Farewell to Cathair na Mart

Grab paper and pencil. Write this down. You take the N59 out of Westport southeast toward Leenane and Clifden. Several kilometers outside of town make a right turn onto the L1824, heading off to Drummin. You are now on, perhaps, the most spectacular inland drive we’ve taken during this year’s holiday. The weather was by no means fair; we had very few clear vistas. But you certainly understood the pull toward imbuing the land with magic and mystery. High cliffs and mountains emerge from misty clouds, bubbling waterfalls spring from stone, areas of light and dark chase away as the sun plays behind the clouds. Several areas were quite reminiscent of ancient Japanese rice paper paintings of mountains, infinite shades of gray. Others were a riot of every possible shade of green. And, on the way, majestic mountain lakes, large and small. Although we will not have time to tour this road again on this trip, we have marked it as a priority for our next visit.

Our last night in Westport. We made a very good choice to light here for two weeks. We are thankful to have our visit to Cork in front of us. We would, indeed, be melancholy to heading directly home from this most pleasant town.