There’s nowhere like Ireland when the sun’s out – and the likelihood is that you haven’t fully explored your home isle yet. So, why not open the sun roof, stick on some tunes and take to the road? After all, it’s good enough for Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc (the BBC presenter and former Friends star) when they took on the Ring of Kerry recently for a Top Gear episode, with Chris tweeting: “Best road I’ve ever driven on. Had no idea it existed. A great, great day.”
Check out Irish Country Living’s Sunday drive suggestions below:
Clare’s Atlantic coastline drive
Starts and end in: Ennis.
Do this if: you want to feel like a proper tourist for the day.
This route can begin and end in Ennis, heading for Ballyvaugahn and returning from Kilkee. Before you reach Ballyvaughan, detour to Hazel Mountain Chocolates where you can stop for a coffee and visit their bean-to-bar chocolate factory. Thus restored, take the coast road from Ballyvaughan, heading for Fanore and the tourist traps of Doolin (where you can enjoy some trad music) and the Cliffs of Moher.
This stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way is truly unspoiled and spectacular. Lisdoonvarna is only a short drive from Doolin and the Roadside Tavern is here – this is owned by the Curtin family of the Burren Smokehouse and is a nice spot for pub grub. Another good place to grab food is Vaughan’s Anchor Inn – a seafood bar in nearby Liscannor.
Continue on then to the seaside towns of Lahinch (you might get blown away but there are also great waves here if you’re interested in catching a surf), and then pop over to Ennistymon to check out the impressive waterfall. Otherwise, you can continue down the coast to Spanish Point (named in memory of the wreck of Spanish Armada ships in 1588) and on to Kilkee where you can enjoy a 99 while overlooking the beach.
After all this (if you’ve any energy left), you could do a short loop of Loop Head.
Military drive Wicklow
Starts in: Glencree
Ends in: Aughavannagh
This is one for: the war-mad man in your life.
The military road is a road through the Wicklow Mountains dotted with abandoned barracks which were built at the beginning of the 1800s to open up the mountains to the English military to help them contain insurgents hanging around after the 1798 rebellion. During the uprising, the Wicklow mountains were a haven for rebels, as ambushes were launched on the British from the garden county’s wilderness.
Locals invested in the rebels’ cause, coupled with the terrain, meant the area lent itself to hiding insurgent groups from reprisals long beyond the final defeat of the United Irish in other parts of the country.
The drive we’re suggesting is along the military road and starts in Glencree, running in a north-south direction to Aughavannagh. At Glencree, you’ll see a former barracks tucked into the side of a valley (it is now, ironically, the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation) and there is also a German War Memorial and cemetery. This drive also takes in Lough Bray and Sally Gap (make sure you find the “magic hill” at Sally Gap where your car will roll back UP the hill when you stop and put it in neutral). Other sights to take in along the way include Glenmacnass waterfall, Lughnaquilla, Keadeen mountain and the Glen of Imaal. The “featherbeds” (heather as far as the eye can see) are also en-route.
If you start this drive in Aughavannagh, heading towards Glencree, you could grab food in Johnnie Fox’s (famed as Ireland’s “highest” pub) in Glencullen on the way back.
Northeast Mayo driving tour
Start and end in: Ballina.
Make a: weekend of it and stay in the Ice House Hotel in Ballina.
This drive takes in northeast Mayo’s lake district, the Moy Valley and the Ox Mountains.
It starts in Ballina and the first stop is Crossmolina. From here, you can pop out to Enniscoe House, which is self-described as “the last Great House of north Mayo”.
It’s a classical Georgian home dating from the 1790s. In the grounds there are pastures and woodlands with lakeside walks of Lough Conn, and a restored Victorian garden. Next on the route is Lahardane, sitting at the foot of Nephin Mór, which at 806 metres is Connacht’s second-highest mountain. Take a left turn at Pontoon and you will pass through the centre of the lake district, with Lough Conn on the left and Lough Cullin to the right.
