Cobh is where the final passengers of the Titanic boarded the doomed vessel back in 1912
Credit: Luke Myers
Killarney National Park
Ireland is renowned the world over for the rare and special beauty of its scenery, so it says a lot about the grandeur of Killarney National Park that it was the first national park to be established in the country. Its 10,000 hectares are interspersed with silver lakes, heathered mountains and mossy woodlands framed by ancient oak and yew trees.
Relatively modern splendour is delivered by the likes of Muckross House, a sprawling lakeside mansion that is one of Ireland’s most storied stately homes, and the vibrant towns of Kenmare and Killarney. The spectacular Ballybunion golf course is a wild links course perched on the edge of the Atlantic, its fairways set among Ireland’s largest dunes.
Killarney National Park was presented in 1932 as Ireland’s first National Park
Credit: Valerie O’Sullivan
Cliffs of Moher
One of Ireland’s most recognisable natural landmarks, the Cliffs of Moher extend almost 14 kilometres along the Irish coastline and reach a vertiginous 214m in height. A sheer and startling knife-edge conclusion to the western front of County Clare, they’re pounded by the Atlantic and whipped by powerful coastal winds. On blustery days there’s something elemental, primordial and magical about the view from here, with the sea swirling below and mercurial cloudscapes churning overhead.
Of course, you might also arrive here on a baking hot summer’s day with clear blue skies above and the breeze barely strong enough to lift a feather, but where’s the drama and excitement in that? Trump Doonbeg, an 18-hole championship golf links designed by Martin Hawtree, is a dramatic course set on Clare’s rugged coastline.
The chiselled edge of coastline known as the Cliffs of Moher is home to Trump Doonbeg golf course
Credit: Clare County Council
The Burren
A refuge for poets and pagans, The Burren’s seemingly sparse landscapes have an otherworldly quality. Swirling over rolling, tree-free hillsides, a topographical dominance of vast layers of limestone and a paucity of rural Ireland’s customary emerald meadows and grass-fed livestock suggest there might be a dearth of life to this strange place. Not so: look closer and you’ll find flora flourishing all over, from snowy bursts of whitethorn to violet slicks of bloody crane’s-bill. R
emarkably, some 70 per cent of Ireland’s 900 native flower species are found in The Burren. Adding to the mystery of this ethereal setting, a series of millennia-old tombs are spread across these ancient plains.
Hiking across The Burren meadows you’ll encounter 900 different types of flowers
Credit: Brian Morrison
The Aran Islands
Off the coast of County Galway and easily reached by passenger ferry or a short flight from the mainland, the three rocky outcrops that form the Aran Islands, Inis Mór, Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr, are bastions of tradition and key strongholds of the country’s Gaeltacht where Irish remains the first language and links to indigenous culture and music tend to be more visible.
It’s customary to explore these islands by bike, which are available to hire from enterprising locals; cycling along stonewalled country roads reveals age-old ring forts, centuries-old churches half buried by encroaching sands and stony bays that shelter nonchalant sunbathing seals.
Inisheer Island is the smallest of the three Aran Islands and best explored by bike
Credit: Tourism Ireland
Connemara National Park
Sheltered by the Twelve Bens mountains and one of Ireland’s most romantic retreats, Connemara National Park is a patchwork of boglands, brooding lakes and foaming rivers. A manageable hike, its centrepiece is the 442m-high Diamond Hill; from the top, the view of the glistening flooded valley that forms Killary Harbour is spellbinding. Explorations at ground level are similarly rewarding.
The park sits moments from Kylemore Abbey, a fairytale one-time private estate that for the last century has served as a Benedictine monastery. Visitors are welcome to explore its 1,000-acre grounds and elegant walled garden. Backed by a forested mountain, the lakefront manor is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the country.
