Three of Ireland’s great drystone forts sit offshore here. Dún Aonghasa stands 100 metres above the Atlantic on the western edge of Inis Mór, its ramparts ending at the cliff, with an exhibition at the visitor centre. Dún Dúchathair, the Black Fort, is on the same island and usually far quieter, and Dún Chonchúir crowns the high point of Inis Meáin, free and unguided at any hour. All three need a ferry, so they are a day out rather than a stop on a drive.
On the mainland the sites fall roughly into a western group and an eastern one. Connemara’s cluster on Derrigimlagh bog south of Clifden, where a free 5 km loop takes in both the concrete mast bases of Marconi’s wireless station and the cairn marking where Alcock and Brown came down in 1919. Cromwell’s Barracks, a star fort of about 1656, lies off Inishbofin and is reached on foot only for the couple of hours the causeway is exposed around low tide.
East Galway runs to churches and institutions near the Shannon: the Romanesque doorway at Clonfert, carved around 1200, where the key comes from the caretaker’s house; the Franciscan foundation at Meelick, still a working parish church; and the Portumna workhouse, whose seven main buildings survive intact and are seen on guided tours. The Spanish Arch is the one you can simply walk to.
Perched 100 metres above the Atlantic on Inis Mór, its drystone ramparts and forest of limestone spikes make it the county's most dramatic prehistoric site.
Built in 1584 as an extension of the medieval city walls, it anchors the Long Walk and stands beside the free Galway City Museum.
A stone cairn on Derrigimlagh Bog marks where the first non-stop transatlantic flight ended in 1919, with a signposted loop past Marconi's wireless ruins.
The west doorway carved around 1200 is the finest Romanesque stonework in Ireland, though you collect the key from the caretaker's house to the right.
A five-pointed star fort of about 1656 on a tidal islet off Inishbofin, free to reach on foot around low tide.
43 of 45 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Inis Mór, galway
Perched 100 metres above the Atlantic, Dún Aonghasa dominates the western edge of Inis Mór with its massive drystone ramparts and a striking forest of limestone spikes. Visitors can walk the ancient pathways, explore a modern exhibition, and take in uninterrupted views across Galway Bay to the Connemara mountains.
Galway, galway
Two weathered stone arches frame the River Corrib where it meets the Atlantic, anchoring Galway’s Long Walk promenade. Built in 1584 as a defensive extension to the medieval city walls, the site survived a 1755 tsunami and now hosts street musicians, weekend markets and easy access to the free Galway City Museum.
Derrigimlagh Bog, galway
In Derrigimlagh Bog, south of Clifden, a stone cairn marks where Alcock and Brown landed their Vickers Vimy after the world’s first non-stop transatlantic flight. A tail-fin sculpture on nearby Errislannan Hill looks out over the bog and the Atlantic, and a signposted loop walk threads past the ruins of Guglielmo Marconi’s early wireless station.
Clonfert, galway
Clonfert Cathedral stands where St Brendan the Navigator founded a monastery in the 6th century. Its west doorway, carved around 1200, is the finest piece of Romanesque stonework in Ireland, and Brendan's grave lies inside. The catch: the church is usually locked, and you collect the key from the caretaker's house to the right.
Inishbofin Island, galway
Cromwell's Barracks is a five-pointed star fort built around 1656 on Port Island, a tidal islet at the mouth of Inishbofin's harbour. The Cromwellians held captured Catholic priests here before shipping them to the West Indies, and Jacobite troops later held it until after the Battle of Aughrim in 1691. It's free, but you can only reach it on foot across a causeway that's exposed for about two hours around low tide.
Derrigimlagh, galway
Two firsts in long-distance communication happened on this one stretch of Connemara bog: Marconi's trans-Atlantic radio station and the crash-landing that ended Alcock and Brown's 1919 flight. A free 5 km loop links both across a blanket bog south of Clifden.
