Holiday Cottages In Connaught

Connaught is Ireland's western province, with around 240 self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk. It runs from the bogs and mountains of Connemara and Mayo to the lakes of Leitrim and the Yeats country of Sligo, all along the Wild Atlantic Way. Of those, 86 take dogs and 8 have a hot tub, most of the choice in Mayo and Galway.

Counties of Connaught

Connaught takes in the wild west of Ireland, where the Atlantic meets bog, mountain and a deeply indented coast. Its cottages sit across five counties, with the largest numbers in Mayo and Galway.

• Mayo: the busiest county here, with Achill Island, the pilgrim mountain of Croagh Patrick and the cliffs of the north coast
• Galway: takes in the harbour city, the wild bogland of Connemara and the Aran Islands out in the bay
• Sligo: the Yeats country below Benbulben, with surf beaches at Strandhill and Mullaghmore
• Leitrim: a quiet inland county of drumlins and lakes, with a short stretch of Atlantic coast
• the smaller market of Roscommon, a landlocked county of farmland, lakes and the River Shannon

Mayo and Galway between them hold the bulk of the province's cottages, so the western coast is where most visitors stay.

Connaught's coast and mountains

Connaught carries a long and rugged section of the Wild Atlantic Way. Connemara in Galway is a landscape of blanket bog, quartzite peaks and sea inlets, with the Twelve Bens rising above Connemara National Park. To the north, Mayo holds Croagh Patrick, the cone-shaped pilgrim mountain over Clew Bay, and Achill Island, reached by bridge and ringed by cliffs and Blue Flag strands. In Sligo the flat-topped Benbulben looms over the coast, with surf beaches at Strandhill and Mullaghmore. Inland, the lakes and drumlins of Leitrim and Roscommon give a gentler, greener country along the upper River Shannon.

Things to do in Connaught

The west is made for the outdoors. Drive the Sky Road above Clifden, walk in Connemara National Park and take the ferry to the Aran Islands for their stone forts and cliffs. In Mayo, climb or circle Croagh Patrick, ride the Great Western Greenway cycle path from Westport to Achill, and visit the famine memorial and shrine at Knock. Sligo offers the Yeats trail around Drumcliffe and Lough Gill, plus surfing at Strandhill. Galway city is worth a day for its lanes, music and the Latin Quarter, while inland there are the round towers and abbeys of the Shannon lakelands.

When to visit Connaught

Summer, from June to August, gives the warmest and driest spell and the long light that suits Connemara and the coast roads, though Galway and the honeypots are busiest then. May, June and September are good for walking Croagh Patrick or the Twelve Bens with fewer crowds and better cottage value. The west catches more than its share of Atlantic rain in any season, so waterproofs are wise year round. Out of season, a cottage with a turf fire comes into its own and prices ease.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Connaught

Connaught is good walking country for a dog, with open hills and long western strands, and 86 of the cottages here take dogs. Hot tubs are scarcer in this part of Ireland: just 8 of the cottages have one. Most of the dog-friendly choice is in Mayo and Galway, where the bulk of the province's self-catering sits. There is no provincial filter for either, so it is best to compare them on the individual county pages.

Getting to Connaught

The province has two airports. Ireland West Airport Knock in Mayo is the main gateway for the north and west, and Galway has a smaller airfield, with Shannon in the next province within reach of the south. By road the M6 links Dublin to Galway in around two and a quarter hours, with the M4 and N5 reaching Sligo and Mayo. Trains run from Dublin Heuston to Galway, Westport and Ballina, and from Connolly to Sligo. Ferries from Britain dock at Dublin and Rosslare, both a drive to the east.

Useful links

• Discover Ireland
• Failte Ireland
• Connemara National Park
• Wild Atlantic Way

Connaught is the westernmost of the four traditional provinces of Ireland and the smallest by population. It is made up of five counties: Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon. The province faces the full force of the Atlantic along its western edge, and much of its land is rough bog, mountain and lake, broken by a coast of long bays, islands and peninsulas.

The scenery is at its wildest in Connemara, in the west of Galway, where blanket bog and the quartzite peaks of the Twelve Bens run down to a fretted shore, and out in the bay lie the three Aran Islands with their ancient stone forts. To the north, Mayo holds the pilgrim mountain of Croagh Patrick above Clew Bay, the island of Achill ringed by sea cliffs, and the high coast around Ballycroy. Sligo is dominated by the flat-topped mass of Benbulben, while inland Leitrim and Roscommon are gentler country of drumlins, lakes and the upper reaches of the River Shannon.

The west has a strong cultural identity. Some of the largest Irish-speaking districts, the Gaeltacht, lie in Connemara and the Aran Islands, and the region was the heartland of the poet W. B. Yeats, who drew on the landscape of Sligo and is buried beneath Benbulben. Long one of the poorer and more remote parts of the country, hit hard by famine and emigration, Connaught today draws visitors to a coast and mountain country that is among the most striking in Ireland.