Hike your way to the summit of Diamond Hill, Connemara National Park for breathtaking views
Credit: Bernice Naughton
Achill Island
Achill’s landscapes could rightly be described as cinematic: alongside the Aran Islands, this remote County Mayo enclave served as a filming location for Colin Farrell’s The Banshees of Inisherin. If you’ve seen the film you’ll already understand this setting’s scene-stealing qualities. You might spot basking sharks or dolphins in Keem Bay come summer; the golden dunes of Keel Beach draw surfers and swimmers, and stretches on and on for miles.
If the weather bites, warm up with a whiskey tasting at Achill Island Distillery or a detoxifying, rejuvenating soak at Achill Seaweed Baths. Set on the Wild Atlantic Way, the remote and rugged Mullet Peninsula in County Mayo is where you’ll find Carne Golf Links and its 18 amazing holes. Views of legendary islands Inis Glóire and Inis Géidhe just add to the wild magic of the place.
Keel Beach is a popular surfer spot and is worth a stop on your drive around Achill Island
Credit: Fáilte Ireland
WB Yeats country
In this land of saints and scholars, County Sligo is famed as the childhood home and final resting place of William Butler Yeats. In the village of Drumcliffe, the self-penned epitaph inscribed on his tombstone is unsentimental: “Cast a cold eye on life, on death, horseman, pass by.” But still the surroundings here convey the beauty and mysticism of his writings. Of the nearby, looming flat-topped mountain Ben Bulben, Yeats had written there was a secret portal where mysterious fairies accessed our mortal world. Sitting on private 3,000-acre grounds just up the road, the fantastical, turreted Classiebawn Castle could serve as a centrepiece in a far less sinister fairytale.
There’s magic to be had at Enniscrone on the Mayo/Sligo border, a dunes course that’s ranked among the British Isles Top 100, while Sligo Golf Club, also known as The Wild Atlantic Links, is one that’s a challenge even to championship players.
Classiebawn Castle is set in 3,000-acre grounds in County Sligo which inspired many of W B Yeats poems
Credit: Tourism Ireland
The Inishowen Peninsula
Although Ireland’s compact form ensures nowhere in the mainland is truly inaccessible, County Donegal’s Inishowen Peninsula relative remoteness means this circuitous section of the Wild Atlantic Way feels particularly wild and rugged.
Of course, it’s all the more rewarding for it, with rural roadways bypassing quaint thatched cottages and isolated fishing villages. Locals might ask if you’re venturing to Malin Head – stand there to explore the northernmost extreme of the country – but, as you’ll have come to expect by now, there’s no shortage of mysterious ancient sites en route (like An Grianán Aileach ring fort, dating from 1700 BC) and miles upon miles of gorgeous golden beaches. Rosapenna, or St Patrick’s Links, taps into Donegal’s wild beauty to fashion a course so good that it’s in the world top 50, while Ballyliffin, overlooking the long, curved arc of Pollan Beach, is hailed as the finest links golf in Ireland.
Ireland’s most northerly point, Malin Head in County Donegal is a great place to walk or swim
Credit: Gareth Wray Photography
Slieve League Sea Cliffs
Rising 600m above sea level, Slieve League makes a fitting setting in which to end a Wild Atlantic Way road trip on a figurative and literal high. Despite their record-breaking credentials – these are the highest accessible sea cliffs in Europe – the site sits beyond the regular tourist trail so crowds are rarely seen. That means unobstructed panoramas are pretty much a given, and beyond a tumble of nearby meadows where sheep graze obliviously, all-encompassing views extend across Donegal Bay and over the rumbling ocean to counties Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim. Donegal Golf Club on the Murvagh peninsula in South Donegal is in a designated Special Area of Conservation, and is one of the longest courses in Europe.
The panoramic views at Sliabh Liag Sea Cliffs are a fitting conclusion to any Wild Atlantic Way road trip
Credit: Tourism Ireland
Visit Ireland and explore the Wild Atlantic Way for yourself at ireland.com/golf
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Publish date : 2024-10-30 05:33:00
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