We were up for an early breakfast at 8 as we had a 9.20 tee time at Westport Golf Club. It was foggy so our first worry was the course open. It was open but the visibility was poor which made playing tricky until it started to clear by the back nine. There was word of a really hot 30 degs plus day but in fact that didn’t happen. Just another lovely day in Ireland! And once the fog cleared there were lovely views out to Achill Island!
Re the golf itself , the course was long and tiring, especially for Howard with his bad back. Our thoughts were “Decent layout but wouldn’t play again”. We paid 75 euros each using Golf Now’s Hot Deals. It has been difficult to find reasonably priced golf in the west of Ireland.
We were on the road at 12.30 heading for Killary Harbour. This Harbour is not a harbour as such but a fjord thus providing safe anchorage. There were some lovely views. We stopped at the village of Leenaun for a snack lunch. It was windy but the Purple Door Cafe had built pods in the car park for shelter! Cosy!
Driving on we felt Connemara is lovely. Stopping briefly at Kylemore Abbey and its walled gardens, we regretted not knowing about it earlier and having a longer lunch stop. It’s a beautiful Benedictine monastery.
We drove on again and didn’t make another stop until we got to the hotel at Athenry. The drive was fabulous although the roads were sometimes tight and windy roads with slow drivers which made it very tiring for Howard. We drove passed both the airport and ferry terminals to the Aran Islands just to the south. We had a very busy drive round Galway Cityand thus we were very relieved to arrive at the hitel, and not have to go anywhere. We were even contemplating a swim in the hotel pool, only to find it closed. Howard tired. Hotel was nice but that was disappointing. There was no AC but we were given a very effective fan from reception! Plus an apology from the manager about us not being informed correctly about the pool - so we were gifted a bottle of wine!
We had drinks and food sitting outside in the warmth even at 6.30. We have been so lucky with the weather!
