text:
County Carlow

County Carlow (Contae Cheatharlach) is in Southeast Ireland, and historically part of Leinster. Its oldest monument is 6000 years old, and its towns have the heritage - and often the scars - of a turbulent history. It's nowadays a pleasant lowland place, with a population of 56,532 in 2016.

Towns

 * the county town has a fine museum, and the only castle in Ireland to survive Cromwell then be wrecked by psychiatry.
 * or Muine Bheag was once touted as a new Versailles. You'll have to use your imagination.
 * is a village at an ancient river bridge, still in use.
 * has events at Borris House and hiking in the Blackstairs mountains.
 * is near Altamont Gardens, Huntington Castle and Rathgall ringfort.
 * is the eastern part of Graignamanagh in County Kilkenny across the River Barrow. Come here for Duiske Abbey and relaxing countryside.

Other destinations

 * at 793 m / 2605 ft is the highest of the Blackstairs Mountains, which form the boundary to the east with County Wexford. It's easily ascended by the track from Nine Stones car park on its north flank, but see Enniscorthy for approaches from the Wexford side.

Understand
This area is low-lying, with the River Barrow forming a natural communication route. The bedrock is impervious granite overlain by sand and gravel; not the most fertile of soils but well-drained, and not mired in bog. An entire mountain range formed over the granite, was eroded away, and replaced by a second range which in turn eroded away. So it was only the blink of an eye ago in the great sweep of earth's history when the glaciers retreated and the first known human settlers appeared. Brownshill Dolmen near Carlow town is a portal tomb erected around 4000 BC, with a colossal 150 metric ton capstone suggesting a very very VIP burial. Perhaps they were making sure its occupant could never arise and rule again.

In the early centuries AD, tribal units coalesced into petty kingdoms and then into Leinster. They're commemorated in a series of ringforts or raths (nowadays just overgrown mounds) and by the fantastical legends they weaved to show their descent from the gods. Labraidh Loinseach, for instance, was the mythical founder of Leinster, with a series of anatomically improbable adventures, though the way he yelped when hit on the shin playing hurling has the ring of truth. The area was christianised from the 7th century, with a monastery founded at St Mullins, and Carlow together with Wexford comprised the Gaelic kingdom of Uí Ceinnselaig or Kinsella which at times ruled all of Leinster.

The Normans took control of southeast Ireland from the 12th century, building wooden forts then stone castles, and re-establishing monasteries over the original Christian sites. They made sure to control the river crossings, with a stout castle at Carlow, and turrets and fortresses here and there. They carved up the territory into shires or counties: Carlow was originally much larger and extended to the east coast. It took its name from its principal town of Ceatharlach, meaning four-legged, the livestock swum across the river and brought to market there. In the 14th century, the Gaels were resurgent and the Normans were repulsed from much of Scotland and Ireland, but they clung on in Leinster. Their counter-offensives against the Gaelic chieftains were disastrous, until they hit upon a better military strategy: "Let's just pay the b****s off." And so the peace and territory were bought.

It was only in Tudor times that England was able to re-assert control, settling re-captured territory with "plantations" of loyal colonists, and separating County Wicklow from Carlow. Then in the 17th century the British Isles were convulsed by civil war. King Charles was overthrown and beheaded in England, while for six years a nominally royalist "confederacy" ruled much of Ireland from Kilkenny, until Cromwell arrived to crush opposition and smash down city walls and castles everywhere. The next upheaval, the "Williamite wars" as King James tried to regain his throne, had little effect hereabouts, but southeast Ireland was embroiled in the 1798 rebellion of United Irishmen. On 25 May 1798, 2000 rebels converged on Carlow town, seemingly unopposed, but they had walked into a trap and were shattered by a fusillade of gunfire. Some 640 of their bodies were flung into a communal "Croppies Grave", while the government troops were unscathed. Carlow began to prosper from 1800 when the entire River Barrow was made navigable from Waterford through Carlow to Athy, and connected by canal to the Dublin-Shannon Grand Canal. Industries and commerce arrived, and later the railway. This and relief measures were not enough to prevent thousands of deaths in the Great Famine, nor mass emigration by those able to flee. The economic slump persisted through the late 19th century and into 20th century Irish independence. Industrialisation and population recovery was slow, until Carlow became the base for a couple of third-level colleges, and the M9 brought the area within commuting distance of Dublin.

