2 Best Sights in Connemara and County Mayo, Ireland

At this highly acclaimed museum, the only branch of the National Museum of Ireland outside Dublin, you're invited to revisit rural life in Ireland between 1860 and 1960---before electrification and in-house running water. Among the displayed items are authentic furniture and utensils; hunting, fishing, and agricultural implements; clothing; and objects relating to games, pastimes, religion, and education.

The museum experience starts in Turlough Park House, built in the High Victorian Gothic style in 1865 and set in pretty lakeside gardens. Just three rooms have been restored to illustrate the way the landowners lived. A sensational modern four-story, curved building houses the main exhibit. Cleverly placed windows afford panoramic views of the surrounding park and the distant Round Tower, allowing you to reflect on the reality beyond the museum's walls. The shop sells museum-branded and handcrafted gift items and a café with indoor and outdoor tables is located in the stable yard, and you can take scenic lakeside walks in the park.

Cong's 15 minutes of fame came in 1952, when John Ford's The Quiet Man, one of his most popular films, was released to a global audience. John Wayne plays a prizefighter who goes home to Ireland and courts the fiery Maureen O'Hara. The Quiet Man Museum, in the village center, is an exact replica of the cottage used in the film, with reproductions of the furniture and costumes, a few original artifacts, and pictures of actors Barry Fitzgerald and Maureen O'Hara on location. Margaret and Gerry Collins host Quiet Man walking tours, leaving the cottage at 11 am daily and exploring such Cong village sites as the river fight scene, the "hats in the air" scene, and Pat Cohan's Bar. There is also a chauffeur-driven tour option.