Oh my God this town is a hidden gem! Everyone at Fanore knew Anne and heartily welcomed us into their bar and their songs for an authentic Irish experience. The view is absolutely gorgeous, especially from the bedroom window upstairs. They have a friendly dog called Scooby who loves to be petted and is up early to scout the town.
Do note that Fanore is not close to Galway. It’s an hour drive or more, and I presume same by bus. The drive there is really scenic. Cliffs of Moher are another half hr drive south which would have been handy if we visited repeatedly but we couldn’t. Highly recommend the blue coloured bar in town for meeting new friends over Guinness. Most restaurants stop serving food at 9, including the bar (but drinks and chips and peanuts go on). We found Mr Kebab in the closest town as a great place for late food.
WiFi seemed to malfunction for us which was a minor setback. Anne was super accommodating by keeping utensils, tea packets, coffee, sugar and milk for us as well tour guides, hiking maps, and even lending us her car charger!
We are so coming back and my friends were so charmed that they were asking the locals for housing prices to settle down here after retirement.