Staycations are my kind of trips. No airport queues or indecision about what to pack – just load everything into the car and get going, and you have a coffee stop along the way to look forward to.
Even the heavy traffic crawling out of Dublin could not dampen my Friday feeling and I was very excited for my visit to Waterford, my first time in the Déise.
We arrived in Dungarvan around tea-time on Friday evening and a stop in And Chips was the most fitting way imaginable to start the weekend. Overall winner of the Irish Takeaway of the Year Awards in 2023, the restaurant is owned by TV chef and entrepreneur, Eunice Power and this is nothing like your average chipper.
The food is gourmet-style and the fish very lightly battered. We shared the fish tacos and scampi (and chips, obviously) and ate them by the quay in Dungarvan, surrounded by cheerful blue planters filled with flowers.
We took the arrival of a light drizzle as our sign to depart, and headed onto Ardmore Glamping Pods to check into our log cabin for the night.
And Chips was voted Best Takeaway of the Year in 2023.
In pod we trust
The site is elevated in the rolling hills of the Ardmore countryside and all nine pods have views over Whiting Bay. We stayed in a regular pod, which sleeps four people, but there are also large pods on the site that sleep seven people. The pods are fitted with a toilet, sink, fridge, wardrobe and kettle for the all-important cup of tea before bed.
In the morning, we headed to Shipmates, a restaurant in the heart of Ardmore village and a quick five-minute drive from the glamping pods. Thickly cut smoked salmon and two soft poached eggs on brown soda bread set us up for the day. We returned to the pods to check out and enjoy a tour around the farm and mini zoo located on site.
Owned by Bridget and Denis Collins, Ardmore Glamping Pods and Ardmore Open Farm and Mini Zoo enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Glamping guests get discounted entry to the mini zoo with unlimited access, which is a huge pull for the many families glamping during our stay. As we walk around the farm and mini zoo, Bridget tells us about the history of the 22ac site which was originally a dairy farm run by her parents.
Honestly, the word ‘mini’ could be dropped from the title: there is nothing miniature about the zoo, housing everything from wallabies, birds from Asia and the Americas, lemurs, capybaras, meerkats, and reptiles.
As we finished our tour, the sun began to make itself known. A sea swim was calling. We tried Goat Island, a secret swim spot which was beautiful, but too choppy to swim on the day. Not to be deterred, we headed to Ardmore Beach, a wide and sweeping expanse of sand and sea. We joined the other eccentrics going for a dip. The water was cold, but beautifully clear.
Before arriving in Ardmore, we had been told that everybody who comes to the area does the cliff walk. We weren’t going to miss out. The 45-minute looped walk has incredible views, wildlife, wildflowers and is steeped in the history of Ireland’s ancient past. After finishing, we made a quick stop into Ardmore Pottery, an adorable shop located on the seaside cliff storing over 150 Irish makers and designers.
Rosalind petting miniature donkeys in Ardmore Open Farm and Mini Zoo.
Owner Katie Lincoln took us around the shop and we met her mother, and original owner, Mary, who was painting delicate red strawberries on a plate in the pottery studio at the back of the shop.
Exploring Dungarvan
It was time to head into Dungarvan, where we were staying on Saturday night. I was very much looking forward to our stay in The Hatmaker Hotel, which only opened a few months ago.
Located just off Dungarvan’s main square, the boutique hotel could not be more central. Nor could it be more luxurious. It is a listed heritage building that has been restored without losing character and charm, decorated with a palette of deep greys, blush pinks and furnished with plenty of plants.
Owners Rebecca Queally and her husband David Burke have collected some of the furnishings and artwork over the years. Others, Rebecca tells us, are items that she raided from her mother’s attic.
We get a tour around the hotel. There are five different types of rooms and each has its own personality, but there is a distinctive style and consistent theme: notably, rainfall showers, upholstered headboards and my favourite – dramatic double fronted doors in each room leading you into a gorgeous bathroom with deep standing bathtubs.
