Things to Do in Westport, Ireland

Quick facts: Ireland's most haunted house has a pirate past: it was built with riches plundered by 16th-century pirate queen Grace O'Malley. The current structure sits on the foundations of her original fortress, and her ghost is said to still roam the halls with her pet eagle.

Highlights: Climb to the roof for a view that reveals the house's strategic genius: it commands the entire Clew Bay archipelago, exactly as O'Malley intended for spotting approaching ships. Inside, the dungeon still holds the original 16th-century iron rings where captives were chained, and you can literally touch the same stone walls a pirate queen leaned against.

Quick facts: Roughly 25,000 pilgrims climb the 764-meter high mountain each Reek Sunday, the last Sunday of July. Some devoted climbers make the ascent barefoot, a tradition dating back to the penitential practices of Saint Patrick himself.

Highlights: Halfway up the mountain, you'll find a small whitewashed church that hosts Mass even during howling Atlantic storms. On a clear day from the summit, the view stretches across Clew Bay's 365 drumlin islands, each one a glacial leftover sculpted by ice 12,000 years ago.

Quick facts: A sprawling 10,000-hectare bay with 365 islands, one for every day of the year. Local legend claims each island was formed when a giant dropped a bag of rocks into the water.

Highlights: Dorinis Island has a working pub that gets its mail delivered by boat and has the same family running it since 1885. You can kayak across at low tide, grab a pint, and paddle back before the water rises again.

Quick facts: Saltwater mingles with fresh mountain runoff at this working harbour where fishermen still unload their daily catch by hand. The quay sits at the end of the longest and straightest tree-lined avenue in Europe, connecting the harbour directly to the town's Georgian heart.

Highlights: At low tide, the seabed reveals the skeletal remains of ancient oak trees preserved in peat for over 5,000 years, a prehistoric forest that once stretched across Clew Bay. Locals know to arrive at sunrise to watch the light hit the 365 islands of Clew Bay, one for each day of the year according to local lore, with Croagh Patrick's conical peak as the backdrop.

Quick facts: At 42 kilometers, this is Ireland's longest off-road walking and cycling trail, following the route of a former narrow-gauge railway. The track bed was originally laid in the 1890s to carry turf, livestock, and mail between Westport and Achill Island.

Highlights: Somewhere around mile 15, the railway cutting opens abruptly onto the Atlantic at Mulranny village, where the silver light off Clew Bay makes everything look like a wet ink drawing. The trail crosses five old stone viaducts that snake through blanket bog, giving you front-row seats to flocks of whooper swans feeding in the loughs below.

Quick facts: Saint Patrick sailed past Clew Bay around 441 AD and supposedly left his footprint on a rock at this very spot. The statue itself is a 1980s bronze work by sculptor Séamus Connolly, standing near the old stone where the saint's print remains visible.

Highlights: Look closely at the rock below the statue and you will see a hollowed indentation locals swear is Saint Patrick's actual footprint from 1,500 years ago. Each year on the saint's feast day, locals pour water into the hollow and if it stays, legend says the year ahead will bring good fortune.

Quick facts: Perched on a hillside overlooking Clew Bay with its 365 islands, the course offers views that stretch all the way to Croagh Patrick. The 6,000-meter parkland layout has hosted the Connacht Senior Cup multiple times since opening in 2008.

Highlights: The elevated 14th tee delivers a pulse-quickening moment, where the entire bay, the peak of Croagh Patrick, and the Atlantic horizon line up in a single frame. Green fees here run roughly half of what you would pay at nearby Carne Golf Links, yet the conditioning and scenery rival anything in the region.

Quick facts: Roughly 4,000 people are buried in the Clare Island Abbey graveyard, yet the island's current population hovers around just 130 residents. The island served as a stronghold of the legendary pirate queen Granuaile (Grace O'Malley) in the 16th century, and her family tomb lies within the abbey walls.

Highlights: Pirate queen Granuaile's Abbey contains a stunning 360-year-old fresco ceiling, one of only two surviving medieval church frescoes in all of Ireland. Look up to see painted angels, stars, and mythical beasts that have survived centuries of salt spray and neglect.

Quick facts: Every Saturday from spring through autumn, the streets around the Octagon swell with over 80 local vendors selling everything from artisan cheeses to hand-forged knives. The market has been a Saturday morning ritual since 1999, drawing crowds who come for the live traditional music sessions that pop up spontaneously between the stalls.

Highlights: At the cheese stall run by a third-generation dairy farmer, you can taste a raw milk Gubeen that's been aged 18 months in a nearby limestone cave, a flavor you won't find in any shop. Unlike most farmers markets that pack up by noon, this one keeps its energy going all day, with late-afternoon chefs setting up pop-up grills to sear whatever seafood was caught that morning off the Clew Bay coast.