Walk … Bray Head, Co Wicklow This linear walk of about 7km, along a path that contours gently under Bray Head, is one for any day and in all seasons. Okay, it hasn’t the heart-stopping beauty of sea and rock experienced on, say, Slieve League or Glen Head in Donegal or Croughaun on Achill Island. Its pathway occupies a much more benign space: one probably more for chatty morning strollers and joggers, picnickers and coffee shoppers, even mountain-buggy pushers and dog walkers, than for hard-core hikers. Still, on the east coast resident’s score sheet of accessibility and gentleness of climate versus the wilder, more elemental beauty of the east, the […]
A whistlestop tour of Donegal’s Inishowen Peninsula on the Wild Atlantic Way Sitting at the table beside us in Farran’s bar, the most northerly pub in Ireland, was a group of tourists from Atlanta, Georgia. Like us, they had come for comfort food after exploring the breathtaking scenery on a blustery day in Malin Head. One tells the server: “I ordered a chicken and ‘tomayto’ sandwich.” “Tom-Ato, you mean,” quips the friendly barman as he lays the dish in front of the American. “You won’t find any tomaytos ‘round here…” It’s this inimitable Irish charm that makes our brilliant little island one of a kind… After a little chuckle to […]
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, […]
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
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
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 […]
See wildflower season in the Burren, Co. Clare There’s no landscape quite like the Burren. At just one glance it’s lunar and sparse, but peek again and it’s teeming with life. When the wildflowers poke up between the wrinkled rocks (typically in May), it makes for a scene that could have been lifted from a postcard. Continue the floral theme with a visit to The Burren Perfumery, where you can stroll through their herb garden and enjoy a pot of tea. Don’t leave without driving along the Flaggy Shore, reciting Seamus Heaney as you go Postscript by Seamus Heaney And some time make the time to drive out west Into […]
Stay at Ballyfin, Co Laois Ordinary folk may have to sacrifice the kids’ college fund to stay here, but a visit to Ballyfin is a re-immersaion in the golden age of Irish country house hospitality. From the moment staff greet you on the steps of the Regency-era pile to the lavish stuccowork, sumptuous library and butlers who will unpack your luggage, you’ll feel to the manner born. Arguably, it’s Ireland’s finest 21st century restoration – PÓC While you’re at it: Co Cork’s Ballyvolane is another masterful Blue Book bolthole… this one complete with glamping and its own artisan gin