Cathair na Mart, Conamara and Gaillimh

This morning we returned to Ballinagh for another look around, as we had a lead on a possible distant relative who may have been able to show us which farm house my grandmother was born in, but when we got there the house was deserted so while it was definitely a very old farm house, we don't know if it's 'the' very old farm house, or even if 'the' very old farm house is still standing.

With the help of our rental car, we made our way over to Westport (Cathair na Mart), where we stopped briefly at a restaurant/café on the quay for lunch. The food was delicious, and I'd recommend the walnut and something* encrusted cod. After lunch we installed ourselves in the car once more and drove through Connemara, which meant passing through amazingly beautiful scenery. We stopped along the road a couple of times to get out of the car for some photo opportunities, but for the most part, we kept going as there were really very few places where one could safely stop a car along those roads – mostly narrow, with no road shoulders, and somehow two-way, and with a speed limit of 100km/h, which was impossible on most of it – I think I probably averaged about 60 to 70.

This evening, at about 4:00pm, we arrived in Galway, and about an hour later, due to heavy traffic and a slight case of being geographically embarrassed, we arrived at our hotel (actually a b&b). We checked in, dumped our bags, and then headed out for a walk through Gaillimh's main streets. Galway's much bigger than either of us were expecting, and the size caught us by surprise, which was one of the reasons for the earlier geographical embarrassment. I like Gaillimh so far, from what I've already seen of it.
On the way to Galway, when we were in Clifden (maybe), we saw a highway sign directing people to turn left for Galway, but there was nowhere to turn left for quite some distance, which was amusing and a bit confusing.

Of course there are photos from today: Cathair na Mart, Conamara, and Gaillimh.

* It was specified on the menu, but I've forgotten what it was.