THE WILD WILD WEST

Voted one of the 80 best drives in the world by Top Gear, the journey between Galway and Clifden in Ireland inspires Catherine Hanly to take a long overdue road trip with her father

We followed in the tyre tracks of the Top Gear team to see if this stretch of road really is one of the best drives in the world. Did Jeremy, Richard and James get it right?

Since he taught me, with infinite patience, to drive when I was 17, I feel I’ve owed a debt to my Dad.

So when his favourite TV programme Top Gear named the N59 route (close to where he lives in Ireland) as one of its 80 best drives in the world, it seemed like a great idea for a father and daughter road trip. Happily, he agreed to follow in the tyre tracks of Clarkson, Hammond and May, so we set aside a day to cover the route from Galway (52 miles from Knock) to Clifden.

9am

Heading out of Galway city on the N59, it’s amazing how quickly we swap the streets of the bustling city for dry-stone walls and lush green fields. We’re barely 10 minutes into our drive and already we can see the inky-blue waters of Lough Corrib to our right. The largest lake in Ireland, the Corrib covers 200 acres and according to the locals has 365 islands, one for every day of the year.

We’ve decided to mainly stick to the N59 so we can see if it lives up to Top Gear’s billing as being “as wild and untamed as the people that live here”. But when we reach the first town of Moycullen we’re enticed by a sign (on the right-hand side) that takes you a little off course. It leads us to Brigit’s Garden, which has a reputation as a real oasis. Designed by Chelsea Flower Show gold-medallist Mary Reynolds, these wild gardens take Dad and me on a horticultural tour through the four seasons of the Celtic calendar. The café, which sources much of its food from the gardens, has just been included in Ireland’s prestigious Bridgestone food guide.

10am

Back on the road again, the first large town we come to is Oughterard and it’s clear from the moment we arrive what the number-one industry is here. Everywhere we look, boat trips, fishing tackle and waterproofs are on offer to beginners and seasoned anglers hoping to find the best spots for fresh salmon and trout in the nearby Corrib.

If fishing isn’t your thing, you can take a day trip on the lake from Oughterard Pier out to the tiny island of Inchagoil with its fifth-century monastic ruins.

Just as we leave Oughterard we spot a small sign on the left pointing to the Quiet Man Bridge. The Quiet Man is a classic 1952 movie starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara and won an Oscar for legendary director John Ford. The bridge here is featured in the movie’s opening scenes and is the perfect spot for a photo opportunity. As with everywhere else we’ve been today, we have the road to ourselves, allowing me to direct my father in, creeping slowly over the bridge in the car until I get the shot I’m looking for.

11am

After Oughterard the scenery changes markedly as we enter the spectacular and incredibly green Connemara National Park – here it’s all forests, mountains and lakes. Top Gear said this road was “as starkly beautiful as it gets” and they’re spot-on. We keep having to stop the car to get out and look at the beautiful scenery. Glaciers were obviously hard at work many millennia ago, carving out lakes all over this area and leaving in their wake the mountain range known as The Twelve Bens (or “Pins” as they’re often known). The ranges aren’t particularly high and are pretty easy to hike, but today we’re sticking with four wheels to get around.

It’s worth keeping an eye out for a narrow bank running alongside the road at this point – it’s what remains of the old railway that used to run from Galway to Clifden. Opened in 1895, it ran for just 40 years and is now used as a point of reference for people hiking through this spectacular part of Ireland.

12pm

At the crossroads by Maam Cross we take a brief detour. My father’s been told that Keane’s Bar at this location is worth a visit – purely for research purposes you understand. As I sip a Guinness (Dad’s doing the driving), barman Tomas Higgins tells us the history of the pub. What I find hard to imagine is that until the early part of the 19th century there were no roads into the heart of Connemara. Much of what you see is the work of a single Scottish engineer, Alexander Nimmo, who built the harbour at Maam and whose house later became this pub.

We also get a taste of the dark history of this area – apparently the inn was often used by the tyrannical landowner Lord Leitrim, who was much hated by the locals and eventually met a grisly end: ambushed and murdered in 1878. Tomas also helps explain why this area is so lush and green and watery. “It rains in Maam for 300 days of the year,” he says, cheerfully.