At a glance
Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) nearby
| Block | Provider | To campus | Price | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Áras Ghuaire | Letterfrack Accommodation (letterfrackaccommodation.com) | Across the road (1-min walk) | Single €4,930 – en-suite double €5,690/yr | Full academic year, Sept 2026 – May 2027 |
19 three-bedroom apartments, maximum three students per unit. 2026/27 per-room prices: single €4,930, large single €5,130, single with double bed €5,340, en-suite with double bed €5,690. Each total is rent + €450 non-refundable utility fee + €500 electricity prepayment. A €400 booking deposit is refundable at the end of your stay, less deductions. Pay in two semester payments and you get €200 off. Bank transfer only — no cards. Included: high-speed internet, TV and TV licence, weekly refuse collection, CCTV, gated coded entry, on-site caretaker and office, private car park, in-apartment washer/dryer, landscaped courtyard. Some apartments are disability-adapted. You bring bed linen, duvet, pillows, towels, crockery, cutlery, saucepans and tea towels. Contents insurance is not included.
Digs & rent-a-room near ATU Connemara
With one block and 200+ students, digs are the mainstream option here, not the fallback. Rooms in private houses in and around Letterfrack, Moyard, Tullycross and Clifden are listed on the ATU Galway-Mayo Studentpad, which has a dedicated Letterfrack campus filter. Recent Letterfrack listings have run around €125/week for a room in a private home, often all-inclusive (heating, electricity, internet, TV licence) and often on a 5-day Monday–Friday basis, with some hosts not charging rent over Christmas and Easter if the room is left empty. ATU also runs an annual Rent-a-Room appeal to homeowners across Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal — hosts can earn up to €14,000 a year tax-free under Rent-a-Room Relief, which is why new digs keep appearing right through September.
ATU Galway-Mayo Studentpad · ATU Connemara campus
See our guides to student grants & costs and how to apply.
Private rentals & house shares
Letterfrack has no rental market in the way Galway city does — supply is a handful of cottages and houses along the N59 and in nearby villages. Look at Clifden (14 km, about 15 minutes by car) if you have a car or can commit to the bus, and at Moyard, Tullycross, Renvyle and Kylemore. Daft.ie and Rent.ie carry occasional listings; Studentpad and word of mouth through the campus and the Students' Union carry more. Never pay a deposit before viewing.
Never pay a deposit before viewing — read how to avoid rental scams.
How to get to ATU Connemara
Citylink 923 runs Galway City ⇄ Clifden ⇄ Letterfrack, the direct link to Galway city, Eyre Square and the coach station. Bus Éireann 423 runs Clifden ⇄ Westport via Letterfrack (Veldons stop), stopping at Moyard, Kylemore, Leenane and Leenaun, connecting to Westport railway station for the Dublin line. Bus Éireann 419 runs Galway ⇄ Clifden, then connect onward. Letterfrack is on the N59, roughly 80 km from Galway city (a little over an hour) and 14 km from Clifden. The campus operates open-access parking with no charges, which makes a car genuinely viable here. If home is 30 km or more from Letterfrack you qualify for SUSI's higher non-adjacent maintenance rate. Note: the €3/€12 TFI Leap fare cap applies to Dublin-zone services only, not Connemara routes.
Application timeline for 2026 entry
- 1Autumn/winter before entry — Áras Ghuaire takes bookings for the following September. It's first-come-first-served and it fills. Get the online application and €400 deposit in as early as you can.
- 2January–March — The block is typically full or close to it by spring. Register on atustudentpad.ie now and set alerts.
- 3Early August — First part-payment due for returning students (on or before 4 August 2026 for 2026/27). First-year payment dates are set separately in August.
- 421 August 2026 — Leaving Cert results.
- 526 August 2026 — CAO Round 1 offers. If you're only starting your search now, go straight to the Áras Ghuaire waiting list, the campus office on 091 742650, and Studentpad digs.
- 610th of each month, October–April — Standing order instalments if you chose monthly. Semester option: second payment due 8 December 2026.
- 7Through September — New digs keep coming onto Studentpad as the Rent-a-Room appeal lands. Don't stop looking.
Tips & pitfalls
- Book the year before, not the summer of. This is the single most important line in this guide. One block, ~57 beds, first-come-first-served — Letterfrack fills earlier than almost anywhere in Ireland relative to its size.
- Don't plan around getting a room in Áras Ghuaire. Line up a digs option in parallel from the start.
- Take the two-semester payment option if you can — it saves €200 outright.
- Budget the extras: €400 deposit + €450 non-refundable utility fee + €500 electricity prepayment all land with your first payment. That's roughly €1,535–€1,700 due up front on day one.
- Electricity is prepay and shared three ways. If your apartment burns through the €1,500 pooled credit, you top up yourselves. Agree house rules on heating early — Connemara winters are wet and the heating is electric.
- Bank transfer only. No cards. Get the standing order set up before you arrive, because keys don't issue until proof of it is provided.
- A car changes everything here. Free open parking on campus, and it opens up Clifden, Moyard and Renvyle as places to live.
- Viewings run late May to 1 September, by appointment only — phone 087 705 7753 before travelling to Letterfrack. It's a long drive to find the office closed.
Frequently asked questions
Does ATU Connemara have on-campus accommodation?
No. ATU does not own or manage any accommodation at the Letterfrack campus. The only purpose-built student accommodation in the area is Áras Ghuaire, a private complex of 19 three-bedroom apartments directly across the road from the college. Everything else is digs or private rental.
How much is student accommodation in Letterfrack?
Áras Ghuaire's 2026/27 rates run from €4,930 for a single room to €5,690 for an en-suite with a double bed, each figure including a €450 utility fee and a €500 electricity prepayment. Add a €400 refundable booking deposit. Digs in the area have listed at around €125 per week, often all-inclusive.
Is Letterfrack accommodation a lottery?
No. Áras Ghuaire allocates rooms first-come-first-served, so booking early genuinely does help — unlike Galway, Cork or Limerick where campus rooms go to a computer lottery.
What do I do if Áras Ghuaire is full?
Join the waiting list for cancellations, register on atustudentpad.ie and filter for the Letterfrack campus, and contact the ATU Connemara campus office on 091 742650. New digs appear right through September under the Rent-a-Room scheme, so keep checking weekly rather than giving up in August.
Can I commute to ATU Connemara?
From Clifden, yes — it's 14 km with a bus link and free campus parking, and a number of students do it. From Galway city it's over an hour each way on the N59, which is a long daily commute in winter, but the Citylink 923 makes weekend travel home straightforward.
Is it worth having a car in Letterfrack?
More than at almost any other Irish campus. Parking on campus is open-access and free, bus frequency is rural rather than urban, and a car opens up housing in Clifden, Moyard, Tullycross and Renvyle that would otherwise be off the table.
Official links & support
Other Galway colleges
Last updated: June 2026 · Researched against official ATU Connemara, SUSI, Revenue and RTB sources. Prices and dates change each cycle — always confirm on the college's own page before paying. Back to all university accommodation guides.