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Down the Spanish Arch there is a street called Quay Street, it's namesake pub is really fun and busy with live music and good food served over lunch and in the evenings. Decor is authentic church interior, re-worked and well worn. Lovely for an afternoon drink or a few more in the evening.
Quay Street Galway
Shannon Harbour is a delight, where the river and canal meet. A haven for fisherfolk but just a joy. It is being 'improved' (hopefully not too much) but the old bonded warehouses still stand in grand dilapidation.
The Harbour Master's House is now a B&B of top quality and Grainne serves up the best (and biggest) Irish breakfast.
Great place, great people .
The Harbour Masters House,
Shannon Harbour,
Birr,
Co. Offaly.
Glendalough in Ireland is one of the most serene places imaginable. A deeply glaciated valley (the water is cold!) with towering mountains, monastic ruins and an ever changing sky. Although its proximity to Dublin means it can be busy at the weekend , during the week it's usually all yours. The upper lake boasts crystal clear water and a shingle beach. We stayed in Aughavannagh Cottage, a short jaunt over the mountains in the next valley. Almost every morning we managed a swim before breakfast - the one exception was when we climbed Lugnaquilla, at just over 3000 feet, the highest mountain in Leinster.
An original old Irish cottage that has had an eco-renovation (hemp lime plaster, geothermal heating, etc). Puts to shame all the horrible tacky and tasteless 'holiday cottage' developments that blight the Irish countryside. It's in an exquisite setting in hills with a view of a mountain waterfall from the front door, a lake behind the house, and yet only a short drive down to the glorious beaches of the Dingle peninsula, great pubs, etc. It has two lovely large bedrooms (double and single bed in each), characterful sitting room with wood-burning stove (we watched Life on Earth dvds every night!). Gorgeous spot - only minus are the midges in the front garden (insect repellent is a must). It's near lots of lovely places for kids. You can drive into Tralee to the waterpark with water chutes or on to Dingle town, which is a very atmospheric place.
Some great places are to be found on/just off this street. For food you have the Maison des Gourmets and the Bistro, both in Castle Market, as well as the Port House for tapas.
For a good pint in a unique pub, check out Grogan's. An arty, down-at-heel pub frequented by those in the 25 - 85 age group, good conversation and a nice pint are guaranteed. If you're feeling peckish, they do ham and cheese toasties.
Another great pub is Peter's pub at the end of the road. Recently refurbished but thankfully left looking the same as always, only better! Great barmen.
For something a little more modern, try the South William. Three floors, funky music, cool people, great pies! It's a late bar too which means you can drink away until 2am or so.
From Dame Street, head up Georges Street and turn left just before Dunnes Stores. Then take the right at Butler's Chocolate Cafe.
From Grafton Street, go down Wicklow Street, at the side of Brown Thomas and turn left at Butlers Chocolate Cafe.
In general the Temple Bar area is to be avoided but there are a few exceptions:
The Larder on Parliament Street - good food, reasonably priced, nice atmosphere.
Gruel, Dame Street - laid back place with very tasty hearty food.
Pintxo's, Eustace Street - good value tapas bar, right in the centre of Temple Bar.
Boccaccios ice-cream parlour - authentic Italian gelato. Not cheap but delicious.
There are a number of decent places very near the Temple Bar area:
Byblos, Andrew Street - delicious Lebanese food at good prices.
Havana Tapas, Georges Street - great value, good mojitos.
Yamamori Sushi, Ha'penny Bridge - huge portions of good Japanese food.
SoHo, Georges Street - good selection of classic dishes at reasonable prices. Good for a group as there is something to suit everyone.
The Port House, South William Street: Dark, intimate, romantic tapas spot. No reservations taken. Put your name down and head to Grogan's across the way for a pint.
Fallon and Byrne: Those on a budget should forget the (very good) expensive restaurant upstairs, grab what you want at the hot counter in the food hall and bring it downstairs to the wine cellar where they have lots of wines by the glass. Alternatively, order the fish stew from the wine cellar menu.
For lunch:
Cafe Odessa, Dame Lane - my fave spot for brunch in the city.
Queen of tarts, Cows Lane - have the potato and red onion tart. Yum. Try to resist the cakes and pastries.
Avoca food hall, Suffolk Street - go down to the basement where they have a great selection of Irish food to eat in and take away.
Nude, Suffolk Street - owned by Bonos brother, good spot for a pit stop.
Dunne & Crescenzi, South Frederick Street - authentic Italian food and great capuccinos which are strangely hard to find in the city.
La Maison des Gourmets, Castle Market: cute French cafe tucked away in a side street between the Powerscourt Centre and Georges Arcade. Great croissants.
