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AUGHRIS AND DROMORE WEST |
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BALLYSADARE , five miles south of Sligo on the N59, is situated at
the head of a beautiful bay with striking views back to Knocknarea and
Benbulben. It holds the remnants of a seventh-century monastery and a
pre-Romanesque church, but barely justifies a detour.
About ten miles further west and just after SKREEN , you can take a
turning south for the route through the Ox Mountains , or take the lane
north down to the coast and the tranquil harbourside village of AUGHRIS
, home to an early monastic site and a promontory fort. In the fields
you can see remains of booleys , the temporary shelters built by the old
nomadic herdsmen who brought their flocks to graze in these remote
coastal areas. There are several good beaches nearby and the little
beach at Aughris is safe for swimming. The cliffs west of the pier are
good for birdwatching and dolphin-spotting. You can feast on delicious
seafood during the summer months at Maggie's Beach Bar & Restaurant , an
eighteenth-century thatched shebeen down by the pier that is also a
venue for traditional music. Accommodation is in short supply: the Beach
Bar does B&B (tel 071/66703; £26-33/¬33.01-41.90) and also has a caravan
and camping site, or you can stay three miles away at Ave Maria
Farmhouse , Corkamore, Templeboy (tel 071/66674; £33-40/¬41.90-50.79).
At DROMORE WEST , about six miles southwest of Aughris, Culkin's
Emigration Museum (June-Sept Mon-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1-5pm; £2.50/¬3.17)
fills in some of the story behind the deserted buildings that once
littered the landscape hereabouts. The museum stands on the site of
Daniel Culkin's Shipping and Emigration Agency, which was founded in the
nineteenth century and helped many local people on the bitter road to a
better life overseas. There's plenty of material on display about
emigration and the Famine that fuelled it; most evocative of all is the
original shipping agent's shop, a stark reminder of the harsh lives
endured by thousands.
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