Next is Foxford, followed by Straide, where you can visit the Michael Davitt Museum and his grave in the adjoining cemetery. If you take the N5 from Ballyvay to Swinford and head back to Ballina that way, you will see the Callow lakes and go through Attyglass on the way.
Attyglass is the birthplace of Fr Patrick Peyton (1909-1992) who became known around the world as the rosary priest. When he made what seemed like a miraculous recovery from TB after praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he was so grateful for his renewed health that he, with the permission of his superiors, began the Prayer Crusade which took him all over the world, preaching the importance of prayer. He staged hundreds of radio and television shows alongside many Hollywood stars and his famous slogan was: “The family that prays together, stays together.”
Knock isn’t a million miles away from this part of the world either if you’re interested in a visit.
Caves, castles & gardens of Kilkenny & Carlow
Starts: Dunmore Cave.
Ends: Kilkenny.
This is one for: the kids and the gardeners.
Start with Dunmore Cave, which contains some of the most impressive calcite formations in Ireland as well as approximately 300 metres of passages and caverns, and then continue to Castlecomer Discovery Park where the kids can run wild. Next, head for Carlow town from where you can veer towards Bunclody – but on the way, stop off in Altamont Gardens. Huntington Castle is next on the route and here you can enjoy some afternoon tea and a yew tree walk. Carry on into Bagnelstown and, at this point, you have two options:
Option A
If you so wish, you can take off towards New Ross. The scenery is very pretty along this road and the small town of Borris is worth a visit – the Step House Hotel is a gorgeous place to call into for food. There is also kayaking available along the Barrow in Borris. The very pretty village of Inistioge is also in this neck of the woods and then you could go back to Kilkenny and all its delights via Thomastown, which is full of fabulous eateries and home to Mount Juliet hotel and estate.
Option B
Head back to Kilkenny straight from Bagnelstown, via Paulstown and its supposedly haunted Shankhill Castle, and Gowran, which is home to a reptile zoo.
For more great getaways around the country, please see www.discoverireland.ie.
There’s nowhere like Ireland when the sun’s out – and the likelihood is that you haven’t fully explored your home isle yet. So, why not open the sun roof, stick on some tunes and take to the road? After all, it’s good enough for Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc (the BBC presenter and former Friends star) when they took on the Ring of Kerry recently for a Top Gear episode, with Chris tweeting: “Best road I’ve ever driven on. Had no idea it existed. A great, great day.”
Check out Irish Country Living’s Sunday drive suggestions below:
Clare’s Atlantic coastline drive
Starts and end in: Ennis.
Do this if: you want to feel like a proper tourist for the day.
This route can begin and end in Ennis, heading for Ballyvaugahn and returning from Kilkee. Before you reach Ballyvaughan, detour to Hazel Mountain Chocolates where you can stop for a coffee and visit their bean-to-bar chocolate factory. Thus restored, take the coast road from Ballyvaughan, heading for Fanore and the tourist traps of Doolin (where you can enjoy some trad music) and the Cliffs of Moher.
This stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way is truly unspoiled and spectacular. Lisdoonvarna is only a short drive from Doolin and the Roadside Tavern is here – this is owned by the Curtin family of the Burren Smokehouse and is a nice spot for pub grub. Another good place to grab food is Vaughan’s Anchor Inn – a seafood bar in nearby Liscannor.
Continue on then to the seaside towns of Lahinch (you might get blown away but there are also great waves here if you’re interested in catching a surf), and then pop over to Ennistymon to check out the impressive waterfall. Otherwise, you can continue down the coast to Spanish Point (named in memory of the wreck of Spanish Armada ships in 1588) and on to Kilkee where you can enjoy a 99 while overlooking the beach.
After all this (if you’ve any energy left), you could do a short loop of Loop Head.
Military drive Wicklow
Starts in: Glencree
Ends in: Aughavannagh
This is one for: the war-mad man in your life.
