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Top ten greatest places in Ireland to visit

Where the dream land, sea and sky meet in the Emerald Isle

JAMES O'BRIEN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, July 5, 2011, 7:26 AM

Updated Tuesday, July 5, 2011, 3:34 PM

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Ross Castle, Killarney National Park

1.     Dublin can be heaven….especially on a sunny summer’s morning in Stephen’s Green, or a stroll down Grafton Street, the main shopping fare, and breakfast in Beweley’s coffee shop where you will feel like you have stepped back in time.

2.     The fishing boats at Dingle.. the Gaelic speaking town at the heart of the West Kerry Gaeltacht is a wondrous place to be. Tiny cobblestoned streets, beautiful Atlantic scenery, wonderful pubs and craic. ..and the soft tones of the oldest language in Europe…perfect.

3.     Sun going down on Galway Bay . Galway City is the jewel of the West of Ireland, with the liveliest social scene in the whole country. Be there for Galway Races or the Arts Festival and watch the city come to life with a million musicians, gamblers, actors and entertainer sin one of the great scenes of life

4.     I will arise and go now..Yeats country, essentially County Sligo, awash in memories of the greatest poet in the English language.

He name checked every little town and village river and and pools that could ‘ scarcely bathe a star’ Go see his grave at Drumcliffe under the majestic Ben Bulben mountain and visit Rosses Point and Strandhill. Earth has nothing to show more fair

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5.     To see old Shannon’s face again…. John F.Kennedy was captivated by the beauty of the Shannon region during his visit to Ireland in 1963 and it easy to see why. It encompasses both Limerick and Clare and stretches form glorious beaches like Lahinch and Kilkee to the rugged grandeur of the Cliffs of Moher and inland to wonderful little towns and villages.

6.     Tara of the Kings.. The Hill of Tara was the center of the old civilization in Ireland, where kings were crowned and battles fought and won and tribes made merry. In County Meath, just twenty miles or so from Dublin , take a giant step back into the past.

7.     I wish I was in Carrickfergus….. and the beautiful Northern Ireland coastline north of Belfast. Unspoilt and untouched because of the former Troubles, the road North from Belfast is a magical mystery tour of the Giants Causeway, quaint little towns and wonderful beaches. You can spy Scotland in the distance

8.     You take the high road.. to the Donegal highlands, again impossibly remote and almost inaccessible, but well worth the effort. Towering mountains, wild seas, and gorgeous scenery, perhaps Ireland’s best-kept secret.

9.     They say that the lakes of Killarney are fair.. and indeed, they are. The County Kerry town was first made famous when Queen Victoria of all people, pitched up there for a vacation back in the 1890s. She knew well what she was doing, not just the lakes, but also the mountains the valleys. The streams – a must- see destination beloved by Americans.

10.    Where the mountains of Mourne.….just across the border lie Warrenpoint and several little fishing villages, all in the shadow of the mighty Mourne mountains, which do indeed sweep down to the sea at this precious spot. The golf courses are magnificent – Ryder Cup star Rory McIlroy grew up here.

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24 Comments

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Mairin67 | Jul 17, 2011, 05:58 PM EDT

Made it out of Donegal alive....given that it is "impossibly remote and almost inaccessible". Hogwash!! Written by a true uninformed, clueless Irish Central writer.

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eiriamach | Jul 10, 2011, 09:35 PM EDT

GeorgeDillon, why is your language so abusive--so often and without any reason? And you're simply wrong! Unless there has been a great change since the last time I was in Dingle (four or five years ago), you can find Irish speakers there. Go to a pub in the evening, and when they begin singing sean nos, just turn to anyone within earshot and make a comment in Irish on the music, and you'll hear plenty of Irish in reply. You won't hear it on the fishing-tour boats or in the shops or hotels, but if you ask, people will tell you where to go to hear Irish spoken on the peninsula. Plenty of people speak it but not when the American tourists are around.

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BrendaG | Jul 09, 2011, 05:21 PM EDT

dublin was very nice for a visit-a lot of history but my heart lies is the west Sligo,Clare,Galway,Mayo,roscommon, and Offaly where the Ireland of ones dreams still lives and not always changed by the big city worldliness of a Dublin. Yes I have read Joyce (college major was English) and have visited Dublin several times but say you still cant beat the Midlands and West for true Ireland.

