Blarney Castle: the honest guide
Blarney Castle sits eight kilometres north of Cork city and draws somewhere around half a million visitors a year. The stone gets nearly all the…
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Grace O'Malley, the Pirate Queen of Clew Bay
She was fifty-six years old when she sailed from Connacht to Greenwich to negotiate face to face with Queen Elizabeth I. Neither spoke the other's…
Doolin in low season, November to March
Doolin in summer is loud, busy, and full. Doolin in winter is something else. The pubs still play music, the weather is properly Atlantic, and you…
Walking from Doolin to the Cliffs of Moher, the proper coast walk
The Doolin Cliff Walk is a 14-kilometre walk along the very top of the Cliffs of Moher, from Doolin pier to Hag's Head south of the visitor centre…
Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, what to expect
The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is the biggest singles event in Europe and runs every September in Lisdoonvarna, fifteen minutes inland from…
Clare Island and Inishturk, the islands off Westport
Clare Island and Inishturk are the two inhabited islands sitting in the mouth of Clew Bay, both reachable by ferry from Roonagh Pier near Louisburgh…
Achill Island day trip from Westport
Achill Island, the largest island off the Irish coast, is connected to the mainland by a swing bridge and reachable from Westport in about an hour by…
Cycling the Great Western Greenway, Westport to Achill
The Great Western Greenway is a 42 kilometre cycling and walking path along the route of the old Westport-to-Achill railway, which closed in 1937. It…
Powerscourt Estate, what to actually see
Powerscourt Estate, ten miles south of Dublin in County Wicklow, has one of the great formal gardens in Europe. The Italianate terrace stepping down…
Greystones to Bray cliff walk, the Dubliner's secret
The Bray-to-Greystones cliff walk is one of the best things you can do in a half-day from Dublin. Six kilometres along a path cut into the cliff…
The Wicklow Way, planning a section walk
The Wicklow Way is Ireland's oldest waymarked long-distance walking trail, opened in 1980. It runs 130 kilometres from Marlay Park in south Dublin to…
Game of Thrones locations near Belfast, a fan's day
Most of Game of Thrones was filmed in Northern Ireland and most of the exterior locations are within a ninety-minute drive of Belfast. The Paint Hall…
Belfast food scene 2026, the local list
Ten years ago Belfast was an Ulster-fry-and-chips town. The food scene now is one of the most exciting on the island, with a generation of chefs who…
The Causeway Coast from Belfast, the perfect day trip
The Causeway Coast is the stretch of coast between Portrush and Ballycastle in County Antrim, about an hour and a half north of Belfast. The Giant's…
Lahinch links golf, what visitors should know
The Lahinch Golf Club is one of the great links courses in the world. Old Tom Morris laid out the original holes in 1892 and the current Old Course…
Doolin or Lahinch, which Clare base is right for you
If you are spending more than a night in Clare, the question is whether to base yourself in Lahinch or Doolin. They are fifteen kilometres apart…
The Burren from Lahinch, what to actually see
The Burren is the limestone karst region in north Clare that starts about twenty kilometres inland from Lahinch and runs to the coast at Black Head…
The Gap of Dunloe, what visitors should know
The Gap of Dunloe is a narrow glacier-cut valley running between Purple Mountain and the MacGillycuddy's Reeks west of Killarney. It is the most…
Killarney for non-walkers, rainy day options
Most Killarney guides assume you are here to walk. If you have arrived with knees that disagree, weather that makes hiking pointless, or just a…
Climbing Carrauntoohil, the practical guide
Carrauntoohil, at 1038 metres, is Ireland's highest mountain. It sits in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks just south of Killarney. It is a proper mountain…