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ireland:
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WESTERN IRELAND
Calling Code: + 353
Just as in the United States, there's a certain mystique about Ireland's
west. This is the country's lonelier, wilder side, its rugged coastline pounded
by the Atlantic surf. This is also the territory of the Gaeltacht, strongholds
of the old Irish language and culture. And for visitors, this region has a magic
all its own.
You'll feel it on the spectacular and justly famous Ring of Kerry and on the nearby
Dingle Peninsula, once the haunt of hermits at spots like the Gallarus Oratory
and still possessed of a dreamy solitude. You'll be awed by it waling atop the
windswept Cliffs of Moher, towering up to 660 feet above the Atlantic. You'll
be aware of it while gazing at Poulnabrone Dolmen balanced amid the stony landscape
of the Burren, or winding through Connemara out to the charming ports of Clifden
and Westport.
Amazing scenery is only part of the west's magnetism. There's also an irrepressible
creative vitality that burst out in lively pub sessions and music festivals in
Ennis and in a thriving theater scene in Galway known for launching new playwrights.
Poetry is rooted deep in the soil of Sligo - William Butler Yeats's"land of heart's
desire," immortalized in The Lake Isle of Innisfree and Under Ben Bulben.
And we haven't even reached Donegal yet, tucked away in its
own special corner of the world - a corner that boasts the surprise of beautiful
Glenveagh National Park tucked among the mountains, the tweed weaving center of Ardara
on the coast, and the imposing pre-Christian Grianan of Aileach hill fort.
There's so much more to learn... Check out our Facts For The Visitor or read up on our reviews of everything about Ireland:
If you know of a great destination we're missing,
review it for us!!
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