Clifden
Even though I have already written blogs about certain aspects of the last few days I wanted to say more about the town of Clifden. There was some drama surrounding my visit to Clifden but it will always remain in my memory as the town who took me to their own, everyone I met treated me like I had been a member of the community for years, from the guys at the local pub called Tom Kings on the main street in Clifden to the men and ladies of the golf club where I was a familiar figure huddled over my laptop in the evenings doing my blog, or sneaking a shower after my epic camping on the beach.
Clifden is the largest town in Connemara and is often referred to as the capital of Connemara and all the outlying districts and villages add to its overall charm. Obviously my favourite part of the Clifden area was Ballyconeely bay where I camped. The beaches were amazing and covered in white sand with beautiful blue sea with rugged stony outlying tiny islands which added to the beauty.
The job I took at the Abbeyglen Castle hotel was not the best I have ever done, but the beauty of my traveling is that I don’t have to do it if I don’t want to, so I decided not to, sadly I never got to say goodbye to all the wonderful people I worked with in the kitchens who all work so hard. The staff works together as a family and it was great to be part of the family even for just a short period. I met the housekeeping staff, one was called Eva from Poland, not sure of the other names, I met the waitresses, lovely girls from the local area with dreams of traveling themselves, Shannon and Alice I mostly spoke to, then there were the two French girls I shared my house with Alexandra and Juliette. The chefs Tony and Paul and the Turkish guy, all lovely people who have played a part in my huge adventure.
The regulars in the pub were lovely and I can’t remember their names again, but J J is one of them who runs the fantastic Mitchells seafood restaurant and pops in and out of the Tom Kings depending on how busy his place is, the Munster supporter, the place I had my first and best Guinness and watched the Scarlets get beaten by Munster, all memories made on my long journey. Life has its ups and downs whatever you are doing but the beauty of traveling is that when it has its downs you just move on.
Clifden was hit badly by the great famine in 1845 and by 1848 90% of the population were on relief (receiving government money), lots of landlords went bankrupt as disease hit. Much of the population took their chances and emigrated to America. Clifden didn’t gain prominence again until 1905 when Guiglielmo Marconi decided to build the first high power transatlantic long wave wireless telegraphy station, 4 miles south of the town, it is said that at its peak more than 200 locals worked at the station, including local man, Jack Phillips who later perished on the Titanic as Chief Radio Operator.
After the civil war in 1922 the station was moved to Waunfawr in Wales. The war of Independence between 1920 – 1921 saw a lot of destruction in Clifden but from 1930 repairs were initiated and the town was built up to what it is today. It is a thriving little town with a beautiful bay, nice hotels, busy local pubs, many shops, small and large, you will always find what you need without going further afield, and they have a big supermarket, a Lidl and Aldi with many smaller Spar type shops. Nice Artisan clothes shops as well as local craft shops also dominate the shopping street. It attracts many visitors every year from all over the world; while I was there I heard many different accents as well as meeting many different nationalities.
The visitor attractions in the area are many, all of which I enjoyed while I was there, The Sky road takes you 150 metres up behind the town where you can look down and see the whole area including the beautiful bays of Ballyconneely, Clifden bay and also Slyne head lighthouse, the furthest point at the headland. There are two besutiful churches with wonderful stained glass windows. There is Derrigimlagh where Alcock and Brown landed their Vickers Vimy Biplane after their epic trip across the Atlantic, Roundstone fishing village, Doon hill and Magistrates house, Inagh Valley, Twelve Bens mountain range, Maamturk mountain Range, Killary Fjord, the beautiful rustic and rugged bog road, Kylemore Abbey, Inishnee and Connemara National Park to name but a few. There are things I didn’t do and see which I hope to go back to at some point, definitely Innish Boffin.
There is also the beauty of the whole area, from the sunny days to the dreary days, the horizon looks different sometimes glorious mountains in plain view sometimes the peaks can be spotted above the mist, always colourful wherever you go , from the heather covered bog road to the abundance of daisies, Monbretia and Fuschia growing wild to the golden hued seaweed that covers much of the rocky seashore. 
Sometimes you have to look beyond the dreary weather to the beauty within.
Then there are my new friends, Gary who took me around a lot of these places and told me the history behind them all and who I will probably meet again sometime soon and Aaron who was a Belgian hitchhiker I picked up who comes to Ireland every year hitchhiking because he loves the music scene and the landscape. We are going to meet up one day next week to explore the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher and he has promised to take me to the best places for music sessions away from the touristy bits. Also there was Ailbhea pronounced ALVA who was my fellow pot washer at the hotel.
My time in Clifden was special for so many reasons not least the people I met which seems mostly to be the case wherever I go.