For dinner, we had a table reserved at the Moorings, an institution in Dungarvan. We popped into Isabel’s Place on our way over, a gift shop opposite our hotel with a thoughtfully curated range of Irish gifts and designers.
The bathrooms in the Hatmaker Hotel scream luxury.
Fish was the main attraction of our dinner and, as it turned out, throughout our time in Waterford. We enjoyed tiger prawns sautéed in garlic and chilli butter, smoked salmon tagliatelle in a dill and white wine sauce and the award-winning seafood chowder, and we even managed space to share chocolate fudge cake for dessert. The meal was delicious and rich, and the atmosphere in Moorings was lively and jolly.
We sat inside the original restaurant which felt cosy but there were lots of different seating arrangements, including a gazebo and garden room outside for large groups. It felt like the kind of place you’d happily go on your own for a pint or a bite.
Artisan bakery
On Sunday morning, we enjoyed a continental breakfast at Hat Makers, and we were told all the baked goods are sourced from Dún Artisan Bakery just across the road. Needless to say, we had to pop in before heading back to Dublin (it would have been rude not to!)
On a Sunday morning in Ireland, the sight of a queue outside a shop on an otherwise empty street is a rare one. The long snaking queue outside Dún Artisan Bakery should therefore be read as a very good sign.
The energy inside the bakery which specialises in Irish sourdough is palpable: owner Fergal Walsh and his team of bakers are taking loaves out of the oven, decorating cooled pastries with fruit and serving customers. All the while, rows of brown and white sourdough and savoury and sweet pastries disappear rapidly.
Fergal has been running the bakery since 2020 with his partner, Caitriona Keating, and they have made a name for themselves for their crunchy (but not dry) baked goods made using Irish-grown flour.
Dún Artisan Bakery employ sustainable practices and high levels of innovation; they grow their own fruit for their pastries and take excess berries and foraged fruits from anyone who drops by in exchange for some goodies.
Baked goods from Dún Artisan Bakery, which specialises in sourdough.
We take two perfectly formed sweet and sticky pastries back to the car to enjoy on our return home to the capital. Neither make it that far.
Staycations are my kind of trips. No airport queues or indecision about what to pack – just load everything into the car and get going, and you have a coffee stop along the way to look forward to.
Even the heavy traffic crawling out of Dublin could not dampen my Friday feeling and I was very excited for my visit to Waterford, my first time in the Déise.
We arrived in Dungarvan around tea-time on Friday evening and a stop in And Chips was the most fitting way imaginable to start the weekend. Overall winner of the Irish Takeaway of the Year Awards in 2023, the restaurant is owned by TV chef and entrepreneur, Eunice Power and this is nothing like your average chipper.
The food is gourmet-style and the fish very lightly battered. We shared the fish tacos and scampi (and chips, obviously) and ate them by the quay in Dungarvan, surrounded by cheerful blue planters filled with flowers.
We took the arrival of a light drizzle as our sign to depart, and headed onto Ardmore Glamping Pods to check into our log cabin for the night.
And Chips was voted Best Takeaway of the Year in 2023.
In pod we trust
The site is elevated in the rolling hills of the Ardmore countryside and all nine pods have views over Whiting Bay. We stayed in a regular pod, which sleeps four people, but there are also large pods on the site that sleep seven people. The pods are fitted with a toilet, sink, fridge, wardrobe and kettle for the all-important cup of tea before bed.
In the morning, we headed to Shipmates, a restaurant in the heart of Ardmore village and a quick five-minute drive from the glamping pods. Thickly cut smoked salmon and two soft poached eggs on brown soda bread set us up for the day. We returned to the pods to check out and enjoy a tour around the farm and mini zoo located on site.
Owned by Bridget and Denis Collins, Ardmore Glamping Pods and Ardmore Open Farm and Mini Zoo enjoy a symbiotic relationship. Glamping guests get discounted entry to the mini zoo with unlimited access, which is a huge pull for the many families glamping during our stay. As we walk around the farm and mini zoo, Bridget tells us about the history of the 22ac site which was originally a dairy farm run by her parents.
