Oscar Wilde was certainly onto something when he dubbed Connemara “A Savage Beauty.” The Oughterard Trails Festival, running from June 23rd to 25th, aims to highlight this beauty by showcasing the wonderful walks, scenery and heritage of this unique area.
Oughterard, steeped in history and full of unique character is simply the best place to begin your voyage into Connemara. This small walking festival has it all, a fun-filled weekend walking programme for all the family on the beautiful shores of Lough Corrib.
The weekend festival starts on Friday June 23 at 6pm with a cruise on Lough Corrib to Inchagoill Island. The cruise, on Corrib Cruises, takes approx. 45 minutes each way. Sean Quealy, Coillte’s environmental officer, will lead a trail around the island pointing out all the highlights. This is a fantastic family day out and great value at €15 per adult and €5 per child.
Saturday June 24 sees the Maumean Trail take centre stage. This is a truly spectacular trail with stunning Connemara scenery. Noel Joyce will lead the walk and all participants will be bussed to and from the trail. The registration fee of €10 covers bus and lunch afterwards at Keogh’s Bar in Oughterard.
There are plenty of special interest walks too with Mick Bourke leading a photography walk on Saturday at 2pm and also on Saturday at 2:30pm is the very popular Food Foraging Walk with Barbara Buckley. All food foraged on the walk at a lakeside forest will be cooked in a foraged feast afterwards in the Camp Street Café.
The final day, Sunday June 25 starts with a heritage walk to Cairn Seefin on the picturesque Glann Road. Archaeologist Paul Naeesens will lead all walkers up to the spectacular Bronze Age monument where they will be rewarded with stunning views over Lough Corrib. The bus will take everyone back to Breathnach’s bar where lunch will be provided. Again all included in the very reasonable €10 sign-up fee.
The final walk is the family oriented Buffy Trail at Doon. This walk will take approx. 45 mins each way and is a little steep at the top so probably best suited to children aged over eight and is not suited to buggies. The cost of €5 per adult includes return bus, and children between 8 – 16 get free admission.
“We aim to offer something for everyone, no matter what your age or ability. We hope to deliver an exceptional day out, to keep all walks affordable and to make lasting memories for all our walkers” says festival organiser Sinead Grimes.
Get along and see what Oughterard has to offer, all only 20 minutes from Galway City. Join them on the shores of Lough Corrib for the Oughterard Trails Festival.
See http://www.discoveroughterard.com/oughterardtrailsfestival.html for more details of all the walks. Tickets for all events are available on Eventbrite. http://www.oughterardtrailsfestival.eventbrite.ie/ Like us on Facebook at “Oughterard Trails Festival 2017”
Contact [email protected] or 0872518423 for more details