There are no Gaeltacht areas in the county though the government encourages the use of Irish. So everyone speaks English, a few European settlers speak Polish or Lithuanian, and college students speak whatever they've studied or picked up by working as a barista.

The climate is temperate, with summers averaging 20 °C (68 °F), winters 7 °C (45 °F), and always a strong chance of rain.

Tourist information is available from Carlow library.

Get in
Dublin Airport has direct buses to Carlow, with competition on the route, see below. Or you could take the airport bus to Dublin Heuston railway station.

Trains run every 2-3 hours from Dublin Heuston via Newbridge, Kildare and Athy, taking an hour to Carlow and continuing to Bagenalstown / Muine Bheag, Kilkenny, Thomastown and Waterford.

Expressway 4 / X4 runs every hour or two from Dublin Airport and Busáras to Carlow. The X4 takes 75 min and continues non-stop to Waterford and New Ross. Bus 4 also stops at Dublin Eden Quay and Heuston, taking 1 hr 40 min to Carlow and continuing to Carlow IT, Leighlinbridge, Gowran, Thomastown, Mullinavat and Waterford.

JJ Kavanagh competes on this route, with Bus 736 every hour or two from Dublin Airport and several city stops, taking almost two hours to Carlow and continuing to Kilkenny, Waterford and Tramore. They have at least one overnight run.

Bus Éireann 73 trundles across the midlands from Athlone to Moate, Clara, Tullamore, Mountmellick, Portlaoise, Stradbally, Carlow, Kilkenny, Thomastown, Mullinavat and Waterford. There are two M-Sa and one on Sunday.

And see individual towns for Local Link buses from places such as Naas and Arklow.

By car, from Dublin take N7 / M7 onto M9 south. From Rosslare ferry port, take M11 to Enniscorthy then N80 northwest.

Get around
See above for the rail link between Carlow and Bagenalstown / Muine Bheag, which takes 15 min.

Buses run from Carlow town centre to Carlow IT, Leighlinbridge, Bagenalstown and Paulstown, heading for Kilkenny or Waterford; and to Tullow heading for Arklow. Another bus links Kilkenny, Borris and Tinnahinch / Graignamanagh. There are usually only 3 or 4 buses a day, see city pages.

See

 * Castles: there's a scrappy one in Leighlinbridge, a psychiatrically disturbed one in Carlow, a plush one near Tullow that reckons to assist the Goddess Isis, and a figment of mi'lord's imagination in Bagenalstown.
 * Religious buildings: the county museum in Carlow is in a beautifully preserved convent, and Carlow also has a fine cathedral. The 12th century Old Leighlin Cathedral is still in use. Ruins include Sleaty, Killeshin and Baltinglass, but the best is Duiske Abbey across the river from Tinnahinch.
 * Gardens: Duckett's Grove in Carlow and Altamont south of Tullow are the best.

Do

 * What's on? For local events listen to KCLR on 96 FM, or read The Nationalist or Carlow People, both published Tuesday.
 * Canal boats: the Barrow Navigation meets the Grand Canal (which is navigable from the Liffey in Dublin to the Shannon near Longford) at Robertstown in County Kildare. It courses south to Athy, Carlow, Bagenalstown, Graignamanagh and St Mullins, where it joins the tidal river down to New Ross, Waterford and out to sea. Check Waterways Ireland for current status of locks, moorings and so on. There are restrictions on how far rented boats may be taken from base, and they won't let you venture into tidal waters.
 * Go with the Flow organise canoeing at various spots along the rivers around Carlow and Kilkenny.
 * Theatre and cinema are in Carlow town.
 * Golf: there are courses at Carlow, Tullow and Borris, with others just across the county boundary, such as the K Club near Kildare.
 * Gaelic games: Carlow GAA play football and hurling at Dr Cullen Park in Carlow. There are some 25 club teams across the county.
 * Hang gliding and Paragliding launches from Mount Leinster. Contact the Irish HPA for details.
 * The Wicklow Way is a 131 km walking trail from Dublin to Clonegal, which is on the boundary with County Wexford. The southern sections of the trail are lowland and pastoral, yet feel more away-from-it-all than the touristy mountain sections further north near the city.
 * Gordon Bennett Classic Car Rally, open to vehicles of 30+ years, is based in Portlaoise and circles through Kildare, Stradbally, Athy and Carlow. It's held in June over the Bank Holiday weekend.
 * Carlow Garden Festival is end of July.