Honestly, the word ‘mini’ could be dropped from the title: there is nothing miniature about the zoo, housing everything from wallabies, birds from Asia and the Americas, lemurs, capybaras, meerkats, and reptiles.
As we finished our tour, the sun began to make itself known. A sea swim was calling. We tried Goat Island, a secret swim spot which was beautiful, but too choppy to swim on the day. Not to be deterred, we headed to Ardmore Beach, a wide and sweeping expanse of sand and sea. We joined the other eccentrics going for a dip. The water was cold, but beautifully clear.
Before arriving in Ardmore, we had been told that everybody who comes to the area does the cliff walk. We weren’t going to miss out. The 45-minute looped walk has incredible views, wildlife, wildflowers and is steeped in the history of Ireland’s ancient past. After finishing, we made a quick stop into Ardmore Pottery, an adorable shop located on the seaside cliff storing over 150 Irish makers and designers.
Rosalind petting miniature donkeys in Ardmore Open Farm and Mini Zoo.
Owner Katie Lincoln took us around the shop and we met her mother, and original owner, Mary, who was painting delicate red strawberries on a plate in the pottery studio at the back of the shop.
Exploring Dungarvan
It was time to head into Dungarvan, where we were staying on Saturday night. I was very much looking forward to our stay in The Hatmaker Hotel, which only opened a few months ago.
Located just off Dungarvan’s main square, the boutique hotel could not be more central. Nor could it be more luxurious. It is a listed heritage building that has been restored without losing character and charm, decorated with a palette of deep greys, blush pinks and furnished with plenty of plants.
Owners Rebecca Queally and her husband David Burke have collected some of the furnishings and artwork over the years. Others, Rebecca tells us, are items that she raided from her mother’s attic.
We get a tour around the hotel. There are five different types of rooms and each has its own personality, but there is a distinctive style and consistent theme: notably, rainfall showers, upholstered headboards and my favourite – dramatic double fronted doors in each room leading you into a gorgeous bathroom with deep standing bathtubs.
For dinner, we had a table reserved at the Moorings, an institution in Dungarvan. We popped into Isabel’s Place on our way over, a gift shop opposite our hotel with a thoughtfully curated range of Irish gifts and designers.
The bathrooms in the Hatmaker Hotel scream luxury.
Fish was the main attraction of our dinner and, as it turned out, throughout our time in Waterford. We enjoyed tiger prawns sautéed in garlic and chilli butter, smoked salmon tagliatelle in a dill and white wine sauce and the award-winning seafood chowder, and we even managed space to share chocolate fudge cake for dessert. The meal was delicious and rich, and the atmosphere in Moorings was lively and jolly.
We sat inside the original restaurant which felt cosy but there were lots of different seating arrangements, including a gazebo and garden room outside for large groups. It felt like the kind of place you’d happily go on your own for a pint or a bite.
Artisan bakery
On Sunday morning, we enjoyed a continental breakfast at Hat Makers, and we were told all the baked goods are sourced from Dún Artisan Bakery just across the road. Needless to say, we had to pop in before heading back to Dublin (it would have been rude not to!)
On a Sunday morning in Ireland, the sight of a queue outside a shop on an otherwise empty street is a rare one. The long snaking queue outside Dún Artisan Bakery should therefore be read as a very good sign.
The energy inside the bakery which specialises in Irish sourdough is palpable: owner Fergal Walsh and his team of bakers are taking loaves out of the oven, decorating cooled pastries with fruit and serving customers. All the while, rows of brown and white sourdough and savoury and sweet pastries disappear rapidly.
Fergal has been running the bakery since 2020 with his partner, Caitriona Keating, and they have made a name for themselves for their crunchy (but not dry) baked goods made using Irish-grown flour.
Dún Artisan Bakery employ sustainable practices and high levels of innovation; they grow their own fruit for their pastries and take excess berries and foraged fruits from anyone who drops by in exchange for some goodies.
Baked goods from Dún Artisan Bakery, which specialises in sourdough.
We take two perfectly formed sweet and sticky pastries back to the car to enjoy on our return home to the capital. Neither make it that far.
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