Keep Calm and Pedal On

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Oh My-O, Oh Mayo how great it was to meet you! County Sligo you have a lot to live up to. ☘️

From the conservatory of our stay at Stella Maris we could see Downpatrick Head and the giant land form just off its coast. We knew we had to have a look for ourselves. And indeed, that was our first stop of the day.

Dun Briste (Broken Fort) is a huge 150 foot sea stack rising from the Atlantic Ocean near Downpatrick Head. It’s covered with lush green grass, surrounded by crashing waves and was actually once connected to the mainland.

Long ago, people lived and farmed on the tip of Downpatrick Head until a violent storm in 1393 severed it from the mainland, leaving its inhabitants stranded on the newly formed sea stack. To be honest, I can’t imagine what was going through their heads when that happened.

They were reportedly rescued using ropes from ships, but still. All they had was lost on the sea stack.

That story was confirmed when researchers later discovered remains of stone buildings, field walls, and evidence of cultivation, confirming that this seemingly impossible place was once home to a small community.

We reached Dun Briste right after the rain and the bluebird skies made the ocean seem even bluer and more dramatic.

We cycled a “V” today (looking at you Victoria👀) and on some nice rural bike trails.

Hard to believe soon our northbound journey will come to an end in Derry.

We popped into Gilroy’s for our Pub of the Day Pint Size Review. The pub itself was no McDonnell’s but the view was 💯.

So if you’re lucky enough to enjoy a pint while looking at Killala Bay with a Guinness in hand you’re lucky enough. ☘️ Slainte!

Towns we cycled trough today included Ballina and Killala.

Click on the image below to view more pics and videos:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Today’s ride took us through what looked somewhat like an Irish version of the prairie—miles of open, grassy coastal plain stretching toward the Atlantic. And yes, it was also very windy with gorgeous cloud formations. Distant mountains, land void of trees, occasional ocean cliffs and sunshine brought some of the most gorgeous riding yet. Not sure if there is a word for Irish prairie but that’s what we cycled through today.

Ceide Fields was the last stop on our route today before calling it a day. It’s a hidden farming community buried under several feet of bogs that thrived nearly 6,000 years ago. To put it in perspective, that’s before the pyramids were even built. It was discovered by a local school teacher who was cutting turf in the 1940’s. Stone fences, cooking artifacts and farming implements are just some of what’s been uncovered there.

Ceide Field overlooks this dramatic coastline. Not a bad place to live.

Finally in what might be one of our favorite stays of the trip, we landed in Stella Maris, a structure with a unique and varied history.

Overlooking Bunatrahir Bay just outside of Ballycastle, Stella Maris was built around 1853 as a British Coast Guard headquarters.

Around 1915 the Sisters of Mercy took it over and named it “Star of the Sea.” The sisters lived at Stella Maris and traveled nearly two miles into the village each day by horse-drawn cart to teach children.

Eventually the sisters moved their convent into town to be closer to the parish school and Stella Maris became a country house hotel.

Our host Rolf, (now owner of Stella Maris) took excellent care of us and I promise he will do the same for you should you ever find yourself in need of a night’s lodging or tasty meal in County Mayo.

Towns we cycled through today: Inver and Belderg

Click on the image below to view today’s video:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

The sun came back to County Mayo today and with it brought shadows.

Three weeks of cycling around Ireland’s west coast and nine more to go. It’s been unforgettable.

I’ll get to today’s ride but first, let’s get to a Pint Size Review of our Pub of the Day that I’ve been just “dying” to share with you: McConnell’s Bar & Undertakers

Pictured above is Padraig Conroy, owner, undertaker and politician who welcomes people into McDonnell’s with a handshake and a pint.

His grandparents, Michael and Elizabeth McDonnell, established the family pub in 1942 and Padraig inherited it in 2002. It’s known locally as “The Lobster Pot” because once you get in, it’s difficult to get out. We can vouch for that. 🤣

In talking to Padraig, he has a fierce pride in Belmullet and the surrounding area. And he was quick to ask if we flew to Ireland on Aer Lingus because McDonnell’s was featured in the documentary series called A Proper Pint, that was offered on the plane.

We’re not the only ones to raise a pint in recognizing McDonnell’s as something special. It was also named among Ireland’s top 10 pubs in the Sunday Times’ 2025 list, and in 2026 Padraig Conroy won Pub of the Year for Mayo at the Irish Restaurant Awards.

