Killary fjord is gorgeous, but is it worth paying €21 for the pleasure of views you can get for free? ROSITA BOLANDdemurs
KILLARY CRUISES bills itself as “the ultimate rainy-day experience in Connemara”. The advertising leaflet also reassures me that “its magic will be the high point of a rainy day”. This is fortunate, because the morning I turn up for the cruise it is pouring so hard that, when I get out of the car at Nancy’s Point, near Leenane, I am practically nailed to the ground by spikes of rain.
The Connemara Ladyis the name of the boat – sorry, "all-weather luxury cruise ship" – that meanders up and down Killary fjord. At this time of year, there are four departures a day – at 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 4.40pm. I am on the 12.30pm one, along with some 20 Japanese, Swedish, German, American and Australian tourists. I'm the only Irish tourist.
Killary fjord is gorgeous, and always worth seeing, no matter what the weather. That is indisputable. The thing is, I’m wondering what going on a cruise is going to add to the experience. The road that comes in round the coast from Renvyle, where I’ve just driven from, follows the fjord and has wonderful views. And it’s free.
A 90-minute trip for one adult for on the Connemara Ladycosts €21. Children over the age of four are €10. At weekends, up to three children go free with two paying adults. It's never a good sign when you pay your money and not long after start calculating what else you could have done with it. For roughly 60 of the 90 minutes of the cruise, this is what I do with my €21. I also consider the fact that the leaflet tells me I'm enjoying a "price freeze – same price as last year!"
Before the boat sets sail, I read the text-heavy information boards regarding the area on the upper deck. Fish farms. Famine. The film The Field. Herring shortages. I am already pretty familiar with all this information, except the fact herrings abandoned the area at the same time the Famine hit. I also learn that the local name for Killary fjord is "The Killary", which is definitely something I didn't know before.
We set off. A recorded commentary comes on air. After listening for a couple of minutes, I realise the sonorous commentary is the text from the boards. There is no human guide as such, although there are several personable and busy men behind the bar counter, serving up Irish coffees, pints of Guinness, bowls of chowder, crab sandwiches and lamb stew. The Connemara Ladyseems to me to be more like a floating restaurant and bar with fine views than an experience I'd consider a tour.
It stops raining. I go out on deck. The fjord is lovely. Sometimes there are dolphins to be seen, but not today. We putter along. The commentary drones on. I want to ask questions about the traces of the lazy beds we can see on the roadside shore: how old are they?
I also want to confirm the location of what the commentary tells us is a Famine village: I’m not sure if I’m looking at the right place. But you can’t ask a disembodied voice questions.
At the end of the commentary, which finishes before we reach the end of the fjord, the commentator invites passengers to ask the crew any questions we want. But they’re all downstairs in the bar, serving up food and drink, and I’m up here on the deck.
And that’s it, really. End of commentary. The boat turns around. We silently go back the same way. The ultimate rainy-day experience in Connemara? I beg to differ.
killarycruises.com
