Clifden’s surprise and its cultural season

Connemara’s urban hub is Clifden, a town founded in the 19th century and nestled between the mountain ridges and a sea inlet. The streets of the town centre are home to historic shops specialising in tweed and warm carded wool. If you visit Clifden in mid-September, you’ll be lucky enough to see the town transformed by the Clifden Arts Festival. For ten days, shop windows become impromptu art galleries and the streets host literary readings, fashion shows and folk concerts, creating a shared stage where prominent artists mingle spontaneously with the local community. In the evening, the atmosphere becomes convivial in traditional pubs such as Lowry’s Music & Whiskey Bar, where the aroma of rich seafood chowder celebrates coastal cuisine. For accommodation, the Abbeyglen Castle Hotel overlooks the town from above, offering a stay steeped in history. The experience is rounded off along the Sky Road: an eleven-kilometre scenic loop that follows the ridge of the peninsula, offering sweeping views of the bay and the smaller islands.