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iliveinireland | Jul 07, 2011, 10:43 AM EDT

I have lived in Ireland all my life and there isn't a day that i don't think it's beautiful, even if i only go to the local shop for milk i stop and admire the beauty, then again i live in the beautiful village of Adare Co. Limerick.

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molliepmac | Jul 07, 2011, 09:05 AM EDT

To add to Savetara's comments, it is also true that there is a traffic guarantee attached to the M3 contract. The road has two tolls within about 20 miles. Traffic volume was overestimated - result- over 500,000euros every three months is being paid as compensation by the Government ( taxpayers through IMF and EU loans)to the roads Spanish owners. Those who protested that the route through Tara Skryne was too long and two tolls would not work were ignored. However now the supporters of the M3 it seems have nothing to say...silence.

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insomniax2 | Jul 07, 2011, 06:19 AM EDT

Carrickfergus? Really? The Antrim coastline is beautiful and one of the best driving/riding roads in the country but Carrick is a horrible little town with its only saving grace being the castle.

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savetara | Jul 07, 2011, 05:18 AM EDT

Hi all, In answer to Canadian, the M3 Motorway opened in June last year having destroyed over 40 archaeological sites along the route through the Tara Skryne Valley. Unfortunately the Hill of Tara was not declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco but has been proposed for consideraion. However it will be years before that happens but it is even more likely that it will never happen as the criteria is very strict and with a monster Motorway at it's feet, the Hill of Tara will remain at the mercy of whatever despot Gvernment the Irish people are subject to. It was not the will of the people that the Motorway desecrate the ancient Vally but that of the greedy corrupt politicians who sold our ancient heritage from us and from the generations to come. One hopes that under a new Govt. better protections will be enshrined into law to save other sites from the same desperate fate as that of Royal Tara.

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FatherVol | Jul 06, 2011, 05:02 PM EDT

Have been to all but Carrickfergus.

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bunbegdonegal | Jul 06, 2011, 12:52 PM EDT

As long as Donegal made the list..................

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Liamkeyes | Jul 06, 2011, 11:13 AM EDT

I wholeheartedly agree with Ballyphehane, there are parts of Cork that are breathtakingly beautiful and I'm a Dub. I don't know what to say but the Cork people should market it better. Another Beauty spot that does'nt get the credit is up around the Mountains of Mourne.

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GeorgeDillon | Jul 06, 2011, 11:08 AM EDT

Canadian: Re companion post, I forgot to mention that the tolled turnpike is losing money, because it's too expensive and doesn't attract many cars. But guess what! The Irish are paying hundreds of millions in a subsidy to the toll company! The Irish--the greatest morons on earth...

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GeorgeDillon | Jul 06, 2011, 11:06 AM EDT

Canadian: I had been tempted to pull up author O'Brien on his nonsensical "Tara ....where kings were crowned and battles fought and won and tribes made merry." but if I correct every bit of buffoonery on this site I'll never have time to eat, work or have sex. In answer to your question, yes, the Irish drove a turnpike right thru the heart of Royal Tara, a site that goes back maybe 4000 years. This was a place that the UN had designated a world heritage site. But don't worry, this wasn't the first time. Back in the 1970s the Irish knowingly bulldozed one of the greatest Viking sites ever found, Wood Quay in Dublin. If you ever hear blarney and baloney from an Irishman such as O'Brien's above, ask a simple question--why did you Irish wreck Tara?

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Canadian | Jul 06, 2011, 07:56 AM EDT

I visited the Hill of Tara about 3 years ago and at the time there was concern that the M3 motorway was to be built, almost on top of it. I can't find any current info. but from the reviews on Tripadvisor, everything is still there. Does anyone know the status of the construction?

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GeorgeDillon | Jul 06, 2011, 02:40 AM EDT

Momma Ginnty: Up to now I thought you were just a dope, now I think you're an uncontrolled liar. To state that Irish is widely spoken in Dingle is an utter lie. There's as much Irish in Dingle as there is in Savannah Georgia. Even the very few Irish speakers left in what remains of the Kerry Gaeltacht use English when they come into Dingle. You think you can peddle your kind of Leprecahun hot turd to Irish-Americans, but it won't work with me. Shame on you, Momma G, you're a pathological liar.

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JBRAFTREE | Jul 05, 2011, 07:08 PM EDT

Mamag, I kinda' thought that, but being a third Gen Irish, din't wanna say. By the way, got back from Holiday in Galway a month ago. I went alone. Great stories abound..Not for this venue, however.

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