Cycle the Great Western Greenway, Co. Mayo If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about cycling, take this short off-road trip at a leisurely pace along the old railway line from Westport to Achill Island. You’ll pass over and under bridges, meet wandering sheep and enjoy the colours of the Nephin Mountains along the way. The 42km-trail can be done in a day, but we stopped off in Mulranny for a night. There, what seems like an ordinary roadside pub, Daly’s, opens up to the most magnificent views across Clew Bay from the back. Leave time to explore Achill Island too – YG While you’re at it: Don’t miss […]
What does Achill Island have in common with Tahiti, Iceland, California and the Seychelles? What does Achill Island have in common with Tahiti, Iceland, California and the Seychelles?The answer lies on the western end of the island and glorious Keem Bay which was last week selected by renowned travel writer Pól Ó Conghaile in his list of ten breathtaking beaches around the world.Keem Bay was the only Irish beach to make the shortlist, joining exotic locations like Matira Point in Tahiti and Anse Source D’Argent in the Seychelles.Pól Ó Conghaile compiled the list for last Thursday’s Irish Independent and said the following of Keem: “Achill boasts five Blue Flag beaches, […]
Patrick Kavanagh Country, Co Monaghan You’ve heard of Yeats Country. You know Joyce’s Dublin. Seamus Heaney is soon to get his own visitor centre in Bellaghy. So why, oh why, is the gorgeously intimate landscape of Patrick Kavanagh’s life and poetry so off-radar? Within a 13.5km walk, cycle or drive from the heritage centre in Inniskeen, you’ll find the poet’s grave (a modest wooden cross), the family homestead, Billy Brennan’s Barn and Inniskeen Road, where the bicycles went by in twos and threes on that eponymous July evening. Monaghan has its magic, all right – The bicycles go by in twos and threes – There’s a dance in Billy […]
Take a seaweed bath in Sligo Nothing beats the feeling of sinking into a piping hot bath. And if that bath is filled with seaweed harvested from the shore that morning? All the better. A visit to the Voya Seaweed Baths in Strandhill will leave your skin silky soft and your mind struggling to remember exactly what “stress” is. My tip? Skip the fancy shampoo and dunk your head back into the mineral-rich water – your hair will dry in perfect, beachy waves – NB While you’re at it: Take a bracing walk along Strandhill beach, then pop into Shells Café for their unbeatable chicken burger.
Happy birthday, brew you: Guinness Storehouse toasts 15th anniversary Deirdre Reynolds PUBLISHED02/12/2015 | 12:18 SHARE 4The Guinness Storehouse. Photo: Deposit Happy birthday, brew you – the Guinness Storehouse toasts its 15th anniversary in the capital today. SHARE The former fermentation plant famously underwent a massive €42 million facelift in 2000. A decade and a half on, the St James’s Gate attraction is expected to welcome its 14th million visitor this year. Celebrating the occasion, Guinness Storehouse Managing Director Paul Carty told Independent.ie: “When we first opened, our target was to welcome one million visitors. I saw that as very far off in the distance and stretching things to say the […]
Happy birthday, brew you: Guinness Storehouse toasts 15th anniversary Deirdre Reynolds PUBLISHED02/12/2015 | 12:18 SHARE 4The Guinness Storehouse. Photo: Deposit Happy birthday, brew you – the Guinness Storehouse toasts its 15th anniversary in the capital today. SHARE The former fermentation plant famously underwent a massive €42 million facelift in 2000. A decade and a half on, the St James’s Gate attraction is expected to welcome its 14th million visitor this year. Celebrating the occasion, Guinness Storehouse Managing Director Paul Carty told Independent.ie: “When we first opened, our target was to welcome one million visitors. I saw that as very far off in the distance and stretching things to say the […]
The West Coast Tour Day 1 We start off your tour in Donegal. Donegal is one of the most unspoilt landscapes in Europe. It’s famous for its beautiful scenery, coastline, impressive mountain ranges, glens and lakes and rich reminders of a historic past. Our first stop of the day is Glenveagh National Park (over 14,000 acres), a remote and hauntingly beautiful wilderness of rugged mountains and pristine lakes. Glenveagh is the haunt of many rare and interesting plants and animals and is famous for its herd of native Irish red deer. There are a variety of short walks from which you can choose. The estate of Glenveagh was originally consolidated into […]
The West & South West Tour Day 1 We travel to the Hennigan Heritage Farm and get a glimpse of what life was like for small tenant farmers in Ireland between the 1870’s and 1950’s. The story of generations of Hennigans is skilfully interwoven with the History of Ireland touching on the famine and the land wars. In the afternoon we go to Strokestown House and see how the other half lived, this is one of Ireland’s many aristocratic Landlord mansions which sustained itself on the rental incomes from the tenant farmers such as the Hennigans. On route to Strokestown we visit Rathcroghan which boasts a multitude of monuments stretching from the first […]
The West & North West Tour Day 1 We start off your tour in Donegal. Donegal is one of the most unspoilt landscapes in Europe. It’s famous for its beautiful scenery, coastline, impressive mountain ranges, glens and lakes and rich reminders of a historic past. Our first stop of the day is Glenveagh National Park (over 14,000 acres), a remote and hauntingly beautiful wilderness of rugged mountains and pristine lakes. Glenveagh is the haunt of many rare and interesting plants and animals and is famous for its herd of native Irish red deer. There are a variety of short walks from which you can choose. The estate of Glenveagh was originally […]