Wild Atlantic Way

West Atlantic

Leitrim, Mayo & Galway — islands, peaks and pilgrimage

Achill, the Aran Islands, Croagh Patrick and Connemara: big water, bigger mountains, and a landscape that has shaped Irish storytelling for a thousand years.

Places

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Island · Co. Mayo

Achill Island

The largest island off the west coast, linked to the mainland by a bridge over Achill Sound since 1887 — wild Atlantic headlands, black-pebble bays, a lighthouse with a story, and a landscape that has shaped Irish life for a thousand years.

Free to explore; a small charge at some coastal car parks.· Allow A full day is not enough; allow two or three days.+ Save

Walk · Co. Mayo

Croagh Patrick

The 764-metre mountain near Murrisk, traditionally the place where St Patrick fasted — a broad, windswept summit and one of the great walking and pilgrimage places in the country.

Free to climb.· Allow 2–3 hours to the summit and back; 3–4 hours for the round.+ Save

Attraction · Co. Galway

Kylemore Abbey

A castle turned abbey on the shore of Kylemore Lough in Connemara, three kilometres from Letterfrack in Co. Galway — one of the most photographed buildings in the west of Ireland, with a story that goes back to the 1860s.

Gardens and castle ticketed; the abbey grounds are free to view from the shore.· Allow 2–3 hours+ Save