The military road is a road through the Wicklow Mountains dotted with abandoned barracks which were built at the beginning of the 1800s to open up the mountains to the English military to help them contain insurgents hanging around after the 1798 rebellion. During the uprising, the Wicklow mountains were a haven for rebels, as ambushes were launched on the British from the garden county’s wilderness.
Locals invested in the rebels’ cause, coupled with the terrain, meant the area lent itself to hiding insurgent groups from reprisals long beyond the final defeat of the United Irish in other parts of the country.
The drive we’re suggesting is along the military road and starts in Glencree, running in a north-south direction to Aughavannagh. At Glencree, you’ll see a former barracks tucked into the side of a valley (it is now, ironically, the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation) and there is also a German War Memorial and cemetery. This drive also takes in Lough Bray and Sally Gap (make sure you find the “magic hill” at Sally Gap where your car will roll back UP the hill when you stop and put it in neutral). Other sights to take in along the way include Glenmacnass waterfall, Lughnaquilla, Keadeen mountain and the Glen of Imaal. The “featherbeds” (heather as far as the eye can see) are also en-route.
If you start this drive in Aughavannagh, heading towards Glencree, you could grab food in Johnnie Fox’s (famed as Ireland’s “highest” pub) in Glencullen on the way back.
Northeast Mayo driving tour
Start and end in: Ballina.
Make a: weekend of it and stay in the Ice House Hotel in Ballina.
This drive takes in northeast Mayo’s lake district, the Moy Valley and the Ox Mountains.
It starts in Ballina and the first stop is Crossmolina. From here, you can pop out to Enniscoe House, which is self-described as “the last Great House of north Mayo”.
It’s a classical Georgian home dating from the 1790s. In the grounds there are pastures and woodlands with lakeside walks of Lough Conn, and a restored Victorian garden. Next on the route is Lahardane, sitting at the foot of Nephin Mór, which at 806 metres is Connacht’s second-highest mountain. Take a left turn at Pontoon and you will pass through the centre of the lake district, with Lough Conn on the left and Lough Cullin to the right.
Next is Foxford, followed by Straide, where you can visit the Michael Davitt Museum and his grave in the adjoining cemetery. If you take the N5 from Ballyvay to Swinford and head back to Ballina that way, you will see the Callow lakes and go through Attyglass on the way.
Attyglass is the birthplace of Fr Patrick Peyton (1909-1992) who became known around the world as the rosary priest. When he made what seemed like a miraculous recovery from TB after praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he was so grateful for his renewed health that he, with the permission of his superiors, began the Prayer Crusade which took him all over the world, preaching the importance of prayer. He staged hundreds of radio and television shows alongside many Hollywood stars and his famous slogan was: “The family that prays together, stays together.”
Knock isn’t a million miles away from this part of the world either if you’re interested in a visit.
Caves, castles & gardens of Kilkenny & Carlow
Starts: Dunmore Cave.
Ends: Kilkenny.
This is one for: the kids and the gardeners.
Start with Dunmore Cave, which contains some of the most impressive calcite formations in Ireland as well as approximately 300 metres of passages and caverns, and then continue to Castlecomer Discovery Park where the kids can run wild. Next, head for Carlow town from where you can veer towards Bunclody – but on the way, stop off in Altamont Gardens. Huntington Castle is next on the route and here you can enjoy some afternoon tea and a yew tree walk. Carry on into Bagnelstown and, at this point, you have two options:
Option A
If you so wish, you can take off towards New Ross. The scenery is very pretty along this road and the small town of Borris is worth a visit – the Step House Hotel is a gorgeous place to call into for food. There is also kayaking available along the Barrow in Borris. The very pretty village of Inistioge is also in this neck of the woods and then you could go back to Kilkenny and all its delights via Thomastown, which is full of fabulous eateries and home to Mount Juliet hotel and estate.
Option B
Head back to Kilkenny straight from Bagnelstown, via Paulstown and its supposedly haunted Shankhill Castle, and Gowran, which is home to a reptile zoo.
For more great getaways around the country, please see www.discoverireland.ie.
SHARING OPTIONS