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Clare Island is situated at the entrance of Clew Bay
in County Mayo, north of Connemara. Westport is the
nearest town. The boat for the island leaves from Roonagh
pier, near Louisburgh.
Coming from abroad, the most straightforward route is
to fly to Dublin and then travel by train from Dublin
to Westport, then by taxi or car to Roonagh Pier. Clare
Island's ferry companies can also provide bus connections
to/from Roonagh if contacted in advance (see ferry links
below).
In order to get to the island in one day, you need to
take the lunchtime train from Dublin to Westport. This
train leaves from Heuston station (about 40 minutes
by taxi from the airport). There are also direct buses
from the airport to Heuston station. The journey from
Dublin to Westport takes about 3 and a half hours by
train.
From the UK or France, it is also possible to fly to
Galway, about 2 hours by bus from Westport. See the
Galway
airport website for details of flights to Galway
and the Bus
Eireann website for details of bus connections to
Westport.
Another option is Knock,
a small airport which is roughly an hour and a half
from the pier. The onward journey from Knock by public
transport can be problematic for some flights though
there is a shuttle bus from the airport to the nearest
town of Charlestown and a few bus connections from Charlestown
to Westport. Knock airport, however, is a good option
for a small group who would share a taxi, or if you
can get someone in Ireland to pick you up.
It is also possible to fly to Shannon airport (between
Limerick and Galway), but this is an option only if
your flight gets in before 10.00 am or if you are prepared
to spend the night in Westport or Galway. Travel time
by bus is over 5 hours with two changes.
For information about flights to Ireland, see the websites
of Aer
Lingus, Easyjet
(flights to Knock), Aer
Arann (flights to Galway) or Ryanair.
For information about train schedules, see the Irish
rail website.
For information on bus schedules, see the Bus
Eireann website.
If you are driving, from Westport take the coast road
to Louisburgh (14 miles), drive straight through Louisburgh
and about a quarter of a mile after the village, take
a right turn to Roonagh (the road is clearly signposted
for Roonagh Pier and Clare Island.) It is a further
4 miles to the pier. There's plenty of parking space
near the pier. The drive from Westport to Roonagh takes
about 35 minutes.
From Roonagh Pier to Clare Island: Clare Island
is linked with the mainland by two ferry operators,
Clare
Island Ferries Limited and O'Malley's
Ferries Services. The duration of the crossing is
about 15 minutes. Both companies sail from Roonagh pier
and have ticket offices there for the summer season.
To find out scheduled sailing times, see below for contact
details.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clare
Island Ferries Limited: Chis O'Grady provides 2
ferries, the Pirate Queen (96 passenger ferry) and the
Very Likely (12 passenger ferry).
Telephone: 098 28288 FAX: 098 28288 EMAIL: clareislandferry@anu.ie
Website: http://www.clareislandferry.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- O'Malley's
Ferries Services: Charles O'Malley owns 2 ferries,
the Island Princess (92 passenger ferry) and the Ocean
Star (12 passenger ferry).
Telephone: 098 25045 FAX: 098 26976 EMAIL: enquiry@omalleyferries.com
Website: http://www.omalleyferries.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From
Kilometres Miles
Belfast 323
200
Castlebar 10
7
Cork 302 188
Dublin 246 153
Galway 96 60
Knock Airport 30 19
Roonagh 10
7
Shanon 202
125
Sligo 120 75
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