Buy
Carlow town is the county's main retail centre, and Tullow has a few supermarkets. The smaller places may just have a Centra convenience store, often with an ATM.

Eat

 * Carlow has lots of cheap and cheerful places but nothing outstanding.
 * Tullow has one good restaurant in town, and a couple of country-house hotels further out with fine cuisine.
 * Lord Bagenal Inn in Leighlinbridge gets good reviews.

Drink

 * Carlow has the best selection, including the extensive Dinn Rí complex.
 * Breweries: 12 Acres are a micro-brewery at Clonmore near Carlow. Carlow Brewing Company are now known as O'Haras and are based in Bagenalstown.
 * Distillery: Walsh Whiskey is on the outskirts of Carlow.

Sleep
Carlow town has the widest selection, including a couple of mid-price chain hotels, which are uncommon in Ireland. The bulk of accommodation is small independent places: in 2020/21 the B&Bs were not able to open because of the impracticality of covid precautions. And even in normal times, the county has very few camping or caravan sites or hostels. It does have some upmarket sumptuous country-house hotels away from the towns.

Stay safe
Natural hazards are few: the hills are low and there are no large bodies of water. So the hazards are man-made: traffic, traffic, traffic! Plus usual care of valuables and avoiding late-night drunks.

For all emergency services call free on 999 or 112. This includes emergency medical care, but for anything that doesn't obviously need hospital, call Caredoc (based in Carlow) on +353 1850 334 999.

Go next

 * Kilkenny is a splendid miniature medieval city less than an hour away.
 * County Wicklow rises as mountains to the east, traversed by the Wicklow Way.
 * Waterford has a fascinating mix of Viking, medieval and Georgian heritage.
 * County Wexford was the stronghold of the 1798 rebellion, with the last stand on Vinegar Hill by Enniscorthy.
 * Dublin: all transport routes converge here. So you could easily day-trip from Carlow into the city - lots of commuters do so daily - but it deserves much longer.

title: County Carlow


text:
County Cavan

County Cavan (Irish: Contae an Chabháin) is in Northwest Ireland and Lakelands. It's traditionally in the province of Ulster, but in 1921 was one of the three Ulster counties (the others being Donegal and Monaghan) assigned to the Republic of Ireland. It therefore has a long, and nowadays open and peaceful, border with the counties of Northern Ireland. Its main attraction is its scenery.

Towns

 * the county town is near Lough Oughter, studded with drumlin islets.
 * is on Lough Ramor, and Ballyjamesduff has the county museum.
 * has Castle Lough, and nearby Kingscourt has Dún na Rí Forest.
 * at the head of the navigable River Erne is a quiet place for boating and angling.
 * on the border is in limestone terrain, such as Cavan Burren Park.

Understand
This area is a post-glacial landscape of poor soils, drumlins (see below) and bogs: not much to fight over, and if you sent an army it would get stuck in something unpleasant. Until medieval times it was part of the kingdom of Bréifne, a buffer state between Ulster, Connacht and Leinster. Its Gaelic rulers the O'Rourke dynasty staunchly resisted Norman incursions but then warred among themselves, and their kingdom sundered into east and west. Once Elizabeth I of England subdued it, east Bréifne became County Cavan and part of Ulster, while west Bréifne became County Leitrim in Connacht.

