Connemara Gaeltacht (Conamara)

The largest and best-known Irish-speaking region, a wild landscape of bog, mountain and Atlantic coastline.

Connemara (Conamara), in the west of County Galway, is the largest Gaeltacht and the strongest surviving heartland of the living Irish language. Bounded by the Atlantic, the Twelve Bens mountains and Lough Corrib, it is a landscape of blanket bog, stone walls, white beaches and countless inlets.

South Connemara in particular is part of the Fíor-Ghaeltacht ('true Gaeltacht'), where Irish remains the everyday language of the community. The region is a centre of traditional music and sean-nós singing, and home to the Irish-language broadcasters RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and TG4.

At a glance

• The largest Gaeltacht region, in the west of Co. Galway.
• Part of the Fíor-Ghaeltacht, where Irish is the daily community language.
• A heartland of sean-nós singing and traditional music.
• Home to the Irish-language broadcasters Raidió na Gaeltachta and TG4.

In County Galway

Connemara Gaeltacht is in County Galway, Gaillimh in Irish, which means “the stony river (the River Corrib)”.

More in Galway

• Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann): A group of three islands located at the mouth of Galway Bay.
• The Twelve Bens (Na Beanna Beola): A rugged range of quartzite peaks at the heart of Connemara.
• Lough Corrib (Loch Coirib): The Republic's largest lake, dividing Galway city from Connemara.
• Kylemore Abbey (Mainistir na Coille Móire): A romantic lakeside castle turned Benedictine abbey in Connemara.
• Dún Aonghasa (Dún Aonghasa): A spectacular prehistoric stone fort on the cliff-edge of Inis Mór.

Other places of this kind

• Gweedore Gaeltacht (Gaoth Dobhair): The largest Gaeltacht parish in Ireland, in northwest Donegal, and a stronghold of Ulster Irish and traditional music.
• Corca Dhuibhne (Dingle Peninsula) (Corca Dhuibhne): The Dingle Peninsula Gaeltacht, a Munster-Irish heartland rich in early Christian sites and Ogham stones.
• An Rinn (Ring) (An Rinn): A small but proud Gaeltacht on the southeast coast, and the main surviving Irish-speaking community in the region.
• Múscraí (Muskerry) (Gaeltacht Mhúscraí): The Cork Gaeltacht in the hills of Muskerry, a Munster-Irish community with a rich song tradition.
• Ráth Chairn (Ráth Chairn): Ireland's youngest Gaeltacht, created in 1935 when Irish-speaking families were resettled from Connemara.

The Irish name

The Irish form of Connemara Gaeltacht is Conamara. You can hear it spoken, and take apart names like it, in the Placename Explorer. The authoritative record for any Irish place-name is logainm.ie.