The West
From a harbour city famous for its music and festivals to a North Mayo river town that calls itself the Salmon Capital of Ireland, along Ireland's western Atlantic seaboard.
15 towns in Ireland
Towns in The West
Achill Island
Ireland's largest island, bridged not ferried, on the Wild Atlantic Way
Aran Islands (Inis Mór)
Dún Aonghasa's cliff fort, dry-stone walls and a Gaeltacht island reached by ferry from Galway
Ballina
The Salmon Capital of Ireland, on the banks of the Moy in North Mayo
Belmullet
The capital of Erris, where two bays meet and the Atlantic does the rest
Bunratty
A restored 15th-century castle and folk park where the Owengarney meets the Shannon Estuary in south Co. Clare
Castlebar
Mayo's county town, between the Mall and the mountains
Clifden
The capital of Connemara, where the Twelve Bens meet the Atlantic
Cong
The Mayo village on a limestone isthmus, with a canal that never carried a boat
Doolin
The home of Irish traditional music, on the Burren edge between the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran ferry
Ennis
The county town of Clare on its river island, a year-round trad-music town and the handiest base for the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher
Enniscrone
Hot seaweed baths and a five-kilometre strand on Killala Bay
Galway
The City of the Tribes, where the street is the stage and the Atlantic is the edge of town
Lahinch
A Victorian railway resort on Liscannor Bay where links golfers and surfers share a mile of promenade
Roundstone
A Connemara fishing village between a tombolo of white beaches and a bog of a hundred lakes
Westport
Mayo's planned Georgian town, between Clew Bay and the Reek