Restaurant review: The Pier Head, Co Galway

THERE is much to be said for Ireland’s recent network of commuter and tourist-friendly motorways — they swish you from doorstep to doorstep in so much less time than when you had to slowly go through every town from here to there and back again. 

And yet — while we’re not saying we’re missing the likes of Portarlington or Ballinasloe, to name but two towns we have been bypassing for some years — there is something of a giddiness to the senses when you veer off the motorways and, on a whim, if not a prayer, take a turn at a signpost and drive towards somewhere you’ve never been to before.

One such spot is Kinvara, a seaport village in south County Galway that has been on the to-do list for some years now due to its proximity to the Burren, County Clare.