Suburbs:
The Cheese Pantry, Upper Drumcondra Road: If you are staying in the area, pop in here for a pie.
Anderson's Creperie, Carlingford Rd, Drumcondra: All day breakfast crepe. Just what the doctor ordered.
Jo Burger, Rathmines: Delicious giant sized burgers.
Outside the city:
Johnnie Foxes, Dublin Mountains: Yes, it's touristy but you'll hear plenty of Dublin accents. A perfect place for a pint on your way back from a Wicklow hike. To stick to the budget, have the seafood chowder and a bowl of mussels to share.
You could easily get the wrong impression of Dublin by concentrating your drinking in the wrong places! Temple Bar in general is to be avoided for lots of reasons but there are fantastic bars and pubs in the city.
If you want the authentic pub experience in the city centre, check out Neary's in Chatham Street, McDaid's just off Grafton Street or John Mulligan's in Poolbeg Street. Proper pubs with good pints.
The Smithfield area is full of great pubs: for traditional Irish music (proper sessions) try the Cobblestone or Hughes's where there is trad every night. Also in that area, Walsh's in Stoneybatter is a great pub with a traditional bar and lounge and a great pint of Guinness. Smithfield is easily reached from the centre via the Luas or short taxi ride (€6 or so).
Staying in Smithfield, Ryan's in Queen Street is a strange little pub with an interesting and eclectic crowd on weekend evenings. Across the road is the Dice Bar, a cool spot which plays very very loud funky music if you're in the mood.
Another funky bar with great music and good-looking punters is the South William in South William St. Also along those lines is Solas or The Village in Wexford St. Across the road is more grungy Anseo, a great friendly little place with DJs every night. Check out also the George Bernard Shaw, just up the road in South Richmond Street.
For clubbing, the Pod in Harcourt Street is still going strong and you could also check out the Twisted Pepper down on Abbey Street.
Unless you want to drink an awful pint of Guinness for which you will pay through the nose while listening to a very contrived music session, don't go to the Oliver St. John Gogarty in Temple Bar. The fact that no Irish people do should tell you all you need to know. There's nothing traditional or authentic about most places in that area but that doesn't stop them being packed to the rafters so it all depends what you're after.
Lebanese restaurant in Dublin city centre. For the best value, choose a selection of starters to create your own mezze. Everything is tasty but especially the hummus and falafel and anything with lamb.
Andrew Street, Dublin 2
Simon's place is a throwback of a cafe, reminiscent of a time where not every inch of Dublin was dedicated to profit maximisation. You can get coffee, tea, juice, a sandwich, salad, some homemade soup and a bun, and that’s it. Oh and toast if you get there before 12.
The coffee is good, the hot chocolate strong, the sandwiches fair, the soup middling. The cinnamon buns are meant to be delicious, but as I hate cinnamon I didn't try them.
The ambiance, however, is brilliant. The wall are utterly covered in posters advertising gigs (often serving to show you what you've missed), the music is eclectic but relaxed, the customers the eclectic but relaxed and the staff lovely.
Part of the George Street Arcade
So much less the tourist-clogged path of its neighbouring tour, the Ring of Kerry, the trip from Cork City to Dingle in Kerry, by the south coast road (N25) across the toes of Ireland is an opportunity to dip into unpolished, but majestical Ireland.
Bypassing the standard stops such as Kinsale, pitch up for the night in towns such as Clonakilty (home of Jimi Hendrix's bass player Noel Redding - his guitars hang in De Barra's pub), Rosscarbery (a gem of a town hidden by a causeway and a bypass many years ago) and head past Skibbereen to Cape Clear islands for a day trip.
Along the way gather random information off locals to such places as the most bizarre and hidden archaeological museum in the world near Union Hall, or simply point the car towards to coast and get a little lost.
Continue at your own pace along sheep strewn roads to the Dingle peninsula stopping short for a night or two in tiny Annascaul. There, you can revel in the cosiest bars in the world. Take in the story of the local explorer legend Tom Crean in the South Pole Inn too. Dingle itself then, a gem of Atlantic perfection like a well deserved pint at the end of a journey.
South West of Cork City, right there by the Atlantic ocean.
An indoor gourmet organic food market in Newmarket in Dublin with a wonderful clubby atmosphere, amazing hot food stalls, organic fruit and veg, friendly cafe, chat, organic and fair trade clothes, etc. Open Thursdays 2-8pm and (best day) Saturdays 9.30am-4.30pm.
Newmarket, Dublin 8
See www.dublinfood.coop
I just spent a week back in my old town Cork. Stayed here and could not believe the value. Got a room for just €69 a night. For a 4-star hotel with a leisure centre and good location I was more than pleased. Will be back.