Loyal English and Scots colonists were then settled in any potentially rebellious part of Ireland - which was pretty much all of it, but especially Ulster. They founded a series of "plantation" towns, such as Virginia in County Cavan, named for the late queen just in case the American colony and later US State of Virginia didn't suffice. With them came the Protestant church, improved agricultural methods (especially drainage projects) and industries such as linen, though these struggled against the poor soil and offered little protection when famine struck in the 1840s. Meanwhile railways and better roads came through, and Belfast became a metal-bashing second Glasgow, drawing people off the land hereabouts.

When Ireland achieved home rule as a prelude to independence in 1921, Ulster stood out against this, and the separate entity of Northern Ireland remained within the United Kingdom. The problem was that it had a Roman Catholic majority, who in a year or two would surely see the benefits of joining a vibrant young republic, and would vote Northern Ireland out of existence. The border was fixed to prevent this, so the Ulster counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal became part of the Republic, while the other six counties remained British. Within those six, the Protestant majority was ensured by gerrymandering electoral boundaries.

The border was a double blow for Cavan. Its hinterland and trade links to Enniskillen and Donegal were blighted. And the new republic was far from vibrant: it languished economically, and places on its Ulster fringes withered. The blight was especially felt in places like Belturbet and Blacklion in the northeast county. The border could be crossed, but the paperwork and hold-ups involved in shipping a truckload of cattle weren't worth it, you'd be tempted to smuggle. And when the "Troubles" resumed in the 1970s, that smuggling included weapons, explosives and wanted men. Potential investors shunned the area.

Ireland in the 1990s saw the "Celtic Tiger" years of economic boom. Much of this was squandered, but one tangible benefit was the creation of the Shannon-Erne Waterway, so that the lakes and rivers of Cavan became connected to the Irish navigable network. Tourism grew based on angling, boating and wildlife, and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 enshrined an open border with the UK. This agreement has stood up well for over 20 years but in 2021 is under strain through "Brexit". Can you fly into Belfast and hire a car and legally drive it to Cavan as before? . . . mmm, better check. What about the Waterway, which in many places forms the border? Blacklion has no wish to emulate Nicosia, with a European Union "hard" border through the middle of the community.

Get in
The county has no railway service. Cavan Town is the focus of bus routes; the main services are:
 * - Expressway Bus 30 / X30 every hour or two from Dublin Busáras and Airport to Virginia, Cavan, Butlersbridge, Belturbet, Enniskillen, Ballyshannon and Donegal Town.
 * - Bus 109X every hour or two from Dublin Busáras via Glasnevin, Finglas, Blanchardstown, Navan, Kells and Carnaross to Virginia and Cavan.
 * - Bus 65 daily from Athlone via Ballymahon and Longford to Cavan, Clones and Monaghan.
 * - On Friday only, another Bus 65 runs from Galway via Tuam, Roscommon and Longford to Cavan.
 * - Ulsterbus 270 twice a day from Belfast via Portadown, Armagh and Monaghan to Cavan.
 * - Bus 166 once M-F from Dundalk via Inniskeen, Carrickmacross, Shercock and Cootehill to Cavan.

By road from Dublin follow M3 / N3, maybe 90 min to Cavan Town.

Get around
Virginia, Cavan Town and Belturbet are on the Dublin-Donegal transport corridor, with buses every hour or two, see above.

Anywhere else, you need your own wheels, and a car if you don't want to take all day about it. Distances by bike are not great in the south of the county, but the northeast is a lonely sparse area. Europcar have a rental base at the edge of Cavan Town, +353 49 436 1441.

Belturbet is at the head of the navigable river and canal system, so by boat you can potter down into Upper Lough Erne and Ballyconnell. Indeed those navigable waterways link all the way to Enniskillen, Limerick, Waterford and Dublin.

