About Westport Walking Tours
Our Story
Westport Walking Tours was set up by brothers Stephen and Alan Clarke, whose father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather all came from Westport. Their Great Grandfather Edward O’Malley received a gold medal for rescuing 94 Achill islanders during the Clew Bay Disaster in 1894. Their grandfather, PJ. Verdon Clarke, showed Princess Grace of Monaco around Clew bay in 1961, which marked the start of commercial tourism in Westport.
Shortly after Princess Graces visit, he and a few other local businessmen set up the WTO (Westport Tourism Organization), a voluntary body with the aim of promoting tourism in Westport. Stephen is the 3rd generation of the Clarke family involved in the WTO today.
Stephen and Alan grew up hearing all the wonderful stories about their ancestors and always had an interest in the history of Westport. Stephen is certified in Tour Guiding and Heritage and loves showing people around beautiful Westport. Alan looks after their sales, marketing and media advertising.
He is an ambassador for Mayo tourism with his wonderful videos of the area, not only for Westport Walking Tours, but for County Mayo in general. The boys get their inspiration from their uncle, Martin Macrossan, the legend of Derry.
Martin set up Derry City Tours in the 1990s, and in 2013 while wearing his famous yellow jacket, he received the “Tourism Hero Award” from the Northern Ireland Tourism Board. Sadly, Martin passed away suddenly in 2015. His legacy lives on everyday with the yellow jacket tours around Westport Town. Stephen set up Westport Walking Tours in 2015 offering only walking tours around historic Westport.
Since then, the Westport Tours brand has grown in size year in year out and now offers tours of all shapes and sizes. In 2019 and again in 2022 Westport Walking Tours won the Gold award from CIE Tours being voted the best walking tour on the island of Ireland in a survey of over 25,000 CIE guests. Our tours are now the NO.1 Tour and Activity in Westport on Trip Advisor.

Meet Our Team
A team of passionate local guides dedicated to sharing the history, culture, and hidden stories of Westport with fun and unforgettable tours.

Stephen Clarke
Stephen started Westport Tours in 2015 to share his love for Westport through fun, light-hearted tours that capture the town’s history and charm.

Darren Cawley
Stephen started Westport Tours in 2015 to share his love for Westport through fun, light-hearted tours that capture the town’s history and charm.

Deirdre McGuirk
Stephen started Westport Tours in 2015 to share his love for Westport through fun, light-hearted tours that capture the town’s history and charm.

Martin Hughes
Stephen started Westport Tours in 2015 to share his love for Westport through fun, light-hearted tours that capture the town’s history and charm.
What Our Guests Say
Take a look at what people say about Westport Walking Tour.
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Darren was a superb guide, full of knowledge and he has a lovely friendly way and sense of humour!
The food was wonderful as was the company and, of course,... read more Westport was stunning ️siobhan e
November 27, 2022Walk, Talk, Eat Repeat - A walking tour with a diffrence. The perfect opportunity to explore Westport with some history and a lot of laughs thrown in . The passion of all the cafe/restaurants/tour guide... read more about their locally produced food and their town was great to experience fostering a great sense of community and working together to show off the town.
Perfect amount of stops for tasting food and stops for listening to local history.
November 27, 2022Walking and Food Tour, just do it! - Everything, Darren our guide was really informative and a lot of fun! We did the food tour and every stop was a feast for the sense’s and a reason to... read more return! The tour is great value for money, highly recommend!
November 27, 2022 -
Best way to see and learn about the beautiful town of Westport. - Our guide Darren was fabulous. Born and raised in the town he seemed to know everyone and everything about this lovely place. We spent a lovely leisurely hour... read more strolling through the streets while he pointed out his favorite spots to eat and drink and places to buy locally produced items. This is a definite thing to do while visiting the town!
October 12, 2022Westport Food Trail - The whole experience was wonderful the food trail plus the historical information of the town
Our guide Deirdre had a wealth of knowledge which she shared with us in... read more a fun atmosphere
September 29, 2022Start out hungry! - We did the Westport walking food tour on a beautiful summers day in August. It was a fun thing to do as a bunch of friends. We valued the ... read more opportunity to meet the owners of 10 different food outlets and sample their signature dishes In between we learned lots about the history of the town and its buildings from our delightful tour guide Deirdre.
September 7, 2022 -
I would highly recommend you put the food tour as first on your list once in town! It gives great insight into local favourites, not only is the food brilliant... read more but Darren our guide was happy to share loads of interesting info about the history of the town. It is clear there is a real passion for food and community in Westport.
stephaniemJ6238TZ
August 4, 2022Great tour - Great food tour to experienced hidden gem and find great local food, Martin tour guide was keep us entertain with his knowledges about history of Mayo Westport town
Doritos9
July 28, 2022Great way to see westport town - Really enjoyable and informative tour. Martin our guide was really knowledge and very personable which made this a very enjoyable walk. Great local tips and really nice way to see... read more westport and learn the history of the town. Would defintely recommend this tour. Liam & Thelma
The232015
July 26, 2022 -
A great introduction to. Westport - My wife and I did a walking tour with Deirdre last week. It is a great way to get to know the town and its history. Deirdre was a very... read more knowledgeable and friendly guide who also was able to recommend various places to eat and shop. Highly recommended
MorganP
July 17, 2022Great one hour walking tour of Westport! - Great way to familiarise yourself with the history and layout of the town of Westport. Our guide Deirdre was friendly, knowledgeable, interesting and very easy to understand. Good advice re... read more eating out and shopping too. All at a very reasonable price of 10 euros pp. Thanks Deirdre 🙂
DaisycO965
July 7, 2022
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