Cloon Cottage

From a sheltered breakfast patio, the entrance is via a snug sky-lit lobby – all country coats and boots.

To one side, stepping up past stable half-doors, the elongated kernel of the cottage is revealed.

Merged into one protracted living space, with a well-appointed country kitchen at one end, following through to a dazzling conservatory overlooking the lawned garden, wind whipped trees, and stunning sunset views, at the other.

Spacious yet intimate this tiled salon harmoniously accommodates a practical dining table, a wood-burning stove in the centre, and a pair of generous sofas that define the sitting room.

Kitchen Appliances

• Electric double oven cooker
• Electric 4 ring hob
• Fridge
• Chest freezer in external utility room
• Dishwasher
• Toaster
• Juicer

Utility Appliances

• Washing machine & tumble-dryer in utility
• Iron

Bedrooms

• Sizes – One double bed and two singles
• Hairdryer

Tech & Entertainment

• Wi-Fi Internet
• Flat-screen TV
• Digital radio

Other

• Selection of books
• Underfloor heating

• Hike Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park — about 25 minutes from the house. The upper trail rewards with views across the Twelve Bens, Kylemore Abbey and out to Inishbofin on the horizon
• Walk the walled gardens of Kylemore Abbey — a short drive along the N59. The Victorian walled garden and Gothic church are well worth an afternoon. Book tickets in advance in summer
• Play a round at the Connemara Championship Golf Links — one of the great links courses in Ireland, at Ballyconneely with the Atlantic on three sides. About 20 minutes south
• Catch something serious in the ocean — shark, tuna and pollack fishing from Cleggan Pier with experienced skippers
• Dive on a wreck — the waters off Connemara have some excellent wreck diving. Contact Scuba Dive West at Renvyle for guided sessions
• Cycle through the Inagh Valley — one of the most beautiful valley drives in Connemara, with the Twelve Bens on one side and the Maumturk Mountains on the other. Flat enough to cycle at a relaxed pace

A car is essential throughout your stay. The house is on the Aughrus Peninsula outside Cleggan — the roads are narrow, winding boreens typical of this part of Connemara, and everything worth seeing requires driving.

Cleggan village, less than 2km down the road, has pubs, a restaurant and a small shop for basics. For a proper supermarket, Clifden — the capital of Connemara — is about 9km away and well worth a visit for shopping, restaurants and an evening out.

Claddaghduff, about a 10-minute drive, is the nearest village for petrol and essentials. Just beyond it, accessible on foot across the strand at low tide, is Omey Island — tidal, ancient and extraordinary. The annual horse race on Omey Strand in late July draws vast crowds.

Inishbofin (White Cow Island) lies 11km offshore. Ferries depart from Cleggan Pier two or three times daily. The island was inhabited as far back as 8000 BC; Cromwell’s 16th-century barracks still stands at the harbour entrance. Bofin is an important centre for traditional Irish music and song, as well as birdwatching and diving.

The landscape to the east is dominated by the Twelve Bens — a series of craggy quartzite mountains in Connemara National Park, a magnet for serious hill walkers. The fast-flowing rivers that drain these mountains have made Connemara one of the great centres of trout and salmon fly-fishing in Ireland.

Killary Harbour, on the border with County Mayo, is one of Ireland’s only glacial fjords — 16km long, 45 metres deep at its centre, and dramatically scenic. Salmon, trout and mussel farms line its sheltered length. Boat tours operate from Leenane at the fjord’s head.

On 15th June 1919, British aviators Alcock and Brown made the first transatlantic flight from Newfoundland, making landfall near Clifden in what appeared from the air to be a suitable green field — but which turned out to be a bog.

The Aughrus Peninsula has many historical relics, including a Court Tomb that predates the pyramids of Egypt. Connemara marble — unique to this region — shows twisted bands of soapstone in various shades of green, formed over 500 million years ago. No two pieces are the same, and it has been used in stately buildings across the world.

This is Ireland’s largest Gaeltacht region — Irish is the spoken language of everyday life here, and that sense of a living, distinct culture is one of the things that makes Connemara feel genuinely different from anywhere else in Ireland.

Mannin Beach