Carraroe

Carraroe (Irish: An Cheathrú Rua Irish pronunciation: [ənˠ ˌça(h).ɾˠuː ˈɾˠuˑə], its official name) is a village in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. The village is within the Irish-speaking region (Gaeltacht) of Connemara, and is famous for its traditional fishing boats known as Galway Hookers. Its population is widely dispersed over Carraroe peninsula between Greatman's Bay (Cuan an Fhir Mhóir) and Casla Bay (Cuan Chasla). Carraroe has an unusual 'coral' beach, Trá an Dóilín, a biogenic gravel beach actually made of coralline algae known as "maerl".

It is served by Bus Éireann route 424 from Galway.

Public houses and hotels

Carraroe has one hotel, Óstán an Dóilín. The public houses include Réalt na Maidine (An Réalt), Tigh ʼn Tailliúra, and An Chistín (Shea's).

Galway hookers

Galway Hookers are a distinctive form of native Irish boat, and Carraroe is today probably the single most important centre for these boats. Every August bank holiday, Carraroe hosts Féile an Dóilín, the largest Galway hooker festival in Ireland, and one of the largest maritime festivals in the country. The 2006 Féile an Dóilín, which is named after the area's unique "coral strand", was the largest gathering of Galway hookers in the history of Galway hooker regattas. The main boats are the larger Báid Mhóra (big boats) and Leathbháid (half-boats), which in earlier times were used for hauling turf from the peat bogs in Connemara to the Aran Islands and the Burren of County Clare, where peat is absent. The smaller boats are the Gleoiteoga, which were traditionally used for fishing.These boats can be found in the Caladh Thadhg area in Carraroe,which is the main pier in Carraroe.From this pier you will get panoramic views of the Twelve Bens mountains.