Public Transportation

Ireland has a pretty extensive public transit system. Transport for Ireland offers a good hub for planning trips by bus, train, tram, taxi, bicycle and carpool. 

If you're planning a trip to Connemara you will probably be coming into Shannon Airport, western Ireland's major airport. It's a short hop NW of Limerick and about an hour's drive south of Galway. Shannon doesn't have a train station but there are buses that will take you to Limerick and from there you can connect to railway service to Connemara. The website Rome2rio has a worldwide (!!) travel planner that can, among other things, help you plan your trip from Limerick to Westport. 

All prices are, obviously, subject to change. And my sources may be wrong, but I've tried to do due diligence.

Buses 

There are a number of bus service options in Ireland, both public and private, even in rural areas (like Connemara). Some can even provide door-to-door service. I took Bus Éireann many years ago and don't remember having any problems, but according to Tripadvisor reviews, I may have just been lucky. 

There's a bus direct from Shannon Airport to Galway. To get from Shannon to Cleggan you'll need to make a few changes and it will take a bit over four hours. I recommend a stop or overnight in Galway though. I'll list some Galway attractions in a later post. You can get a bus from Galway Coach Station right to Oliver's in Cleggan. 

Oliver's is the pub/restaurant/B&B/Disco/etc. in Cleggan; basically, downtown consists of Oliver's. Period. (NB: In Europe, "disco" does not refer to the 70s phenomenon but just to any dance club. Apparently only Americans are so ashamed of their behavior during the 70s they can't bring themselves to utter the D word ever again.) 

Irish Rail Map

Iarnród Éireann/Irish Rail

Irish Rail has a pretty robust route map throughout Ireland. They have a 3 out of 5 score on Tripadvisor which seems to be a mix of 5 out of 5 and 1 out of 5 reviews, so "caveat emptor" as they say. Buying tickets online is cheaper. They have Wi-Fi on the trains but apparently not necessarily in the stations, so buy your online ticket in advance. Also be aware that (per their website) food and drink service has been suspended due to COVID, so pack a snack and some water. No alcohol allowed. 

From Limerick to Westport requires one or more changes and costs about €33. To get from Galway to Westport costs €16.79 and requires one change. 

If you'd like to check out Dublin from your Connemara home base, It takes about 3.5 hours to travel by rail from Westport and costs €33.30 one-way, €36.00 for a Day Return ticket and €48.65 for an Open Return (good for return within 30 days).  If you have an interest in seeing Northern Ireland I'm afraid there is no direct route from the west of Ireland- you'll have to travel through Dublin.