We go to Kenmare for hols every year and have had many self catering experiences but staying at Ard Mullen was the best. Booking accommodation on the internet is always going to be hit and miss, but this was a hit. There was five of us (three generations of family) and we were told that it was two bathroom, three double rooms and one single. The single room was also a double. There was a large comfortable living room and massive kitchen/dining roomm with all the mod cons and downstairs toilet, and a small garden with patio furniture.
Ard Mullen is a large house decorated to a very high standard and a few minutes walk from Kenmare. In fact we booked it again this year.
A cosy little cafe serving all manner of tarts (sweet and savoury), cakes, muffins, scones, and pastries, all home-made. Delicious, filling, and reasonably priced. Great for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea.
Dame St, Dublin 2 - or there's another branch round the corner on Cows Lane
www.queenoftarts.ie/
These are part of Dublin Bus' regular services, which means regular prices. Most people use the Airlink or Aircoach services, which are about €6 and €10 respectively. But these buses will bring you to the city centre for about €2. Downside is that the 16A isn't direct to the city centre - you'll take a detour through a few Dublin suburbs. But depending on traffic, you'll be at O'Connell Street in about half an hour to 45 mins. The 746 is better - it takes the same route as the Airlink, the only difference being that it can stop to pick up passengers along the way. It's also infrequent - every hour on the hour. I've often had to rush through the airport to try and catch it! The 16A is more frequent, about 3 or 4 per hour. You'll need exact change for these buses.
At the far left-hand side of the bus terminals in front of the airport.
Donegal, the rallying capital of Ireland, is a car driver's dream.
Hire a car and explore Donegal's plunging glens, remote promontories, rugged coastline, meandering roads and mysterious boreens. Tour its unspoilt villages with their
atmospheric pubs and welcoming people. Experience for yourself the famous 'homes of Donegal'.
On our most recent visit (of many) to county Kerry in October 2008, we had a wonderful week’s stay in a house that we found from KenmareRentals.com, prompting us into posting this recommendation. The house was very spacious and comfortable, and offered us a relaxing base from which we could enjoy the town of Kenmare (about two miles away), and explore the various peninsulas on the wild west coast of Ireland. We’re pleased to say the owner could not have been more friendly or helpful and, although the house we rented was just one of many that he runs (as well as a busy pub and guest house in the town), he gave us his full attention for anything we needed, as well as helpful advice when we had to adjust plans after a disrupted ferry service from the UK.
We had chosen a house on a hill not far from Kenmare and enjoyed the fine views across the bay to the mountains of Macgillicuddy’s Reeks. If we had wanted to be closer into town, so that we could walk in each evening more easily, KenmareRentals.com also has houses on the outskirts but, after a substantial pub lunch each day, we were happy to settle into the comfortable house for the autumn evenings to read or watch DVDs with the open fire making it cosy. About 10 minutes walk from the house we rented, the Sailor’s Bar is a great place for a drink, with a warm welcome and local atmosphere. In the town of Kenmare itself, there are plenty of good places to drink and eat, with the house owner’s O’Donnabhain’s having a good buzz, while Davitt’s next door always served great food. Overall, a great week, heartily recommended and we’re sure to return.
Having never been to the south west of Ireland, we decided to stay in Kenmare, Co. Kerry right on the famous Ring of Kerry drive. We had the three kids and our dog with us so opted for the self-catering option. We stayed at gorgeous holiday homes in the town with Dream Ireland Holiday Homes. They seem to have loads of houses all over the town and they all looked equally nice. Ideal for our gang!
www.dreamireland.com
Tel: 064 66 41170 (+353 64 66 41170 from overseas)
If you want to take in the fresh air while discovering wild, beautiful and captivating nature then the Wicklow Way in Ireland is what you're looking for. Traditionally the way starts at Marlay Park in the county of Dublin. However, it could easily start at other waypoints such as Lough Tay or Oldbridge. It doesn't matter! What matters is you appreciating the amazing scenery around you and knowing your way from any waypoint to another.
Thus you'd need at least a map with waypoints clearly marked and a compass. And if, like me, you're also a technology enthusiast, then you could also use a GPS to which you've previously downloaded GPS data. But most important of all: you need good shoes!
Just finished having a magic week in Kenmare. Found this stunning holiday house through Kenmarerentals.com. We were far enough out of town to have the feeling of uninterrupted privacy in what is a very beautiful part of Ireland - wild deer coming up to the back garden one of the many highlights of the stay. But we were close enough to be back in town in a matter of minutes. Spent many good evenings in the owner's pub O'Donnabhain's where the food and atmosphere was wonderful. A very cosy place with great character and hospitality. Would highly recommend both as places to stay and visit if heading to Kenmare.
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