Fab Fermanagh: Is this Northern Ireland’s best-kept secret? Year of Food & Drink 2016 5Finn Lough’s transparent domes. From delicious cafés to domes under the stars, Lorraine Courtney says Fermanagh makes a super short break. Fancy seeing the heavenly bodies peppering Fermanagh’s ink-black skies from one of Ireland’s quirkiest new hotel rooms (above)? I spent a January night counting shooting stars in the middle of a Fermanagh woodland – and all while snuggled under the duvet. Designed by Belleek’s Ronan Lowery, Finn Lough’s transparent domes are very snazzy with four-poster beds crafted from local oak, a Nespresso machine, two cosy armchairs, fluffy robes and a telescope for gazing at the […]
Get to a festival in Galway In summer, it seems like every weekend is host to a fiesta of some sort, whether it’s a ginormous music festival or a tiny village bash. But Galway is the king of festival season – from the summer races to the Film Fleadh, from the September Oyster Festival to the explosion of theatrics, music and art that is the annual Arts Festival. The streets are alive with performance, with illuminated puppetry taking centre stage. There’s a cracking food scene in Galway all year round, so keep an eye out for the April food festival too – NB While you’re at it: Grab a bite […]
Step into the Hole in the Wall, Kilkenny The first time I chanced on this offbeat wine bar in Kilkenny, I ended up writing words of Irish on a piece of paper while watching a documentary on George Clooney. The second time, I got chatting to a group of Canadian visitors who had just been playing hurling. It’s that kind of place – and that’s not even starting on the old Tudor building itself, hidden away down one of Kilkenny’s magical medieval alleyways. Dr. Michael Conway is the modest visionary behind this little gem. Stay long enough, and you may forget the rest of Kilkenny entirely
Visit “Craggy Island” & Father Ted’s House, Co Clare It’s hard to believe that more than 20 years have passed since Father Ted burst onto our screens. It’s even harder to find someone who doesn’t have a soft spot for the series, which is why catching a glimpse of the parochial house is such a thrill. The house itself is found alongside several other locations in the Burren (including the Ailwee Caves), and the owners do a lovely cup of tea and cake (€10pp). Superfans can up the ante with a ticket to Tedfest, the annual festival on Inis Mór. It’s mad, Ted – NB While you’re at it: Swap […]
Visit the southern tip of Ireland, Co. Cork When you get to the very bottom of Ireland, at Mizen Head, there’s a bridge across a gorge. On the other side, set on a tiny rocky outcrop above the wild waters of the Atlantic is Mizen Head Signal Station which was home to three light keepers until 1993. The Mizen Centre museum sets the scene but it’s not until you walk down the 99 steps and then get yourself across the bridge that you feel the power of the ocean and the isolation that the keepers must have experienced in times past – YG While you’re at it: Ireland’s most southerly […]
Climb a sea stack off the coast of Donegal New frontiers are hard come by in travel. So when an email lands telling you of a place fewer people have visited than the moon, you take note. Ireland’s sea stacks are among the least-visited nooks in the land, and more than 100 of them sprout from the sea off Donegal. I drove to the edge of the earth to meet the man behind that email (Ian Miller of Unique Ascent), and he took me on a nerve-jangling taster up Berg Stack, near Glencolmbcille. There was zero signal on my phone, but I never felt more connected – PÓC