of Guaire Aidhne, the king of Connaught. Lady Christabel Ampthill restored the …

Pádraig Pearse (Patrick Pearse; 1879–1916) wrote some of his short stories and plays in this small thatched cottage on the shore of a remote lake, which he built in 1909. In 2016, a state-of-the-art, A-frame visitor…

In an idyllic setting by a stream, this 16th-century Norman tower was the summer home of WB Yeats from 1921 to 1929 and was the inspiration for one of his best-known works, The Tower. It adjoins a whitewashed cottag…

Galway's bohemian spirit comes alive at its street market, which has set up in this spot for centuries. Saturdays are the standout for food, when farmers sell fresh produce alongside stalls selling arts and crafts, …