See

 * Cavan County Museum is in Ballyjamesduff.
 * Dun A Ri Forest Park is in Kingscourt.
 * The Workhouse Museum is within the shell of a grim institution in Bawnboy, northwest of Belturbet.
 * Upper Shannon: Ireland's great Mississippi arises at Shannon Pot, reached by a short hike from the car park on R206 above Corbeg in the northwest of the county. It flows southwest to enter County Leitrim at Dowra, then down into Lough Allen, see Drumshanbo. That lough is the upper limit of navigation on the Shannon.
 * Drumlins, hundreds of them. They're little ridges or hillocks, slightly elongated, in groups aligned the same direction. They're typically 500 m long by 200 m wide and are composed of clay, gravel and boulders deposited beneath glaciers. They form a "basket of eggs" landscape, and when flooded by sea or lakes they form a scenic pattern of islands. They're found worldwide but especially in a broad belt from Clew Bay in County Mayo to Strangford Lough in County Down, and indeed their name is Irish: droimnín, "littlest ridge". Cavan is the centre of this drumlin belt and they define its landscape. Their sparse, boggy soil is unsuitable for arable farming or even forestry so they're mostly just rough grazing land, but as islets they create a platform for hermit's dwellings, forts and wildlife refuges. This particular drumlin belt was laid down in the Midlandian era 79,000 – 13,000 years ago, the second and final Ice Age to cover Ireland. Precisely how they formed is debateable: by simple deposition, by scouring away of surrounding material, by flood action? Study of modern glaciers suggests a mix, but in Cavan you'll have many a happy hour to contemplate the question.
 * Limestone terrain by contrast forms the northwest of the county, around Blacklion. Admire it both above ground, as at Cavan Burren Park, and below in the Marble Arch Caves.

Do

 * Boating on the River Erne, linked by navigable waterways to the entire country.
 * Gaelic games: Cavan GAA are the county team, playing Gaelic football and hurling at Breffni Park in Cavan Town. There are some 40 club teams across the county.
 * Golf: there are courses in Belturbet and Cavan Town.
 * Virginia Agricultural Show is in August.

Eat

 * Bar food will often be your best bet.
 * For fine dining head for the upscale hotel restaurants, see Sleep.

Drink

 * Abbey Bar is next to the bus station in Cavan Town, and something of an institution.
 * Terra in Baillieborough make Irish liqueurs. No tours.

Sleep

 * Not many campsites or caravan parks - local caravanners head east for the beaches of County Louth.
 * Lots of B&Bs, but they didn't open in 2020.
 * Splurge places are Farnham Estate near Cavan Town, Slieve Russell near Belturbet, Cabra Castle in Baillieborough and Virginia Park Lodge in Virginia.

Go next

 * County Meath to the south has Kells, home of the sacred book now in TCD Library Dublin, Brú na Bóinne Archaeological Park, and the site of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne.
 * Sligo to the northwest has a roaring Atlantic coastline, prehistoric monuments, and brooding cloud-capped scarps that inspired the poetry of WB Yeats.
 * Cavan is historically part of Ulster, and has good transport links via Armagh to Belfast, a fascinating city with in-your-face history.
 * Cavan is also close to upper and lower Lough Erne and Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. Don't just rush through on your way to Donegal.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: County Cavan


text:
County Clare

County Clare (Contae an Chláir) is in the Shannon Region of Ireland. The eastern part is farmland, dotted with ruined abbeys and small market towns; the west and north are bare limestone ridges and cliffs facing the Atlantic weather. It's very touristy: Shannon airport, medieval banquets at Bunratty, Cliffs of Moher, trad Irish music in the villages, looking up ancestors in Corofin: the package itinerary writes itself. But this means visitor amenities are well-developed, and you only have to turn up any quiet lane to escape the circus and have the place to yourself.

