Great Connemara Walks
Archaeologist, author, broadcaster and adventurer Michael Gibbons is delighted to bring you these selection of fantastic heritage walks.
The Walks
2 and half mile wide, by 5 miles long, discover the magnificent and magical island of Inishbofin. Ascend the heights of the majestic Diamond Hill with its panoramic 360 views from the summit. Journey back in time and visit Marconi’s oringinal radio telegraph station, explore the landing site of the first transatlantic flight by John Alcock and Arthur Brown, and discover a 5,000 old walkway all within a couple of hundred meters of eachother on the Roundstone Bog Walk!
We are beginning with 3 walks initially, and we intend to add more as the season continues. We will also be adding some exclusive private tours, academic field trips and other walks outside of Connemara in due course – stay in touch, or should we say, follow with us on Twitter.
Each of these walk has been designed with the casual walker in mind. Michael brings a wealth of experience to these walks to make them fun, fascinating and entertaining, not to mention educational!
See what other have said about Michael, read their testimonials here.
If you have any questions prior to booking any of these walks please do not hesitate to contact us, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Again, stay up to date on our Twitter page. All walks leave rain or shine.
See what others have said about Michael, read their testimonials here.
If you have any questions prior to booking any of these walks please do not hesitate to contact us, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Again, stay up to date on our Twitter page. All walks leave rain or shine.
See you out there – the team at Connemara Walks!
For other Connemara events, check out What’s On Connemara!
Previous Walker’s Testimonials
“One of the most fascinating weeks of my life – a trip back in time… I had been wet, sunburnt, scared, hilarious, fascinated, exhilarated and tipsy.” Linda Duffin, Sky News
“The West of Ireland is still a largely undiscovered wonderland for walkers, and its islands – if not actually fabled Hy-Brasil – beckon with poetic promise of laughter and lovely landscapes, literally the last of Europe.” Rambling TODAY, Roly Smith.
“The West coast of Ireland is a delight for the walker; the perfect combination of dramatic coastline, deserted mountain ranges and windswept islands. Whether you are scrambling along a rocky foreshore, taking in the view from the clifftops, or strolling on a sandy beach, the chances are you will have only the sound of the breaking Atlantic surf for company.”
Outdoor Pursuits, Rob Howard
“Connemara or Conmaicne Mara, where the Conmaicne tribe lived by the sea…has everything to satisfy the walker, big mountains, little mountains, awaymarked trail, coastal walking, botanical, geological and archaeological walks and stupendous scenery.” Walking World, Lucinda Thomson
“For Gibbons, history is only a squint away; tag along on one of his treks and you’ll never look at a peat bog the same way again.” OUTSIDE, Michael Dolan
“Michael Gibbons, archaeologist and raconteur, a lovely talker who made dull rocks sing with history and somehow managed to make bogs interesting, even fascinating.” Christopher Buckley, Forbes FYI
“one of the finest communicators I have ever come across …” Jim Perrin, the Great Outdoors Magazine
“Thank you again for the wonderful trip we made with you from Clifden. The trip was one of the highlights of our vacation in Ireland; it made Connemara special to us.” H & T Kohne, The NetherlandsNewgrange
5000 years old, Newgrange is located in the Boyne Valley. A world listed heritage site, Newgrange is a Neolithic Ritual Centre and Passage Tomb with architectural links to the prehistoric maritime peoples of Portugal, Northern Spain, Brittany, Denmark and the Western Isles.
This building is a thousand years older than the Pyramids and the oldest astronomical observatory in the world, completely intact since the Stone Age. Its decorated entrance stone and Corbelled inner chamber display the most impressively executed examples of abstract Stone Age art of the early farming communities in Western Europe.
These sophisticated early farmers were Astronomers who incorporated a light box and solar calendar into the passage. This was done to illuminate the cremated bones of the dead in the inner chamber during the Winter Solstice. It was also a symbolic technique to celebrate rebirth in the afterlife and the dawning of a new year.
Please note: We enter the Tomb at Newgrange. On this tour you will not be waiting in line, as we have an allocated time slot.
About Michael
Michael’s knowledge of Ireland’s highlands and islands has been gained by over thirty years of exploring its multi-faceted landscapes on foot, by boat and from the air. This experience has given him the ability to put together the most interesting walking and cultural itineraries that Ireland has to offer. Michael Gibbons, a native of Connemara, is one of Ireland’s leading field archaeologists, a writer, broadcaster and mountaineer.
Michael is a former director of local and national archaeological survey programmes. Other work has involved research on the pilgrimage tradition in Ireland. He spent three seasons as a field director surveying and excavating the summit of Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, climbing 2,510 feet to work every morning!
Michael’s work has taken him to such diverse places as the Negev Desert, Egyptian Sinai and southern Greece. He has lectured throughout Ireland, at Oxford and Cambridge, the Maritime Museum in Sydney and the University of Melbourne, Harvard University and at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C..
He has been the focus of numerous TV and radio programmes on Connemara, the Aran Islands and the Irish Highlands. These includes CNN, SKY TV, RTE, UTV, TnaG, BBC TV, BBC Radio 4, PBS and more recently as a researcher on the BBC History of Britain series presented by Simon Schama, and more recently on the BBC’s ‘Monty Halls Great Irish Escape’.
He worked as a researcher on the Irish in America series The Long Journey Home. He also presented a series of eight programmes for Irish television on the famine in Ireland. Eamonn de Buitléar, a leading landscape filmmaker, produced a documentary on Michael entitled ‘Connemara in Antiquity’.
Recent discoveries he has made in maritime and upland archaeology include; some on Skellig Michael UNESCO world heritage site, a series of fish traps, ancient harbours and quays in Connemara, together with a series of megalithic tombs, standing stones and and a number of important ancient forts.
He has been the focus of several newspaper articles, most recent of which were articles in the Irish Times and The Economist.
Contact
- michael@connemarawalks.com
- +353 (0) 95 21379
- +353 (0) 86-832-0940 / +353 (0) 87 2349545
- All these Tours & Walks are privately booked for groups of all sizes, they offer a unique opportunity to explore the hidden landscapes and unlock the archaeological secrets scattered throughout the East & West Coasts of Ireland. Other tours itineraries can be developed and tailor made to explore other areas including, the Aran Islands, The Burren and the Sacred Mountains of Ireland.Contact us and we will be happy to make suggestions to suit your time in Ireland.
