Connemara, or Conamara is Conmaicne mara, the Conmaicne (ie descendants of Conmac) by the sea: Conmac's descendants formed several colonies, and the sea-side one in West Galway was distinguished from the others in this way. Connemara is the region north-west of Galway, and one could say that there are two Connemaras. South of the Galway-Clifden road a vast bog-mantled granite moorland extends, undulating or flatish, sown with innumerable lakelets, and with a low indented coast-line which is a mere labyrinth of land and sea. North of the Galway-Clifden road the tall quartzite domes and cones of the Maum Turks and the Twelve Bens rise steeply and other mountains formed of schist and gneiss continue the highlands northward to the beautiful Killary fjord, where Mayo replaces Galway.
photo: copyright tigin - www.images-of-ireland.de
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