Towns and villages

 * is the county town. There's a ruined abbey in town and several more nearby.
 * has a well-preserved castle and outdoor museum, hosting "medieval banquets" and very touristy.
 * town was built in the 1960s to serve the airport. It's drab and industrial but has accommodation.
 * is the way to reach Loop Head - just as scenic as Cliffs of Moher yet bypassed by the tourist circuit.
 * has a walled garden. Boat trips sail to Scattery Island.
 * on the coast has a summer school of Irish traditional music.
 * is a seaside resort with good surf, and nearby Ennistymon is an attractive small village.
 * is a small village, famous for its Irish music tradition and the atmosphere in its pubs. Boat trips sail to the Aran Islands from here.
 * is a village on the south edge of The Burren.
 * , looking onto Galway Bay, is at the north edge of The Burren, with caves and prehistoric tombs and settlements.
 * is a picturesque village on the Shannon with a fine medieval cathedral.

Other destinations

 * is a remarkable landscape of bare limestone pavement, with caves, prehistoric structures and unusual plant life.
 * are part of County Galway but are easily reached by boat from Doolin.
 * or Holy Island in Loch Derg has a collection of early Christian sites. It's reached by boat from Mountshannon or from Killaloe.

Understand
It was a kneecap that astounded the scientists in 2017, and a bear's kneecap at that. Dated to 10,500 BC, it had clearly been hunted by humans (the whole bear not just the kneecap, d'you understand), pushing back the era of known human habitation by 2500 years. Clare's fertile lowlands were what attracted settlement, but it's the bare limestone uplands of The Burren where the early dwellings and graves are best preserved.

The Vikings sailed up the Shannon to rule this area from the 9th century, being ejected in the 11th century by the Irish under Brian Boru. A separate Kingdom of Thomond evolved but it came under the thumb of the Anglo-Normans, and the county name is probably from Thomas de Clare, a 13th-century noble. There were no big pitched battles here but the castles were disputed, and Cromwell faced guerrilla resistance from the "Tories", outlaws allied to the Royalists, who gave their name to a political faction. Clare remained agricultural and in the 19th century suffered mass emigration. Many Americans can trace their roots here (eg the boxer Muhammad Ali), aided by the good county records. Until 1956 Clare was part of the Gaeltacht, but Irish/Gaeilge became supplanted by English which is nowadays everyone's first language, though the government continues to encourage Gaeilge in schools and other culture. The big change to Clare's fortunes came with transatlantic commercial flights, with Shannon Airport as the springboard.

By plane
is a major portal of entry into Ireland. It has many flights from Europe, UK and the United States, with US border pre-clearance, and in summer from Toronto. The largest operators are Ryanair and Aer Lingus. There are several car rental agencies here (you're likely to need a car to get around the county), and an hourly bus connects Limerick, the airport, Ennis and Galway.

You might also fly in to Dublin Airport and take the direct bus to Limerick; or bus or train from central Dublin to Limerick. Change there for transport into County Clare.

By bus
Dublin Coach 300 (M7) runs hourly from Dublin Burgh Quay via Kildare, Limerick and Bunratty to Ennis, taking 3 hr 30 min. There's also a direct bus from Dublin Airport to Limerick.

Expressway Bus 51 runs hourly from Cork via Mallow, Limerick, Bunratty and Shannon Airport to Ennis, continuing to Galway. Don't take X51, which is nonstop between Limerick and Galway.

Bus 343 meanders hourly from Limerick via Cratloe, Bunratty, Sixmilebridge, Shannon town and airport, Newmarket-on-Fergus and Clarecastle to Ennis.

Bus 350 winds along the coast from Galway six times every day, taking 3 hours via Kinvara, Ballyvaughan, Fanore, Lisdoonvarna, Doolin, Cliffs of Moher, Liscannor, Lahinch, Ennistymon, Corofin and Inagh to Ennis.

By rail
From Dublin, first take the hourly train from Heuston station to Limerick Colbert. From there, trains run to Ennis every couple of hours, and four or five of them continue to Galway.

By boat
The Shannon Ferry plies between in County Clare and Tarbert in County Kerry on the south bank, both on Highway N67. It sails hourly Sep-May and every 30 min Jun-Aug. Fare is €20 for a standard car with all passengers, €5 for a foot-passenger, cyclist or motorbike. If you're touring the Atlantic coast, this saves a lengthy detour inland through Limerick. Watch for dolphins on the 20 min crossing.

