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BELCLARE

CO. GALWAY · IE

Belclare
Béal Chláir, Co. Galway

The North Galway
STOP 07 / 07

Béal Chláir · Co. Galway

A one-pub farming village on the Tuam-Headford road - and the gateway to Knockma, the hill where the fairy king is said to hold court.

Belclare is a small parish village on the R333, three and a half miles south-south-west of Tuam on the road to Headford. It is laid out simply: the Church of the Sacred Heart on one side of the road, the turlough on the other. The Irish name, Béal Chláir, is the mouth of the clár - the plain - and the clár is that turlough, a seasonal lake that floods the flat ground in winter and drains to grass in summer. The village proper is a couple of hundred people; the parish around it is wider farming country.

It is not a tourist village in itself. There is a primary school, a community centre, a GAA pitch, a playground, and Canavan's - the pub that is also the shop and the post office. A Franciscan friary was founded in the parish in 1291, though little of the record survives. The village sits inside the civil and Catholic parish of Corofin, and its football is played under the Corofin name - the club that won five All-Ireland Senior Club titles and was the first to take three in a row.

The reason to come is the hill. Two kilometres west, Knockma rises out of the plain - also called Castle Hackett hill - and on it sits one of the better short walks in north Galway, wrapped in some of the best-known fairy lore in Connacht. At its foot stands Castle Hackett, a 13th-century Norman tower house built by the Anglo-Norman Hacketts and later held by the Kirwans. From the cairns on the summit the view runs over the whole flat green sweep of east Galway.

Use Belclare as it is meant to be used: park at Knockma, walk the loop, and come back down to Canavan's for a pint. Tuam is ten minutes north for a proper town; Headford and Lough Corrib are south. Belclare itself you pass through in a minute - but the hill above it has held people's imaginations for a few thousand years.

Population

~200 (parish wider)

Founded

Franciscan friary founded 1291; parish of Belclare-Tuam

Coords

53.4764° N, 8.8336° W

01 / 07

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The hill

Knockma - a forest loop, two cairns, and the seat of the Connacht fairies.

Two kilometres west, also called Castle Hackett hill. A 4.2 km looped trail through hazel and oak, exposed Burren-like limestone, and two Bronze Age cairns said to hold Queen Maeve and Ceasair. Finvarra, king of the Connacht fairies, is said to keep his court here. Free, parking on site.

Walks & outings → 02 The village

Church on one side of the road, turlough on the other.

Béal Chláir means the mouth of the clár, the plain - the seasonal turlough that floods the flat ground opposite the Church of the Sacred Heart. A primary school, a community centre, a GAA pitch, and one pub-shop. That is the village, and it is enough.

The letter → 03 The pub

Canavan's - pub, shop and post office under one roof.

The single hub of the parish. Bar, well-stocked shop, the post office, Sky Sports, and a beer garden with a barbecue that earns its keep in summer. If you stop in Belclare, you stop here. There is nowhere else.

Pubs →

02 / 07

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Canavan's of Belclare

The whole village under one roof

Pub, shop & post office, on the R333 at Carrowntemple

Belclare's only pub, and far more than a pub. Bar at one end, a well-stocked shop and the post office at the other, Sky Sports on, and a beer garden out the back with a barbecue that comes into its own in summer. It is the social centre of the parish - the place the Knockma history book was launched, the place you end up after the hill. Genuinely warm, properly local, and the only show in town. That is not a complaint.

03 / 07

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Finvarra, court of the Connacht sí

Knockma and the fairy king

Knockma - Cnoc Meadha - is the traditional seat of Finvarra (Fionnbharr), king of the fairies of Connacht. The exposed limestone pavement on Finvarra's Trail, cracked and split like the Burren, is said in local tradition to be the doorway to his otherworld court beneath the hill. Two Bronze Age cairns crown the summit; one is named for Queen Maeve (Medb), the other associated with Ceasair of the earliest legendary settlers. Whether you take any of it seriously, the hill has been a place of burial and story for thousands of years, and people still leave fairy doors at the base of the trees on the way up.

A Norman tower house at the foot of the hill

Castle Hackett

At the base of Knockma stands Castle Hackett, a 13th-century tower house built by the Hacketts, an Anglo-Norman family granted land in this part of Galway. It later passed to the Kirwans, one of the Tribes of Galway, who held the surrounding Castle Hackett estate. The hill is named for them as much as for the fairies. The Castlehackett area has stood in for older Ireland on film more than once - it was used in the 1969 epic Alfred the Great.

A small place with a long list

Belclare's people

For a village this size the parish has sent a fair few names out into the country. Seán Canney, TD for Galway East, is from Belclare. The Fianna Fáil politician Mark Killilea Jnr lived and died here. And Kevin Steede, the 2015 Countdown champion, is a Belclare man - which the village has not been shy about mentioning since.

04 / 07

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Knockma Forest loop The walk. Park at Knockma Forest Park two kilometres west of the village, off the R333. The looped trail runs in linked sections - the Forest Loop up through hazel, oak and ash; the Avenue Loop with countryside views and a glimpse of Castle Hackett; Finvarra's Trail across the Burren-like limestone pavement; and a 300 m detour up the Queen Maeve Trail to the summit cairns. Easy to moderate, free, parking on site, no facilities - bring your own water and take your rubbish home.

4.2 km loopdistance

1.5 hourstime

To the summit cairns The Queen Maeve Trail spur takes you to the two Bronze Age cairns on top of Knockma. From here the view runs out over the flat plain of east Galway. There is also a memorial on the hill to Colonel Patrick Kelly, a Belclare-area man who fought in the American Civil War. A short climb for a large reward.

300 m detour off the loopdistance

20 minutestime

05 / 07

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

The turlough is still high, the woods on Knockma are coming into leaf, and the trail underfoot is firming up. A fine time for the loop.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

Long evenings on the hill and the beer garden at Canavan's earning its barbecue. The best stretch for combining the walk with a slow pint after.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep-Oct

Colour through the hazel and oak on Knockma, dry-ish paths, and the long view from the cairns at its clearest. Probably the best month for the walk.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

The turlough floods and the forest trail turns to mud. Bring proper boots. The pub keeps going regardless, and a wet walk followed by a fire in Canavan's is no bad way to spend an afternoon.

◐ Mind yourself

06 / 07

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Expecting a village to explore

Belclare is a church, a turlough, a school and a pub-shop on a country road. You see it in under a minute. The thing worth your time is the hill two kilometres west, not the village street. Park at Knockma and walk.

Climbing into Castle Hackett

The 13th-century tower house at the foot of Knockma sits on private land and is not an open visitor site. Admire it from the Avenue Loop on the forest walk; do not go looking for a way in.

Treating the fairy lore as a theme park

Knockma is a quiet working forest park with real Bronze Age cairns on it, not a managed attraction. There are no bins, no cafe, no ticket desk. Bring water, take your rubbish, and leave the fairy doors where you find them.

Getting there.

By car

Belclare is on the R333, about 9 km (a little over five miles) south-west of Tuam on the road towards Headford. From Galway city it is roughly 40 minutes north. Knockma Forest Park is signposted off the R333 two kilometres west of the village, with parking on site.

By bus

TFI Local Link route 438 runs Galway to Tuam via Menlo, Annaghdown, Corrundulla, Headford and Belclare, three times a day, seven days a week (launched May 2023). It is the only scheduled service through the village - check the Local Link Galway timetable before you rely on it.

By train

Nearest station is Tuam, on the Galway-Limerick line, about 10 minutes north by road. From there it is car or the Local Link bus.

By air

Shannon Airport is about 1 hour 15 minutes south by car. Ireland West (Knock) is roughly 45 minutes north-east. Dublin is around 2 hours 30 minutes east.