Clifden 'the capital of Connemara', is to the extreme west of County Galway. A modern town, it was only established in 1812 by John D'Arcy, a local landlord. Angling, walking and cycling are the chief recreational possibilities; there is also pony-trekking, which is not surprising as Clifden is the location of the annual Connemara Pony Show, on the third Thursday of August every year. The Connemara Pony is a local breed of small horse, hardy and sure-footed, and a distinctive white-brown-creamy colour.
Clifden came into the world with a bang in 1919: John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Browne completed the first successful West to East crossing from North America to Europe by crash-landing their aircraft in a bog outside the town. (There is a memorial, difficult to find, to the event on the actual spot, in the shape of an aircraft's tail). 
A web-site relating the story of their adventure can be visited by clicking on the picture to the right.
Europe's first transatlantic wireless telegraph station built by Marconi, operated from near the crash site. It is now a ruin, having been, like many other things, burned down in 1922.
Clarenbridge | Craughwell
The Connemara Pony Breeders Society
Other towns of County Galway
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