So many sheep!!! - Even though the weather wasn’t the greatest. The sites were wonderful. The guide at Aughnanure was perfect. There were enough stops to break up the van ride. The sheep dog experience was so much fun and educational. I would recommend it to anyone.

Great experience - Listening to Michael and having him explain everything Irish and Joe describe how process of training the dogs and the importance of their job.

Outstanding tour - We recently did the small group tour to Connemara with the sheepdog demo. The tour was outstanding. Michael took very good care of us and provided great commentary throughout the day. The group was small, the coach very nice and comfortable. The scenery on this tour is some of the best that I have ever seen. When stopping for lunch in Leenane , we went to Hamilton’s pub, the food was outstanding. Highly recommend this tour.

Touring around Galway with Michael - Michael was a great guide and my wife and I had a delightful day in and around Galway. We felt as if we were in knowledgeable, capable hands the entire day.

Don't miss out on this tour. - We booked this tour at the last minute, and what a delight! Michael, our guide, was funny and knowledgeable. The guided visit to Aughnanure Castle was so great. The condition of the castle and grounds is so impressive; This is seeing the Irish county in its natural state. Our visit to the Sheepdog demo and farm was exciting and fun. Truly happy we book this tour

Worthwhile tour of the Connemara - Everyone on the Lally staff has been wonderful - a special thanks to our tour guide, Michael..very informative as we took in the Connemara countryside, answered all questions, and patiently waited for stragglers:) He drove the small bus with care. The Aughnanure Castle tour was very interesting. Got much more out of it with a guide. Also thoroughly enjoyed the sheep herding demonstration. Love the small bus tours!

A memorable day with Mike. - We enjoyed the tour from beginning to end. Mike and all we encountered were so pleasant and deeply informative!

Great photos and adorable pups! - A beautiful experience. We were lucky to have perfect weather in April, and the sheepdog demo was informative and adorable - the absolute highlight of our whole trip to Ireland. The coach was comfortable and our tour guide (Michael) was very friendly and taught us a lot of interesting history and lore along the beautiful scenery. Lots of opportunities to get out of the coach and take photos and a delicious lunch along the way. Highly recommend!

One of the high points of our trip to Ireland - This tour was one of the high points of our trip to Ireland in October. The Lally Tour bus, which started just two doors down from our hotel (The Park House Hotel) normally carries about 16 people but on that particular day only my wife and I had signed up. The tour manager nevertheless let the tour proceed. One advantage is that we got to talk more conversationally with Michael, the tour’s driver/guide, and he was great. Michael was friendly, respectful and had a weath of knowledge. He couldn’t have been more welcoming. There was a bit of dampness in the air around Aughnanure Castle, but not enough to slow things done. (We learned that the day before the roads around the Castle had flooded out, and that that day’s passengers had not been able to tour the Castle grounds.) At the Castle, Giles, another great guide, gave us a very informative talk on the Castle’s history, with special attention to its architectural details (details that we would have missed just looking at the structure with uninformed eyes.) The winding stone stairs inside the Castle to the third floor are steep but we found them manageable. We later visited the Joyce farm where sheep dogs are trained to follow verbal commands (and as a bonus we were able to play with half a dozen or so puppies who were sheep-dogs-in-waiting.)The owner gave a short but entertaining talk about his dogs and his sheep, and then set one of his dogs up the hill to round up and bring down a dozen or so sheep. It was very impressive. And the Connemara countryside was truly breathtaking throughout the day. Michael then drove us to Cong, making stops here and there to let us take pictures at sites where the movie The Quiet Man (1952) with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara had been filmed. (We had seen that movie and remembered it well; if you do take this tour, and haven’t seen that film, I’d recommend trying to see it somehow.) In Cong, we ate at lovely café that Michael recommended. My wife and I had a wonderful time on this tour, and recommend it highly if you visit the city of Galway.

Private Tour - My partner and I booked the small group tour, but we got lucky and ended up having the tour entirely to ourselves! First, let me say how much I appreciated that Lally did not cancel our tour that day just because we were the only travelers. The tour itinerary was one we were very much looking forward to, and we would not have had a chance to reschedule the tour for another day. Our driver Michael was the perfect guide - personable, informative, and gave us plenty of time to take pictures or look around while keeping us on schedule. Because there were only 2 of us on the bus that day, we got a chance to know Michael a bit and that made the experience all the better. One of the best parts of traveling is the opportunity to meet locals and get their insight and perspective of the places I'm visiting. Being on a 'private' tour allowed us to have a unique opportunity for that. The itinerary itself packed some variety into one day. This was my partner's first visit Europe and he had never seen a castle before, so Aughnanure was a treat for him. At the site we had plenty of time to explore the grounds and we got a private guided tour of the tower. We drove through Connemara and stopped along the way a few times to take pictures of the scenery and landscape. I had no idea there was a fjord in Ireland, but we got a chance to see one along the way to the sheep dog demonstration. I have to be honest, as an animal lover this was one of the highlights of the trip. Joe Joyce and his sheepdogs were so much fun to watch. Even though it was rainy and a bit cold, we were the only people at that particular demonstration and we had a lot of time to talk with Joe about the family business, his community, and of course the dogs. Finally, we traveled on to the village of Cong. I know it's known for the John Wayne film but I've never seen it, and in another 10 years it's likely most visitors will not even know who that is, let alone have heard of the Quiet Man. Cong was pretty and it was quiet - I don't think we got much out of our visit there because of the weather and by that point we were getting pretty tired. That said, it was a wonderful experience overall. If you're looking for a good tour company in the area, I highly recommend Lally. When I go back to Ireland, I'll be booking with them again.