My inspiration for the my Guinness drinking tour of five counties was a photo taken in Castlebar 30 years ago, so we had to stop at this town! We found a spot in one of the lots but only one of the two machines we saw took a credit card. 1,5€ for 2 hours. One of the places I had chosen for lunch was closed so we went across the street to my original pick – Paddy Morans Pub – for my half pint. Eric got a Bulmer’s cider in a bottle. The pub was super cozy and quiet on a Saturday afternoon, just a few locals and us. Note that they only took cash payments.

We wandered around town for a bit to use up our 2 hour parking allotment, and saw lots of red and green Mayo flags out on cars, houses, and business – many with the tagline ‘mayo for sam’ supporting the local Gaelic football team.

We also walked by the Church of the Holy Rosary.

Before getting back on the highway, we stopped at the National Museum of Ireland, Turlough Park. This museum was much bigger than we expected! They had lots of artifacts including farming and fishing implements, commissioned cultural pieces like Aran Isles clothing, and tools from all manner of rural craftsmen. Free too!

Afterwards, we stopped for a quick photo of the Turlough Round Tower.

The countryside in the remaining hour drive to Sligo was very green but did not have nearly as many wildflowers as Connemara.