We had breakfast again today at the Knockcranny then checked out as we had decided to stay elsewhere for the rest of the trip. After leaving the Knockranny we drove into the centre of Westport where we parked up and had an explore of the town. We had a nice walk along the river to Westport House. Westport House is one Ireland's few remaining stately homes and has been in te ownership of the same family for hundreds of years. It was fascinating to explore and the grounds are very beautiful. These days they include some theme park-type attractions to help bring the visitor numbers in, so essential for the income and thus possible upkeep of the estate and the house.
We'd had rather a large breakfast so didn't really need lunch and just had a scone and a cup of tea in the Cafe at Westport House, which is in what used to be the house kitchen. We walk back into Westport to collect the car and then went for a scenic drive from Louisburgh to Ballinrobe via Delphi, Leenaun and Cong. The Doolough valley is very beautiful and was certainly worth the drive.
Following this we were invited to the home of Maria's parents. It was good to meet her family a bit more informally and to enjoy a delicious buffet. We didn't stay too long as we had not checked into our next hotel.
After driving back to Westport Quay we checked into the Waterfront B&B around 8.30pm and then went out for an explore of the funfair that was on the quay for the weekend and I sampled some local Carlsberg. Gordon was more adventurous and had Guinness.
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