All this and he took the time to personally greet us and make us feel right at home here in Belmullet.

As far as cycling we’ve had no steep climbs to contend with for the past week and today was no different. We enjoyed breezy country riding on roads as smooth as Irish butter sliding over a hot skillet.

Also wanted to comment on the many Marian grottoes in Ireland. I think we’ve pedaled past at least one every day and again, today was no different.💙

Today we cycled through Bangor and Bunnahowen.

Click on the link below to view today’s video:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Dolly Parton said, “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow ya gotta put up with the rain.”

True dat. Ireland is so beautiful because she has so much rain and today she gave us buckets of it.🌈

Below is the County Mayo welcome sign. They forgot to add: “Come for the scenery. Stay because your rain gear is already on.”🤣

It was actually a decent ride with 22 miles on the fantastic Great Western Greenway with a nice riding surface and no traffic.

We passed a well known bronze statue on the Greenway which portrays a father and two young barefoot sons waving goodbye to their mum who was off to work in the potato fields in Scotland.

It was a steady, heads down, 47 miler (Garmin forgot to record some of our ride) without any breaks. We didn’t want to stop and rest for fear of chilling.

At one point I turned to Tom and said “I could use one of those turf log fires right about now.” 😂

When we got to Mulranny it began raining even harder and we didn’t know exactly where our hotel was. Going back and forth down the main drive with Google doing what Google does sometimes in the rain (get confused) I can happily say no harsh words or eye rolls were exchanged. 🤣

We celebrated Mother Nature giving County Mayo what she needed today with a pint at our Pub of the Day and a tasty dinner at McLoughlin’s.

As with most pubs there’s a variety of taps that include at least a pilsner, a lager, a cider and most definitely stouts. McLoughlin’s offered all three popular Irish stouts on tap: Guinness, Beemish and Murphy’s. They also had a Guinness 0.0 on tap for our teetotalling friends.👍🏻

What’s a bit comical in the pubs we’ve visited is the prevalence of Coors and Heineken. And we haven’t seen fountain sodas, only canned or bottled soda is offered.

So today we toast to McLoughlin’s for offering so many stout choices. What a wonderful Irish world in which to be cycling!

And gratefully I finally found my warm in McLoughlin’s.

Towns we cycled through included Westport and Newport.

Click on the link below to see the hot mess of a day: 😂

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Today we had one of the best rides…

But first we had to get off the island to catch a sunrise ferry from Inishmore to mainland Ireland (which is also an island).😂

We said goodbye to yet another glamping pod grateful for a good and dry night of sleep.

The overcast, misty day was an ideal setting as we pedaled through miles of bogs on either side of the desolate, one lane road. We had sheep to keep us company and occasionally witnessed a local harvesting turf.

At first when we saw the white trash bags, we thought about the unfortunate idea someone had to collect discarded litter. However then we rode past several piles of black rectangular shaped pieces and realized there were what appeared to be geometric shavings from land in the bogs and that someone was harvesting something for someone.

It really is the most fun trying to figure out what we are seeing while riding by without being told. The convos on the bike can be the best part of the ride.

Later we learned that the piles of dark blocks were turf—peat cut from the bog and dried to be used as fuel. Traditionally, the sod is cut with a special shovel called a sleán, stacked to dry, and eventually burned in fireplaces and stoves for heat and cooking.

And of course the white bags scattered around the bogs are used to collect and transport the dried turf. All of this is an Irish tradition that’s still very much a part of life in the west.

By the way, since we arrived in Ireland on September 1st we’ve seen not one policeman, not one hint of sketchiness, crime, violence or homelessness. We did have a B & B stay next door to two Guarda (Police) Stations so we know there are police here.

Slainte to our Pub of the Day, Lowry’s in Clifden!🍻 Lowry’s has been in the Lowry family since 1949, when Patrick Lowry, a former Garda (police) sergeant, bought the pub and renamed it after himself.

The atmosphere is cozy with lit candles on every table, an extensive selection of shelved whiskey and my favorite… glass front cabinets of medicines, candy jars, food stuffs and other miscellaneous items an old timey store might offer. Plus they claim to offer live music daily but Tom and never stay long enough or late enough to enjoy.😬

And they must be doing something right, it’s been awarded “Best Traditional Bar in Ireland” three times.

