When we decided to visit Cong (see "Close Encounters"), we found ourselves in an area called Joyce Country on our Michelin map. While we knew we'd be visiting Yeats Country in a few days, we had no notion that we'd be in Joyce Country until we landed in it.
As Jerry said, "I didn't know he had Country. I thought he was all about Dublin." In fact he was born in Dublin, lived in Dublin, and wrote of Dublin. But apparently his people are from this little corner of northeastern Connemara, which straddles Co. Galway and Co. Mayo.
Either way, this was a very happy discovery. The landscape isn't as dramatic as sea cliffs and headlands, but it is some of the prettiest territory we've seen. We agreed that, if we were to rent a house, Joyce Country is most likely at the top of our list (with Dingle not too far behind).
Lough Corrib:
Lough Mask:
Along Lough Nafooey:
A little spot of rain; there is a reason these hills are so green!
This is definitely sheep country. We kept seeing black-faced sheep. We were tempted to stop in at Joyce Country Sheepdogs, where they give demonstrations of the dogs' skills (for potential buyers). The dogs are especially handy in this countryside. They can get to the high, steep slopes and bring the sheep back down to lower pastures.
All in all, a very happy detour (if you ignore the adventure we had getting out of this lovely spot).
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