Oranmore - Gateway to the West of Ireland

Travelling to Oranmore couldn’t be easier with access via air, sea and land.  If your choice is to fly there are two international airports and one regional airport in the west of Ireland, servicing flights from all around the world.  If you like your independence and want to bring your car to Ireland there are three ferry ports on the east coast of the country and one to the south, all of which are within a three hour scenic drive from Oranmore.  Public and private bus companies and our public rail network service land travel from all major cities in Ireland and all buses destined for Galway city stop off in Oranmore.  The choice is yours!

Air

Galway Regional Airport offers direct convenient international access to Galway City and county and of course idyllic Connemara, as well as neighbouring counties Mayo, Roscommon, Clare and Limerick. Passengers can connect at Dublin, Cardiff, London Luton, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast City, Birmingham, Cork, Lorient, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Prague. With short check in times you can avoid the hassles associated with transiting through major airports. The airport aim to have you, and your baggage, ready for your onward journey, within ten minutes of arrival.

Shannon International Airport in County Clare is approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes drive from Oranmore.  Chosen for its geographical position as the transatlantic gateway between Europe and America it  is unique as it is situated at the most western point of Europe.  Shannon Airport meets all the requirements of a first class international airport and much more, facilitating the largest type of aircraft now in operation.  The airport is used by approximately 20,000 scheduled and 8,500 non-scheduled carriers and handles a passenger throughput of approximately 3 million people annually.  In all, there are around 26,000 aircraft movements at Shannon every year.

Ireland West Airport Knock is the fastest growing airport in Ireland having more than doubled the number of scheduled flights from 28 in 2003 to over 60 for 2006 and passenger numbers have increased by 170% from 196,000 in 2002 to 530,000 in 2005, with 650,000 passengers projected for 2006. In 2005 a number of airlines operated a total of 45 daily scheduled flights each week from Ireland West Airport, connecting to 574 world wide destinations.

Sea

A wide variety of Ferry companies offer sea crossings from Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Rosslare and Cork ports to ports in the UK and France including Liverpoo, Holyhead, Fishgaurd, Pembroke, Swansea, Roscoff and Cherbourg.

If you’re travelling from the UK your journey times can be from one and a half hours to three and a half hours, journey times from France are considerably longer so please check with your chosen Ferry company for details.

Land

Public bus and private bus companies operate between all major cities and towns and most of rural villages, and all buses destined for Galway city stop off in Oranmore.

The Public rail network services travel to and from all major cities in Ireland.  Railway stations closes to Oranmore are Galway railway station (8 kilometres) and Athenry railway station (13 kilometres).

This mode of transport is cost effective and convenient and will give you an opportunity to see our countryside without the pressure of driving or map reading.

We hope that you’ve found this information useful and if you have any further questions feel free to contact us.