Get around
An hourly bus plies between Limerick, Bunratty, Shannon town and airport, Ennis and Galway. Anywhere not on that corridor has a very sparse service, but see the coast route 350 above.

Sights and amenities are well-scattered across the county so you need a car: the best place to hire one is Shannon Airport, where all the major companies have desks.

See

 * River Shannon, Ireland's longest river, forms the south and east boundary of County Clare. Heading upriver:
 * - Scattery Island in the Atlantic Shannon has a lighthouse, tower and ruined monastery. Boat trips sail from Kilrush.
 * - Bottlenose dolphins: there's a resident pod of some two dozen in the estuary off Kilrush.
 * - Killaloe has a medieval cathedral and church.
 * - Further upstream, Lough Derg separates County Clare and County Tipperary.

 * Loop Head is the windy peninsula north of the meeting of Shannon and Atlantic, with storm-bashed cliffs and puffins. Reach it via Kilkee.
 * Cliffs of Moher near Doolin village on the wild Atlantic coast.
 * Craggaunowen is the recreation of a Bronze Age village, while Ennis is ringed by ruined abbeys.
 * Caves: there are show caves at Doolin and at Ailwee south of Ballyvaughan. There are many more for properly trained and equipped cavers to explore.
 * The Burren is a limestone upland region with many prehistoric sites, such as Caherconnell Stone Fort.

Do

 * What's on? Listen to Clare FM on 95.2-96.6 MHz, or read Clare Champion, Clare Echo or Clare People.
 * Bunratty Castle hosts medieval banquets nightly.
 * Surfing: Spanish Point near Milltown Malbay is one good spot.
 * Irish music: many pubs have trad live music, and serious musicians can improve at the Milltown Malbay summer school.
 * Boat trips sail to Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands, and round the Shannon estuary.
 * Mid Clare Way is a long distance walking route circling Ennis. It is 139 km in total but broken up into manageable segments.
 * Gaelic games: the County GAA play Gaelic football and hurling at Cusack Park in Ennis. There are about 65 club teams across the county.
 * Look up your Irish ancestors. From 1864 all births, marriages and deaths in Ireland (and Protestant marriages from 1845) were recorded by the General Register Office in Dublin, which you can search online free. Before then, such events were recorded only in parish church registers, of variable completeness, and many have been lost; however others have been digitised. One good set of records is for County Clare, available via the Heritage & Genealogy Centre in Corofin. Their pre-1864 sources include births and marriages from the county's Roman Catholic parish churches from the 17th century, property records from 1825, newspaper "hatches matches & dispatches" columns from 1799, Wills, trial verdicts, workhouse denizens and tombstone epitaphs. Visit in person or commission research from them.
 * The Wild Atlantic Way is a coastal itinerary from Donegal all the way to Kinsale near Cork. The route through County Clare is self-evident, just follow the coast road.

Eat

 * Good fresh produce (especially seafood) everywhere; Ballyvaughan has a weekly Farmer's Market.
 * Bunratty is not just about the "medieval banquets", there is excellent dining in town.
 * In Kilkee, O'Curry St is named for a notable Irish scholar not for its cuisine, but yes there is an Indian restaurant, a rarity in this county.

Drink

 * Lots of pubs with trad music, especially in touristy spots like Milltown Malbay, Doolin, and Ennistymon near Lahinch, where Dylan Thomas set to once he'd drunk Wales and England dry.
 * Poitín (like gin but more hugger-mugger and cuss-words) is distilled at Bunratty.
 * Malt whiskey: there are still very few single malts produced in Ireland, but "Knappogue Castle" is one, named for the place near Ennis, though they're coy about where it's made.
 * Ballyvaughan has a knowledgeable whiskey bar. Do Greenland or Fiji produce whiskey yet? Whenever they start, it's likely to be available here.

