Last Bar Before New York
The Route
A The Cottage
B Loophead Lighthouse
C Kilbaha
D Kilcredaun
E Querrin West
F Querrin Shore
G Clairefield
H Knock
I Shannakea
J Connelly
K Milltown Malbay
L Inagh
M Ennistimon
Distance 138 miles (227 km)
The Irish take every opportunity to milk the tourist industry and especially the American market. A lot of native Irish left their homes and travelled to America to seek a new life and many Americans come to Ireland in search of their ancestors’ history. So it came to no surprise as we entered the village of Kilbaha we came across the pub advertising itself as the Last bar before New York. I guess there are bars closer in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, but they never miss an opportunity to extract that American Dollar. The pub is situated near to the harbour wall where we parked up our bikes and decided to venture inside for some refreshments. It was just a simple pub that served a selection of food for the tourists. Of all the people in the pub only the bar staff had an Irish accent. We found some tables and placed our helmets and jackets on the window sills out of the way. A selection of food was ordered by each of us ranging from seafood chowder, fish and chips to soup of the day. The fish I ordered was cooked in a light Guinness batter and had large white flakes of fish with large chunky chips. It was delicious. Mo had decided that she would try a Guinness with her meal. When we had finished we wandered outside to take a look out onto the harbour. The weather had started to change with the wind getting stronger and the rain clouds approaching. As we left we passed the next pub in the village only a few hundred yards up the road but it could not advertise that it was the last bar before New York.
Extract from the book 'The Land of Diddeley Dee'
Next: Day 5 - Cliffs of Moher