Ireland Part 2: Beautiful Day

Way back in Amsterdam I came across an English language bookstore. While I was there I picked up a book on traveling to Ireland to help me plan my trip. I spent the next several weeks reading the book and picking out places to visit. It became apparent that I could not see everything I wanted when I realized I couldn’t rent a car (I’m not 25). So I pick to limit myself to only a few destinations. One of my priorities was to find a small Irish town and spend some time off the well beaten path. The book mentioned a town by the name of Clifden, in the Connemara region. It was only mentioned briefly in the book, but it seemed like a good fit. When it came time to book a hostel I was only able to stay for one night, since all the other nights that weekend were booked. So, I had to plan the rest of my trip around this fact.

After traveling from Dublin to Galway, I took a bus up to Clifden. The ride was very relaxed and the beautiful scenery was captivating. I arrived in town and was struck by the view of the mountains to the East. I headed to my hostel and checked in. I asked the manager for a good place to go for a walk and he pointed towards the coast. So I made my way West. As I got a little further out of town, I climbed a hill with a small monument on the top. I afforded me a magnificent view of the town and the mountains. After a few minutes on the hill top a large rain cloud passed blissfully overhead. I took refuge beside the monument for about a half hour. When the rain had finally stopped I continued on down the road. The walk itself was magnificent. I felt like I was truly in Ireland. After walking along the hillside of a bay for about an hour, I found myself at the end of the peninsula. The view of the ocean was breathtaking as the sun tore its way through the clouds. I sat there marveling at the rocky islands that dotted the coast. I began making my way around the peninsula as the clouds were dispersing. The small farm houses and open fields were bathed in sunlight. Many homes I passed had children playing as families and neighbors relaxed in amiable conversation.

As I made my way back to town, I began thinking about dinner. When I got back into town, I found a bar with a stage set up outside. I sat down inside, had a burger and a couple pints of Guinness. While I was inside a band took the stage and started playing traditional Irish music. As it turns out, this was the weekend of the Clifden Traditional Music Festival. Everyone from the town was there. After I had eaten I went outside to enjoy the music for the rest of my evening. There were even kids from the local step dancing class who performed on stage with the band. The night was fantastic and the weather was perfect. That was one of the first times I had seen consistent sun for most of the day in Ireland (even considering the passing rain clouds). When the concert started winding down I headed back to the hostel and went to bed.

The next day, I woke up to realize it was Sunday. I decided not to miss the opportunity to attend a small town, Irish Catholic Mass. To kill some time before the mass I walked back up the hill to the monument I had visited the previous day. The sun was shining and the sky was dotted with puffy white clouds. I sat there for a while just enjoying the day. Then I made my way back down to the church and to mass. It was a great service, being the Sunday after Easter. The choir had some traditional instruments from the night before performing with them and the kids from the step dancing class performed as well. After the mass was over, I walked around and explored the town some more before my bus back to Galway arrived. When it did arrive, I was sad to go. Clifden was definitely the experience that I had been looking for in Ireland and I will remember it always.