Village · Co. Galway
“The stepping stones” — the capital of Connemara on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay, founded in the 1820s by John D'Arcy and the engineer Alexander Nimmo, with the ruined castle on the hill above.
Clifden (An Clochán in Irish, meaning “stepping stones”) is a coastal town in County Galway, Ireland, in the region of Connemara, located on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay. As the largest town in the region, it is often referred to as “the Capital of Connemara”, and it is linked to Galway city by the N59. The town is the place where the region's roads come together — the bay in front, the mountains behind, and the walk along the river to the water is the walk that gets done first.
The town was founded at the start of the 19th century by John D'Arcy, who lived in Clifden Castle — built around 1818, now a ruin — on the hill west of the town. He had inherited the estate in 1804 when it was mostly inhabited by fishermen and farmers, and the idea of establishing a town on the coast was first voiced by him in 1812. Bad communications and a lack of private capital prevented fast progress until the 1820s, when the potato crop failed in 1821–22 and D'Arcy petitioned the government in Dublin for assistance. The engineer Alexander Nimmo was sent to the area and set the town out — the streets, the quay and the plan that the town still keeps.
Clifden is the largest town in Connemara and the base for the whole region: the coves and the peninsulas to the west, the Twelve Pins to the south, and the coast road that runs on to Roundstone and Cleggan. The bay in front of the town is the town's front garden — the water, the islands beyond it, and the Atlantic behind them. A day out of Clifden can be the town, the bay, or the drive west to the coves, depending on the weather and the light.
Clifden is on the N59 in the heart of Connemara, a drive from Galway city; the river walk to Clifden Bay is in the town, and the ruined castle is on the hill above. The town works as the base for the region — the bay in the morning, the mountains in the afternoon.
Where to stay
Clifden puts the bay, the ruins and the drive west to the coves all within a short reach — the region is the point.
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