An evening view of the little town of Clifden and its protected shoreline in Clifden Bay, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland
Some background information:
Clifden is a coastal town in the Connemara region of the Irish County Galway, situated on the Wild Atlantic Way. It has about 1,600 residents and is located on the spot, where the Owenglin River flows into Clifden Bay. Although Clifden is rather small, it is still the largest town in the whole area and hence, often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". Frequented by tourists, Clifden is linked to Galway City by the N59 road.
Clifden is still a rather young community. The town wasn’t founded before the beginning of the 19th century by John D'Arcy, who lived in Clifden Castle west of Clifden. Clifden Castle was built in 1818, after D'Arcy had inherited the estate in 1804. The idea of establishing a town on the coast was first voiced by him in 1812, but bad communications and a lack of private capital prevented fast progress. In the early 1820s, a quay was built at Clifden and the construction of a road to Galway began. With these improvements to its infrastructure, the town started to grow.
When John D'Arcy died in 1838, Clifden already had a population 1,100, two hotels and 23 pubs. Products that were shipped out from Clifden Harbour included marble, corn, fish and kelp. The town's surging growth and prosperity came to an end when the Great Famine began in 1845.
Clifden gained prominence after 1905, when the first high power transatlantic long wave wireless telegraphy station was built six kilometres (four miles) south of the town to minimize the distance to its sister station in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. In 1907, the first point-to-point fixed wireless service connecting Europe with North America opened for public service with the transmission of 10,000 words. At peak times, up to 200 people were employed by the Clifden wireless station.
During the Irish War of Independence, Clifden was the location of an event called the "Burning of Clifden". It was one of the events following the "Bloody Sunday" on 21st November 1920. After the Clifden branch of the IRA had fatally shot R.I.C. Constables Charles Reynolds and Thomas Sweeney, a trainload of Black and Tans (mostly unemployed former British soldiers from Britain) arrived at Clifden in the early hours of St Patrick's Day 1921. They killed one civilian, seriously injured another, burned 14 houses and plundered as well as damaged several others.
In the Irish Civil War, Clifden changed hands between the National Army and the IRA several times, before it was finally occupied by the National Army on 16th December 1922. Today, Clifden is a popular tourist destination for people exploring the Connemara region. Places of interest nearby include the Twelve Pins, the Connemara National Park, the Sky Road, the island of Inishbofin and Slyne Head Lighthouse.
Connemara is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, which is a key part of the identity of the region and is the largest Gaeltacht in the country. Historically, Connemara was part of the territory of Iar Connacht (West Connacht), while geographically, it has many mountains, peninsulas, coves, islands and small lakes.
The Wild Atlantic Way is a tourism trail on the west coast, and on parts of the north and south coasts, of Ireland. The 2,500 km (1,553 mile) driving route passes through nine counties and three provinces, stretching from County Donegal's Inishowen Peninsula in the very north of Ireland to Kinsale, County Cork, on the Celtic Sea coast in the very south. Along the route there are 157 discovery points, 1,000 attractions and more than 2,500 activities. In 2014, the route was officially launched by the Republic of Ireland’s Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Michael Ring.
However, the roads forming the Wild Atlantic Way have always been favoured by locals and tourists alike for generations even before they became known collectively as the Wild Atlantic Way route. It offers truly spectacular Atlantic Ocean vistas as well as many places to visit and sights by the roadside. More than 150 locations have been officially designated as Discovery Points. These have been marked locally with a special signpost.
County Galway is a county in the west of Ireland, taking up the south of the province of Connacht. The traditional county includes the city of Galway, but the city and county are separate local government areas. Currently, the population of the county is more than 276,000. In the west of the county, there are several Irish-speaking areas.
The first inhabitants in the Galway area arrived over 7000 years ago. The county originally comprised several kingdoms and territories which predate the formation of the county. These kingdoms included Aidhne, Uí Maine, Maigh Seóla, Conmhaícne Mara, Soghain and Máenmaige. In 1569, County Galway became an official entity. The region known as Connemara retains a distinct identity within the county, though its boundaries are unclear. Hence, it may account for as much as one third or as little as 20% of the county. Places of interest in Galway are among others the Connemara National Park, Kylemore Abbey and Dunguaire Castle.