Inis Meáin, galway
Dún Chonchúir is an oval drystone fort on the highest point of Inis Meáin, built sometime between the 1st and 7th centuries AD. Its inner wall still rises up to seven metres and once ran more than eight metres thick at the base – roughly 14,000 tonnes of limestone stacked without mortar. It is free, unguided and open all hours, with a full 360-degree sweep across the three Aran Islands.
Inis Mór, galway
Perched on a windswept promontory on Inis Mór, Dún Dúchathair is the quieter, equally dramatic alternative to Dún Aonghasa. Its stepped dry-stone walls and surviving beehive huts speak to centuries of island life, all set against the open Atlantic – and unlike its famous neighbour, you'll likely have it to yourself.
Portumna, galway
The Irish Workhouse Centre occupies the Portumna Workhouse, which opened in 1852 and survives with all seven of its main buildings intact – one of the most complete in Ireland. Guided tours run four times a day through the dormitories, kitchen and segregated yards, telling the story of the Poor Law system and the Great Famine.
Kiltartan, galway
Kiltartan is the south Galway parish where the Irish Literary Revival took root – Lady Gregory and W.B. Yeats collected folklore in its fields and lanes. A restored 1892 schoolhouse now holds the Kiltartan Gregory Museum, and the ruins of the de Burgo tower house at Castletown stand a short way off. The crossroads itself is tied to the blind poet Raftery and his 'Beauty of Ballylee'.
Letterfrack, galway
Kylemore Lough is a freshwater lake alongside the N59 in Connemara, under the slopes of the Twelve Bens. For most visitors it's a lake seen from the road or as the backdrop to Kylemore Abbey; anglers know it for the salmon and sea trout fished from Delphi Lodge on its eastern shore.
Derrigimlagh, galway
The first commercial transatlantic wireless messages left this Connemara bog in 1907, tapped out in Morse for a sister station in Nova Scotia. A free self-guided loop crosses the old site past concrete mast bases and interpretive panels, with the Twelve Bens on the skyline.
Meelick, galway
Founded as a Franciscan friary in 1414 and still an active parish church, Meelick has survived suppression, hiding and near-ruin on a quiet rise above the River Shannon. Its 17th-century memorial tablets, old graveyard and place on the Hymany Way make it a worthwhile stop, though it remains a working church rather than a visitor attraction.
Leam Bridge, galway
Leam Bridge, a rubble-stone double arch built around 1800, is where John Ford framed the opening of The Quiet Man in 1952. It's an unstaffed roadside stop 8 km west of Oughterard - pull into the lay-by, read the board, take the photo the film's fans come for, and don't pocket a stone, the bridge has needed repairs because people do.
Headford, galway
On the Black River near Headford, Ross Errilly is the most complete Franciscan friary ruin in Ireland. Founded around 1460, it kept its church, 1498 bell tower, two cloisters and domestic quarters through repeated confiscation, and entry to the OPW site is free.
Inis Oírr, galway
Drifting Atlantic sand buried this 10th-century church on Inis Oírr so deep that by the 1800s only a mound showed. Islanders dug it out, and today you step down into the chancel, below the graveyard around it, with the saint's sheltered grave close by.
Galway City, galway
Columbus lore holds that the explorer prayed within these medieval walls before setting sail. St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, completed in 1320, is the largest medieval parish church in Ireland still in continuous use, with a 15th-century bell tower and a façade crowded with carved mermaids, beasts and gargoyles.
galway
Ardfry, galway
Inishmaan (Inis Meáin), galway
Renvyle, galway
Claregalway, galway
Inishmore, galway
Inisheer (Inis Oírr), galway
Kinvara, galway
Creeragh, galway
Inisheer, galway
Creggs, galway
Doorus Peninsula, galway
Errislannan, galway
Ballygar, galway
Kilconnell, galway
Cleggan, galway
Abbeyknockmoy, galway
Streamstown Bay, galway
University of Galway, galway
Sruthán, galway
Portumna, galway
Inis Oírr (Inisheer), galway
Sylaun, galway
Galway, galway
Toombeola, galway
Bullaun, galway
University Road, galway
Renvyle Peninsula, galway
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