Ask any publican—he will probably agree that the West is the “most Irish” part of the island. Yeats (perhaps perched on a barstool) once said, “For me, Ireland is Connacht.” For less privileged Irish in more recent centuries, Connacht meant poor soil and emigration. When Cromwell uprooted the native Irish landowners in Leinster and Munster and resettled them west of the Shannon, the popular phrase for their plight became “To Hell or Connacht.” The Potato Famine that plagued the entire island was most devastating in the West—entire villages emigrated or died. Today, every western county has less than half its 1841 population. Though wretched for farming, the land from Connemara north to Ballina is a boon for hikers, cyclists, and hitchhikers who enjoy the isolation of boggy, rocky, or strikingly mountainous landscapes. Western Ireland’s gorgeous desolation and enclaves of traditional culture are now its biggest attractions.
Galway is a different story: the city has long been a successful port and has begun to harbor young ramblers and music lovers of every kind. Farther south, the Cliffs of Moher, the mesmerizing moonscape of the Burren, and the influential trad music scene attract travelers to Co. Clare. The Shannon River, the longest in all of Britain and Ireland at 214km, pools into holiday-haven Lough Derg and runs south through the city of Limerick, sketching the eastern boundary of the rugged, rocky west. To the north, the farmland of the upper Shannon spills into Co. Sligo’s mountains, lakes, and ancient monuments.
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