It’s summer vacation time and we had the opportunity to explore a bit of Ireland as a family. We decided to head to the West, choosing to explore around Connemara, County Galway. The landscape in Connemara is so beautiful and unusual. The surrounding mountains frame it perfectly. There are rocks everywhere: making up the landscape, walls, houses, even the beaches! And of course there is the sea, which is beautiful from any angle. At 14, 12, and 8 years old, my kids still love playing in the sand & water at the beach. Thankfully, it doesn’t matter to them whether it is cold or not, or even if it is raining, because Ireland is not known for its heat (or sunny weather)! Some of the beaches in Connemara are incredibly pristine, and the water, I kid you not, was turquois. They had a ball… while I was wrapped in a blanket. 🙂
One beach we visited was completely covered in stones, with no sand at all. We had to drive through a pillared gate to get to the beach and the sign appropriately read “stones” in Irish (clocán). It was a short visit, but so neat to see. Here are pictures from some of the beaches, and some wildflowers. I just bought a fantastic handbook of Ireland’s wild flowers. It is great to be able to put a name on all of the flowers we so often see!
Will you be visiting Ireland any time soon? What are you hoping to see?
Happy Summer!
Dana
Errislannan, Connemara.
Irish sign on the stone beach in Errislannan.
A beach of stones in Errislannan, Connemara.
Stone wall with bell heather in Errislannan, Connemara.
Ballyconneely, Connemara.
Wild flowers of ragwort, pyramidal orchid and wild carrot, and my kids playing on the beach in Ballyconneely.
A pristine beach in Ballyconneely, Connemara.
Kids work.
A pristine beach all to ourselves in Ballyconneely, Connemara.
Sea Holly blooms in June, July & August. Only found by the sea, sandy strands and on the front of sand-dunes.
Sea Holly – an Irish wild flower.
The Pyramidal Orchid, an Irish wild flower, flowers from June through August, and can be found in dry grassland and sand-dunes.
On another day, on another beach in Ballyconneally (in the rain). Connemara.
Three happy kids on a sunny day in Cleggan, Connemara.
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Stones in Cleggan, Connemara.
Mom in the Garden 
Ireland looks so lovely – it’s on my holiday list (along with another 20 countries)! The photos of the sea hollies are really pretty and your children look truly happy… you’re blessed!
Thank you PJ Girl, I do feel blessed for so many reasons. It’s funny how the kids don’t care about the weather at all and they loved the beach!
Beautiful photos! Thanks for sharing them. It looks like you had a great time!
Thank you Christine! We did have a lovely time. The beaches are a different side to Ireland that I don’t think are known as well.
Ireland is enriched with the wealth of nature. The environment is clean from any kind of population. And this fact is very beautifully explained by this post. The beaches in Galway County of Ireland are a great place to spend your family vacations.
Thank you so much for your compliment. We can certainly attest to the fun and beautiful side of County Galway!