The savage beauty of Connemara

There’s a moment driving down the N59 from Knock Airport to Connemara, County Galway, when the view really opens up.

As the road winds away from the flat, marshy inland the Twelve Bens mountain chain rises in front, at first peeking on the horizon and in no time at all towering over you, their sheer faces and carved out streaks sliding down to the roadside.

Connemara is “a savage beauty” in the words of Oscar Wilde himself, a quote which is hard to beat when describing the wild, craggy coastal pocket from deep glacial fjords in the north to rugged abandoned islands in the south.

But before we get too excited, a word about the entry from Bristol and the world’s most unlikely airport.

Knock airport does no favours for the lazy stereotypes of Ireland and the Irish. Bizarrely located around fields and fields of bog in the corner County Mayo, the airport is a handy connection to Knock Shrine, where an apparition of Our Lady, Saint Joseph, and Saint John the Evangelist was witnessed by 15 people in 1879.

So, as you do, a local priest launched a successful campaign in the 1980s to have an airport built, which not only led to a visit from the pope but also spawned a musical On a Wing and a Prayer: the extraordinary true story of a “simple, country priest in a hurry” with a dream to build an airport on a “foggy, boggy hill”.

The sheer absurdity of the whole story is compounded when you are asked for a €10 “development fee” when you leave the airport to help pay for ongoing improvements.

Anyway, back to the savage beauty just an hour down the road. Whichever corner you enter from and wherever in Connemara you end up, the Twelve Bens are likely to dominate the skyline.

They’re the main attraction for the climbers, hikers and walkers who attempt any one of the 12 jutting peaks from the villages and towns nestled around the coast below.

Clifden and Letterfrack are the larger tourist magnets in the area, while more rural bases can be found at Leenan in the north, Cleggan in the west and Roundstone in the south.

Or a short ferry ride will take you to Inishbofin or Inishturk, two rural, windswept islands dotted with just a few homes.

A few kilometers from the fishing village of Roundstone is the sprawling estate of Ballynahinch Castle, where we based ourselves.

Tucked in behind a rare pocket of trees in the beaten moorland-like terrain, the 19th century former manor house sits between the looming Bens and a network of lakes and slow moving, shallow, wide rivers which trickle past, their rocky beds visible from the bedrooms, dining rooms and terraces.

Most guests are attracted by the fly fishing, with trout and salmon being the reward for many a patient soul casting from the neat wooden pontoons for the last 150 years or so.

We chose to head out for a day trip with the hotels own sea fisherman and lobster potter from the quay in Roundstone.

The trip takes in the tiny island of Inishlacken (Inish meaning island in Irish), abandoned by the last family about 30 years ago, and sees you reel in pollock and mackerel (if you’re lucky) and perhaps pull in a lobster or crab on the way back – all of which the chefs at the hotel will cook for you to your liking that evening.

Being located in the south-easterly corner of Connemara, Ballynahinch Castle is an ideal beginning or end to a coastal trip around the area following the newly developed Wild Atlantic Way, a sign-posted route following all the roads – big and small- which hug the battered coast.

At times the drive is easy and passes through some of the biggest towns like Clifden, with its busy high streets and pubs selling seafood, Guinness and a growing number of local craft beers.

At other times the sign posts will lead you down stone-walled lanes between a lattice of stone-walled fields and through tiny hamlets and fishing villages hidden in the sheltered inlets around the sea’s edge.

Reach Cleggan and you’ll find the chance to jump on one of two daily boats taking the 30-minute trip out to Inishbofin, a sleepy island with attractions such as “the hill”, “the bog” and a handful of beaches.

Catch the beaches on a good day and you could be on your own InishCaribbean, with fine white sand sloping gently away into clear, turquoise-blue sea and very few people to disturb the peace.

If the famous Irish sun doesn’t happen to shine, then, like everywhere in Connemara, you’re not far from a half decent pub where you’ll likely find fresh produce – from muscles to crab – from the gale-swept sea out the window.

If pubs, island-hopping and beaches don’t sound active enough (I know, some people are very demanding) then Connemara also hosts some of Ireland’s best offerings for adrenaline junkies.

Mountain biking in and around the Twelve Bens is a popular choice, as are all number of acdventure activities on offer at Real Adventures Connemara and the Killary Adventure Company, which also hosts endurance events such Gaelforce West – a nice start to a relaxing break.

Calmer options include gentle cycling and walking loops signposted around the area and on the islands.

Calmer still are visitor attractions such as Kylemore Abbey, an old convent school built spectacularly at the foot of a mountain and by the side of another shimmering dark lake.

The details:

Stay at Ballynahinch Castle Hotel & Estate from £158 per room, per night for a Classic Room or £260 per room per night for a Riverside Suite. www.ballynahinch-castle.com, +353 95 31006

Ryanair flights from Bristol to Knock Airport start at £30 for a return and take 55 minutes. www.ryanair.com