3 Best Sights in Clifden, Connemara and County Mayo

Drive the aptly named Sky Road to really appreciate Clifden's breathtaking scenery. Signposted at the west end of town, this high, narrow circuit heads west, giving views of several offshore islands, before looping back to the N59 after about 10 km (6 miles) alongside phenomenal views of Clifden Bay's precipitous shores. The Sky Road connects to the Beach Road, where hikers can enjoy the Connemara shoreline.

Clifden Castle---a Gothic Revival masterpiece---was built above the town in 1815 by John D'Arcy, the town's founder and high sheriff of Galway, who wished to establish a center of law and order in what he saw as the lawless wilderness of Connemara. Before the founding of Clifden, the interior of Connemara was largely uninhabited, with most of its population clinging to the seashore. Today there is just the shell of this former seat of power---but its setting off Sky Road is epic. Wear appropriate footwear as there is a lovely, 15-minute winding walk from the nearest car park.

In June 1919, pilot John Alcock and navigator Arthur Whitten Brown entered the annals of navigation history by taking the first transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to a bumpy crash-landing in the heart of Derrigimlagh Bog, close to Guglielmo Marconi's groundbreaking wireless station. Both the bog and the wireless station are noted in the staggeringly beautiful 5-km (3-mile) Derrigimlagh trail that passes miniature lakes, peat bogs, and rare flora and fauna.