Thursday 11th July

Roundstone - Ballyconneely - Clifden - Letterfrack - Leenane (Connemara)
We followed the coast for most of the way - it is all very beautiful - with little inlets and perfect sand (e.g. in Mannin Bay). Stopped to shop at Ballyconneely - although it is near some good beaches, it has no particular character or interest of its own. Roundstone was a much better choice to stay the night.
Clifden is an attractive small town with two parallel streets - places here are named after Marconi (who demonstrated transatlantic radio here) and after Alcock and Brown (whose plane landed in a field nearby after a pioneering transatlantic flight).
All morning we were seeing the 12 Bens ahead of us, like small mountains placed on a flat land. Clouds always hang over them, casting dark shadows.
Picnic lunch on a pier near Moyard facing a pretty bay with a little hill in it. There was a shrine with two figures on the hill. We saw many shrines by the roadside during our tour of Ireland.
After lunch we headed for a gap in the hills, leaving the Bens of Connemara National Park to our right. We stopped to see Kylemore Abbey (built in the 19 century as a residence by a Manchetser business man). It has a prime site at the base of a mountain, facing a lake.
There is a footpath to a shrine part way up the mountain.
We passed through moorland with cotton grass and extensive turf cutting.
The sea inlet to Leenane is called Killary Harbour. We rode along its side and found a B & B at the end. The B & B is called the Convent, it has a sitting room in a conservatory and a dining room in the chapel. It used to be a holiday place for nuns. We had a room with a view over Killary harbour for €25 each. Some say the harbour is like a fjord as it has steep mountains on both sides.
We had a drink in a bar and our evening meal in Blackberry Café facing the harbour (their speciality is an excellent Irish stew). We talked to a group of Danish people who are walking with Irish Way, most of whom are also staying in the convent.
This was a fine, but cool day with rain in the evening.

Seal's Rock B& B	Roundstone
View from Seal's Rock B& B	Mannin Bay, Connemara
Mannin Bay, Connemara	The Bens
Picnic spot near Letterfrack	Picnic spot near Letterfrack
Kylemore Abbey	Fjord at Killary

B & B: The Convent, Leenane, Connemara, Galway. 095 42240.
Distance today 35 miles.