Galway, Ireland 53.2707°N, 9.0568°W
Our last week in Galway was something we had been looking forward to for a long time.
This was because over the last several months we had a group of friends agree to trek across the Atlantic to help celebrate a 40th birthday. My 40th birthday (it still seems strange looking at that number as I type it).
The week started with a visit from our friend Phil, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina and came over during his fall break from law school. We planned out a couple of day trips while he was over, but had to cancel a visit to the Aran Islands off Galway’s coast because of weather (thanks Ophelia). Instead, we headed north to County Mayo to climb Mayo’s most famous mountain, Croagh Patrick.
Mounting St. Patrick
Croagh Patrick is just a few miles outside of the town of Westport, so Phil and I took the opportunity to stay the night in that town before the morning climb. Westport is known as a picturesque and lively place, with a great pub scene that includes lots of good traditional Irish music.
We had several recommendations to visit Matt Malloy’s on Bridge Street in Westport, a pub named after its owner, one of Ireland’s most famous musicians. Malloy is part of The Chieftains, probably the most well known traditional Irish music group in the last 50 years. According to Matt Malloy’s website, the pub is “dark, deep, and unpasteurized, like its pints,” a colorful and completely accurate description.
Matt Malloys
True to form, the pub has daily Irish music sessions, so Phil and I spent a few hours with our Guinness pints enjoying the traditional music. A “session,” derived from the Irish word “seisiún” is a gathering of musicians to play traditional music (not being musically inclined I’ve never participated in one of these sessions, but have participated in a number of the related “drinking session,” which in my opinion is a far more convenient type of session in that there’s no need to haul instruments into and out of the pub).
Evening in Westport
We had good views of Croagh Patrick from our Westport B&B
After our night at Malloy’s, Phil and I were picked up by my friend Paul, a Swinford legend and one of my Galway roommates from the summer I lived there. It was a rainy and blustery morning so when Paul suggested that maybe we not make the trip, I hoped he was being serious. Unfortunately, he was joking and fully prepared to sherpa me and Phil up Croagh Patrick.
There is a history of pagans climbing the mountain that goes back more than 5,000 years, but what has given it more recent notoriety was St. Patrick’s 40 day fast on the mountain in 441 AD, more than 1,500 years ago.
Croagh Patrick stands at just over 2,500 feet, not a large mountain by any standard. It takes about three hours to get up and down “The Reek,” as it’s known by locals, and the most difficult part is towards the summit when the terrain becomes nothing but a huge rock pile, constantly moving underneath your feet. I’m not sure what St. Patrick’s fast was about, but it could very well have been to bring attention to the poor climbing conditions on the mountain.
More than a million people visit Croagh Patrick every year, and on the last Sunday in July a massive 25,000 person pilgrimage to the top takes place. And for some reason, many of the pilgrims hike barefoot! Phil, Paul and I kept our shoes on, and even though the weather wasn’t great we enjoyed making it to the top and catching glimpses of Clew Bay and the surrounding areas when we could.
A nice little pre-hike rainbow out the window of our B&B
One foot in front of the other
Making our way up the mountain….
Our Irish sherpa, Paul
In case you can’t tell, it was very windy on the mountain
There’s a chapel at the top that is (not surprisingly) used very infrequently.
Views into Clew Bay on our way down
Phil enjoying the views on the hike down
The sun started to come out…just in time for us to get to the bottom
Our friend Caroline arrived just after Phil headed back home, so Sarah and she decided to take a day trip to see the Cliffs of Moher, south of Galway in County Clare. The 700-foot cliffs are one of Ireland’s most popular tourist destinations and for good reason. They are stunning to see, even on the type of day that Sarah and Caroline experienced when you have to make sure the wind doesn’t blow you off the cliffs into the sea.
Rain gear definitely came in handy on this trip
Even in bad weather, the cliffs are beautiful
A pint at Gus O’Connors in Doolin after visiting the cliffs is part of the experience
I’ll Cry if I Want To
The birthday weekend rolled around, and fortunately, I wasn’t left alone to mope about turning 40. We had a number of friends make the trip, as well as my brothers and their spouses. We also had a special guest named Paddy O’Shea, and while that might sound like I’m talking about an Irish pub we visited, it’s actually my newest nephew.
Paddy!
Our weekend with friends from home and Ireland was full of laughter (mostly at my expense) and a pint or two of Guinness. On Saturday, we spent the afternoon doing a historical pub crawl in the city. I served as the guide (ish) and there were many complaints from participants that the only history on the tour was me saying “I used to drink here in 1998.”
Reserved for us!
Not the first or last toast of the evening
Surprise visit by the one and only Stallone!
Two hooligans loitering outside the Hole in the Wall pub
Dough Bros pizza at O’Connell’s beer garden…such great pizza (this wasn’t our first or last visit to Dough Bros)
Sarah with the Swinford boys
Brothers O’Shea with wives in Tig Coili, a great pub for traditional music
No one’s in charge here….
Brothers O’Shea (and Paddy)
Sisters-in-law picture
Connemara
Another highlight of the weekend was a day tour we took from Galway up through the Connemara region of the county, and to the towns of Roundstone and Clifden. The day started out cloudy and rainy but the sun poked through the clouds as we reached Clifden for lunch, and it kept shining in the afternoon as we made our way up the Sky Road for some amazing views.
Sunshine!
Clifden
Kylemore Abbey
Happy 40th Birthday Lora (one of us is only a day older than the other!)
One Last Pint
Our stay in Galway wrapped up with a great dinner at Hooked, followed by one final pint of Guinness at Monroe’s, the bar next to our Airbnb that we frequented during our stay.
Sarah and I said goodbye to the last of the crew visiting from the US, and headed home to finish packing for the start of our three month trip to South America.
First stop, Bogota, Colombia.
Goodbye Ireland!
