Discovering Mayo and the Wild Atlantic Way on horseback

PHOTOGRAPHER Florian Wagner from Bavaria, Germany, is travelling on horseback through the west of Ireland - all the way from Mizen Head to Malin Head.

Florian is accompanied by a small team that includes four fellow riders, five horses and two Bernese Mountain Dogs. His trip is supported by Tourism Ireland in Frankfurt.

Florian and some of his friends undertook a similar journey in Germany back in 2013, crossing the country from south to north on horseback.

This time, they are making their way through the west of Ireland. Having set out from Mizen Head, the total journey will be approximately 1,100 kilometres, from south to north, which will take about eight weeks. Florian aims to arrive at his final destination of Malin Head at the end of July.

When the journey is complete, a beautiful coffee table book will be published featuring stunning photography of Florian’s Ireland adventure. A 45-minute documentary will also be produced and will air on Spiegel TV Wissen (German documentary channel), inspiring viewers to come and discover the west of Ireland for themselves.

They arrived this week at Clare Island, where they found out all about the ancestral home of the legendary Pirate Queen, Grace O'Malley. They also visited Glen Keen Farm in Louisburgh.

Zoë Redmond, Tourism Ireland’s manager for Central Europe, said: “Tourism Ireland is delighted to support Florian and his team on their journey through the west of Ireland. It’s a really effective way of engaging with his German followers, sparking their curiosity about the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland.

“Florian’s blog and Facebook page are extremely popular and he’s been posting lots of great photos and details of the journey online, inspiring his readers and followers to come and discover this part of Ireland for themselves.”