A week exploring my (Black Irish) ancestory in W & SW Ireland. Best route?

Very detailed and compelling advice iviehoff and rodway and Frida1. I'm very greatful.

Maam has a farmstay with captivating views over Lough Corrib. Closest place of its kind I could find near Cong - the sort of town I'd like to visit. Boyle sounds appealing too. Definitely have some leads regarding the family, so if I can get someone's attention...

At the end of the trip, I have a 1.15PM flight from Shannon so won't want to be staying too far. There is a rather seductive looking B&B 50km west of Limerick on the Shannon...or am I straying again? I'm up for an early morning drive, but is it feasible, given I have to cut through Limerick; would I be better staying in Galway, or even closer to the airport?

*Just read your post Frida1, which gives me a whole lot more ideas. Sounds like Ennis might be the best place to stay before Shannon departure the next morning.

Edited by: DarkIrish

Ennis is an excellent last night's stay before heading to Shannon. I've done it many times; you'll be likely to find some good pub action for your last night if you've a mind for it.

Ennis looks really interesting Frida1. Staying there too now so thanks for the tip.

Are you staying close to Foynes ( say "fines" ) on your last evening?
Make a pitt stop at the : FLYINGBOATMUSEUM.COM
its also home to the irish coffee.
Tell us, are you from Newengland?

If you're tracing your roots in the Roscommon area, here is a good place to start. Good if you know the surname, better if you know the townland.

Don't think anyone has mentioned King House , a museum in the center of Boyle by the river. I think the famine museum you mention is in nearby Strokestown.

Hope you enjoy your time amongst the sheep stealers ; ) ..(bit of a Leitrim-Roscommon rivalry thing)

Lots of good advice, just don't go overboard on the Black Irish thing, seems to be an over romanticisation of the opinion that Irish are unique whereby we're as big a mongrel nation as anywhere else. As said earlier people from Iberia (particularly the Basque area I think) made their way to Ireland years ago. Combine that with waves of other groups: Vikings, Norman, French/Huegnots and survivors of the Spanish Armada give a fairly diverse gene pool. Also, you see the word gal making up place names alot, gal being the Irish for foreigner.

yofletch & sadbloke:

Much appreciated. These pointers should help to make this as productive a trip as possible, given I'm only over for a week. (Considering all the things I am exploring: my ancestry, my studies in Irish history; I think I would need at least a month, something that should be possible later on when I'm not squeezing Ireland into a European trip for other purposes.)

Rossam:

Worth reiterating this is something I have studied in a formal context, so my approach to this subject goes beyond mere romantic stereotypes about the Irish; even if there is a strong personal dimension to all of this, I've had enough training in anthropological methods not to be seduced by parochial stories. You mention Ireland being a mixture of different ethnic groups, which is indeed the premise I'm working from - investigating one (possibly historically significant) cohort which has only recently been the subject of more rigorous studies.

I can endorse Frida1's recommendation for Roundstone (Connemara): a wonderful little village and the home of an excellent author, Tim Robinson. Google his name for his other works.

Do belive what others have said about driving times and average speeds: it's especially true of Connemara.

Nice to get a second recommendation re. Roundstone. Might end up blowing my deposit on Leckavrea View, Maam, which looks spectacular but is, according the sole reviewer on tripadvisor.com, very rudimentary) in favor of somewhere like this. Much going on in the way of Gaelic culture in Roundstone, or is that more a feature of places like Spiddal?

And yeah, will certainly be mindful of the driving times. It certainly sounds like Google Map's estimates might be overly optimistic?

Very interesting article/book by the way. Cheers for the link.

About 10% of Roundstone's population speak Irish, or Gaelic if you prefer. The village also has an Irish name, Cloch Na Rón, and it faces directly onto the island of Inishnee which is officially designated as a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area. Many of Inishnee's residents go to Roundstone for shopping and pubbing and the Irish language can be heard spoken in the village.

In a couple of nearby pubs there are traditional Irish music sessions, including one pub where you're almost guaranteed to hear sean nós. Ask in Roundstone for details and directions.

Roundstone is also home to the widely acclaimed bodhran maker, Malachy Kearns who many consider to be the finest in Ireland.

As I came out of one of Roundstone's pubs at 3.00 in the morning, I had to fight my way through the people still coming in :-))

Village website.

Pop into this pub for a fish chowder and a pint of Guinness, or just the pint.
http://www.odowdsrestaurant.com/

Edited by: tony_b