Light another candle for Lowry’s! ☘️🇮🇪💚🕯️

Click on the link below to view today’s vid:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Tom packed up the tent in misty rain this morning and we cycled a short 13 miles to the ferry to Inishmore.

It’s the largest of the three Aran Islands and quite beautiful as well as historic.

As we’ve been riding around western Ireland, we’ve been intrigued by all the little stone-walled fields—but on Inishmore, it’s hard to imagine how anyone ever farmed this land because there’s barely ANY soil.

We sat in between two lovely couples at dinner, (one from Des Moines and one from Buffalo).

Iowans Randal and Kathy have been making their way around Ireland for days and this is Kathy’s third visit.💚💚💚

Tom and I were asking them about the all of the rock enclosures around the island, particularly on our exploratory ride this afternoon that’s not actually on an Inishmore tourist cycling route.🤣 Kathy explained the following:

Basically islanders made their own soil. They gathered seaweed from the Atlantic shore, mixed it with sand and whatever soil and organic material they could find, and spread it over the bare limestone. Animal 💩 was also used as fertilizer. Year after year, they built up enough soil to grow crops.

As for the stone walls, when farmers cleared the fields of the limestone rocks, they stacked them into walls. The walls helped protect the soil from the strong Atlantic winds (yes we understand allll about the wind here in Ireland) and the stone walls also kept their livestock contained.

So when we looked across the landscape today on our ride, we didn’t seen fields of green as on the mainland, we saw what was left of incredibly hard work. The islanders didn’t just farm the land; they practically built the land they farmed. To me this is further evidence of Irish resilience, tenacity and work ethic.

There are bike hires and tours available but since we had our own bikes and Internet access we put together our own little tour. We didn’t find everything we were looking for but sometimes the fun of it is the exploring!

One of our fave stops was Seven Churches which is an ancient monastic site dating back to the seventh century. There are actually only two churches remaining but it wasn’t difficult to see where the others may have stood centuries ago. Among the ruins were graves, stone crosses and a holy well.

And finally our Pint Size Review of our Pub of the Day which will be very pint sized because it was our first meal of the day and we went there for dinner more hungry than thirsty.

Ti Joe Watty’s is a long time gathering spot on Inishmore. Our new pals Randal and Kathy had the pleasure of meeting 91 year Patrick who is an island local earlier in the day (probably while we were out on our self-created bike tour losing my sandals). They commented on his youthfulness and that when he left the pub he confidently took hold of his shillelagh and went on about his day.

As for our pub review, I’m reviewing the dessert at the pub because it was so delish. Sorry no pic to share. The fudge brownie, chocolate syrup and ice cream didn’t last long enough. Thanks to Randal and Kathy for the dessert tip of the day AND intel on a pub we shouldn’t miss near Sligo.

Click on the image below to see views from today’s ride on Inishmore:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

We all know everything tastes better with butter. I’m here to tell you, no butter is better than Irish butter.

And yes it’s the soda bread for me, with Irish butter. 💯 Now… on to cycling.

When we got up this morning we thought we were in a different country. The sun was shining and there was absolutely NO wind.

We decided to cycle through Galway to get to An Spideal which would set us up nicely to catch a ferry to Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, the following day.

An Spideal is a small coastal village just west of Galway known for its traditional music and strong connection to Irish culture. It’s also a Gaeltacht, meaning Irish is spoken there as an everyday language.

Irish is a very different sounding language and it’s not easy to infer meaning from the printed word. We’ve been looking at Irish words above English on most every road sign since we’ve been in Ireland and still can’t make sense of it.

Although we can’t speak or understand a lick of Irish it was fun hearing it spoken around town—and of course, we found a welcoming pub and plenty of craic for our Pint Size Review’s Pub of the Day.

Meet Peter. He was sitting at the end of the bar down from a few rugby players that we overheard speaking Irish. May I say it sounds a little like German?

Peter befriended “Tommy” (as he called him) as soon as we walked in. He’s a roofer and shared about his near death experience years ago when we got hit in the back of the head.

Then Peter kept pointing to the 94 year old retired school teacher I was talking to, telling Tom she was always terribly mean to her students. All this was happening while Peter’s wife, Mary, kept signaling to Tom the “he’s nuts” sign. It was all happening so fast we weren’t sure what to make of it but luckily all of this dialogue was in English.☘️

So for Peter who keeps the bar stool warm and knows how to embellish stories that kept us in stitches, we tip our hats to An Nead, our Pub of the Day.

