Clare Island accommodation in Ireland
| country: | Ireland |
| location: | Clare Island, near County MayoSee map here |
| price: | From €65 per person per night. Activities and courses available at additional prices |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Clare Island accommodation in Ireland
Eco-friendly yoga and meditation retreat centre located on Clare Island, off the Mayo coast. Very peaceful location with stunning views over Clew Bay and Croagh Patrick. The accommodation is in a renovated island cottage and its modern extension, and the 50 sqm yoga studio is in a modern timber building nearby. Solar water heaters and wood burning stove for space heating. The food is completely organic, and as much of it as possible comes from our own garden and polytunnel. The centre offers various courses for all levels with resident and visiting teachers throughout the summer. Off season, the centre is open for individual and group retreats, and offers self catering accommodation and organic vegetarian guesthouse. It may also be rented for groups of 6 to 14 people. We welcome helpers and woofers all year round.
Walking: the island has a varied terrain; spectacular cliffs with large numbers of nesting sea birds and a rich 'inland' topography of hills and bogs and small pockets of woodland, making it ideal for hill-walking
Cycling: We provide a free bicycle.
special things to do and see here
Courses run at the centre including yoga, meditation, vegetarian cooking, permaculture, organic gardening and eco-building. Walking: the island has a varied terrain; spectacular cliffs with large numbers of nesting sea birds and a rich 'inland' topography of hills and bogs and small pockets of woodland, making it ideal for hill-walking
Cycling: We provide a free bicycle.
rooms, food and facilities
The accommodation comprises 6 twins and 1 double. All rooms have sea and mountain views. There are four toilets/shower rooms and one toilet/ bathroom. Single rooms are sometimes available, depending on which course is taking place. All bed linen is provided except for towels which you will need to bring with you.
Family & baby friendly: We welcome children. We welcome babies, but bring your own cot.
Pet friendly: Pets are welcome.
Family & baby friendly: We welcome children. We welcome babies, but bring your own cot.
Pet friendly: Pets are welcome.
how to find us
The nearest airport is Knock, then taxi to Roonagh Quay, 90 minutes, 65 euros. Alternatively, fly or sail to Dublin then take a train to Westport, then a taxi to Roonagh quay. The boat journey to the island take 20 minutes and costs 15 euros return.how this holiday makes a difference
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Over the past 5 years, we have used local services as much as possible. This includes using a team of local builders for all our building projects and using local labour, local suppliers and local services as much as possible. We have in past run some courses for charity (Amnesty international and Greenpeace).
We utilise a Solar panel for water heating, a wood burning stove for space heating, a compost toilet in one of the houses, and a rain water collection system. We buy products in bulk, or produce it ourselves (most of the vegetable come from our own land). We recycle: Every year we plant trees on our farm to partially offset our carbon footprint. In the past five years, we have planted over 5000 trees. We do use local contractors and buy local produce whenever possible. We hope that locals will be inspired by the example we have set. Running an eco-tourism business from the island has proved challenging, but we have managed in making it a success, and some local people are now taking an interest in it. One other tourism business has installed a solar water heating system, for example, and another local B&B is interested. We have also provided a lot of business for local builders, as we were expanding our accommodation capacity over the past 5 years. We hope to includes on some of our courses some traditional skills and craft, taught by local people. For example, one of our neighbour is a traditional weaver and we will run a course jointly in September. Some helpers and woofers coming here have also made a positive contribution to the local community. And last, but maybe not least, we invite the local school children for a visit of the woodland and garden once or twice a year. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |
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