SHgo^ Connemara and Clare 6$ 



their summer meeting there. I next proceeded to Kilkee, and 

 finished up by returning to Galway by rail, and from thence 

 to Recess in Connemara. Recess is an extremely good centre 

 from which to explore Connemara, and the hotel there is owned 

 and managed by the railway company, who have done every- 

 thing possible to attract visitors to it. 



I will now refer to the western seaboard of Ireland, and 

 describe as briefly as possible some of the sights that will meet 

 the traveller coming from Sligo in the north-west to he reaches 

 Kilkee in the south-west. The people who inhabit these parts 

 of Ireland are bilingual, and speak Irish and English, the former 

 from choice and the latter from necessity. These people are 

 most interesting to meet and speak to, the older people are 

 conversant with the habits and customs of the ancient Celtic 

 race, and relate old stories and folk tales, and croon you some 

 of the ancient airs that we are now trying to write down and 

 preserve from being entirely lost. Through Mayo, Galway and 

 Clare the old manners and customs can be studied, which are 

 surely and slowly dying out through the increased contact with 

 visitors and tourists. The sublime cliff scenery of Achill and 

 Clare can now be visited with comparatively little fatigue, as well 

 as the rivers, lakes, and bens of Connemara. The Midland Great 

 Western Railway runs right across the centre of Ireland from 

 Dublin to Galway, and from thence through Connemara to 

 Clifden, the capital of that district. From Athlone, almost the 

 centre of Ireland, it extends through Roscommon and Mayo to 

 Westport, and thence to the Sound of Achill, and to Ballina 

 and Killala. Here on the line at Mallarany the railway com- 

 pany have erected a fine and commodious hotel on a site com- 

 manding a view of Clew Bay. The tourist visiting Connemara 

 and Achill will be delighted with many miles of the grandest 

 and most picturesque lake and mountain scenery in the United 

 Kingdom. The panoramic view of Killary Bay for eight miles, 

 with its wild, romantic mountains towering into the sky, and 

 the volcanic-like " Mweelrea " (2,688 feet) at the entrance, can- 

 not be surpassed. The wild grandeur of Kylemore Pass and 