Towns we cycled through included Clarinbridge, Ballinderreen, Oranmore, Conamara, Galway and Furbo

Click on the image below to view today’s video:

Riding Stats (Link to Deb’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Fergus told us way back in Blennerville (remember the town with the windmill?) that County Clare was stoney and the hills a little more “punchy” and he wasn’t wrong on either.

Right out of the gate we had a climb out of Doolin and the landscape today was filled with stone. Stones in the fields, stone houses, stone ruins, and of course an abundance of cool stone fences.

The ride today was spectacular (and even more so because the sun came out) and we saw a little bit of everything, the coastline, stands of timber, inland fields , and an ancient portal tomb. So much in one day.

As we were looking at the gorgeous coastline and some llamas grazing in the fields before it, a motorist stopped and asked if they were camels. 😅 Maybe a camel relative but definitely not a camel. Made us smile.😊

After pedaling our way past stone fences and the rocky landscapes of the Burren, we stopped at Poulnabrone Portal Tomb, a 5,000-year-old megalithic tomb that looks almost like someone dropped a giant stone table in the middle of nowhere.

Built by Neolithic people as a burial site, it’s amazing to think that these enormous stones have been standing here since long before the pyramids were built. As we entered the parking lot on bicycles at the summit we saw big ole tour busses jockeying for parking. There were plenty of places to park our bikes though.🤣

Appropriately named Green’s Pub earns our coveted Pub of the Day recognition. Just last year the family owned pub celebrated 160 years.

The friendly face behind the bar was Collette and a member of the Greene family. She’d just visited the island of Inishmore and gave us lots of tips for our visit there on Monday. Loved chatting it up with her.

We’d like to shine a pint on lovely Colleen at Green’s Pub for her friendliness. And my gosh, extra points for their impressive whiskey collection.

Add a perfectly poured pint of Guinness and you’ve got a Pub of the Day worth raising a glass to!

BTW we’re on the hunt for a Dog of the Day in our Pub of the Day. Will that day ever come? 🐾

Today we entered County Galway. Tomorrow we plan on riding to and through Galway to camp near An Spideal, a village known for speaking and keeping the Irish language alive.

Towns we cycled through today included Ballyvaghan and Carron

Click on the image below to view today’s vid:

Riding Stats (Link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our northbound ride on a Google Map)

Our Pub of the Day research started at 12:15pm today because… it was the most gosh awful day of cycling in lashing rain and wind. Rain was stinging our face, wind was so strong it was pushing us over and so many layers of clothing and rain gear on made it a bit strategic to 🚽.

Tom earned hero status today because he found a short cut to Doolin so we rode just 33 miles.

Worst part was all of the beautiful scenery we missed including the Cliffs of Moher, the Lahinch Golf Course and much of the lush County Clare countryside.

We popped out of our tent early hearing rain so we could quickly take it down before it got drenched. With coffee consumed we went all-in with our rain gear and set off.

We were soaked to the bone but still happy to have a slight tail wind when we had to stop at the weekly gathering in the Community Center for a pit stop.

Made it to Doolin 45 minutes before we could check in to our hostel so we checked out McGann’s Pub which happens to be our Pub of the Day!🍺

McGann’s wasn’t always McGann’s. It was originally known as Lafferty’s until brothers Tony and Tommy McGann, who had been living in America, came home on holiday in 1975 and decided to buy the pub.

Supposedly the early days were rough, but things changed when the Lisdoonvarna Folk Festival brought more people to Doolin.

From the 1980s on, traditional music sessions became a regular part of life at McGann’s, helping establish Doolin’s reputation as one of Ireland’s great traditional music destinations.🎻

For their warm welcome when we were cold and dripping wet, for their cold beer and hot food and to celebrate the risk two brothers living in America took after visiting Ireland and returning to put down roots, we raise our glasses to McGann’s Pub.

Also highly recommend Rainbow Hostel, our digs for the night. Carmel, 70 years old (doesn’t look a day over 50) has owned Rainbow Hostel with her husband Mattie for 40 years. Soon they are retiring and their son Brian and family will continue what they started. Mattie is a carpenter and a lot of his retirement gig will be renovating an old family cottage nearby. Take a look at the kitchen in Rainbow. Mattie is quite talented.

Towns we cycled through today included: Milltown Malbay and Lahinch

To view today’s very short video, click on the image below: