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Sean's Bar, Athlone Castle and Clonmaconoise Monasic Site
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From €750 per person
If you’re heading from Dublin to Galway anyway, it seems a shame to spend that journey staring out a window at the M6. This private chauffeur service turns the transfer into a proper day out, with two stops that most people never manage to fit into a trip: Sean’s Bar in Athlone, widely recognised as the oldest pub in the world, and Clonmacnoise Monastery, a 6th-century monastic site sitting quietly on the banks of the River Shannon.
DM Executive Line runs the journey in fully licensed and insured Mercedes-Benz vehicles with professional chauffeurs. The price is fixed before you travel - no meters running, no surprises on arrival.
This is a private tour.
Sean’s Bar is worth the detour on its own. Located on Main Street in Athlone, it has been licensed continuously since around 900 AD - archaeologists found wattle-and-daub walls and coins from that period during renovations. Don’t treat it as a photo stop and move on. Sit down, order a drink, and take in the low ceilings and thick walls. It’s genuinely old in a way you can feel.
Clonmacnoise is more moving in person than any photo suggests. The monastic settlement was founded by St Ciaran in 545 AD, and sitting on a broad bend of the Shannon it has a stillness that’s hard to describe. The original high crosses are kept inside the visitor centre to protect them from weathering, so you’ll see both the replicas on site and the real carved stone up close. Give yourself more time than you think you need.
The Shannon midlands have their own pace. The stretch of Ireland between Dublin and Galway through Athlone is flat, green, and genuinely unhurried. If you’ve been in Dublin for a few days, the change in atmosphere once you get past the M50 is noticeable. Your chauffeur knows the roads well and can adjust timing if you want longer at either stop.
Bring cash for the admission fees. Clonmacnoise charges for entry and not all sites in the midlands have reliable card machines. A small amount of euro in cash saves you the frustration of being turned away at the door.
Arrive at Galway with energy to spare. Because this transfer takes care of the journey rather than exhausting you on public transport or a crowded coach, you’ll land in Galway ready to actually explore the city. Galway’s Latin Quarter is only a short walk from most of the central accommodation, and the evening atmosphere there is worth arriving fresh for.