Go next

 * Limerick city is a miniature Dublin with many attractions.
 * Rural County Limerick can be reached by the Shannon Ferry, bypassing the city. Sights within a short drive are Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Adare and Lough Gur.
 * The Aran Islands are often seen on a day-trip but deserve a longer stay.
 * Galway is a fascinating city, and a base for exploring scenic Connemara.

title: County Clare


text:
County Cork

County Cork (Contae Chorcaí) is in Southwest Ireland, and historically part of the province of Munster. It's the largest county in the Republic, and Cork is the country's second largest city, with many visitor attractions. It has lush farmland dotted by defensive turrets such as Blarney Castle, and a rugged Atlantic coastline.

City and harbour

 * is the lively city at the heart of the county.
 * is the city's port, departure point for some 2.5 million emigrants.
 * has sailing and walking.
 * Castle is itself a prime example of "Blarney".

Lowlands

 * is where the Lee valley meets the mountains on the road to Kerry.
 * has the racetrack and is the main town in north Cork.
 * is a small port, once home to Sir Walter Raleigh.

Atlantic west

 * has two forts guarding its historic harbour.
 * was the birthplace of Michael Collins.
 * is by the foot of Mizen Head peninsula.
 * is a small relaxing harbour village.
 * has sailing and scuba diving, and ferries to Sherkin and Cape Clear islands.
 * is a sailing and fishing village.
 * is a good base for all three of Cork's main peninsulas.
 * has the gardens of Garinish Island.
 * is the main town on Beara peninsula.

Other destinations

 * form the southwest tip of Cork: Mizen Head to the south, Sheep's Head in the middle and Beara to the north. Bantry is at the base of the middle peninsula and has roads to all three.
 * are an archipelago in Roaringwater Bay. They actually number about 50, if you discount mere rocks, and several are inhabited. Those with a ferry service are Sherkin Island and Cape Clear from Baltimore, Heir Island from Cunnamore near Skibbereen, and Long Island from Schull.
 * : now you really are getting away from it all. It's a wave-lashed islet with a lighthouse, 13 km beyond the Cork mainland, the most southerly point in Ireland. Boat trips visit in summer from Baltimore and Schull.

Understand
County Cork (Contae Chorcaí) on the south coast of Ireland is the Republic's largest county by area, and in 2016 had a population of 542,000, concentrated around the city of Cork and its large natural harbour. Most of the area is lowland and fertile, along the valleys of the rivers Bandon, Lee (flowing through Cork) and Blackwater (the boundary with County Waterford). This attracted settlers from elsewhere, notably the Vikings, Anglo-Normans and Tudors, using the many small harbours and tidal channels. The county became dotted with early Christian monasteries, stone turrets and other fortifications. The incomers came into conflict with the ancient Kingdom of Deas Mumhan or South Munster, anglicised as "Desmond" - not until 1601 was this broken.

The southwest of the county by contrast is poor stony land, with a rugged convoluted coastline, small fishing villages and a scatter of islands. Life here was hand-to-mouth even in the good years, and then came the bad - the district around Skibbereen was among the worst stricken in Ireland during the Great Famine of 1845-49. Cork's harbours became busy with the export of Ireland's people to America, with lonely Fastnet their last glimpse of the Old Country. But the 19th century invented tourism and re-defined what we regard as "scenic", so these bleak depopulated hills and headlands became the county's prime draw, and still are. Here too are many Neolithic and Bronze Age relics, which elsewhere were cleared for farmland.

A last stand against English influence was in 1921 / 22, after Ireland achieved independence, but at the price of Partition. The new country was plunged into civil war, and the anti-Treaty faction was especially strong in County Cork, proclaiming a breakaway "Republic of Munster". Almost the last shot of that war felled the pro-Treaty leader and local man Michael Collins. This means that many centenaries fall in 2021 / 22, of local or national significance.

Some 15,000 people in the county are Irish speakers, concentrated in Cork itself and in the northwestern Múscraí (Muskerry) area. Everyone speaks English, in the "sing-song" southwest Irish pattern - listen to the football manager Roy Keane for an example of Cork diction.

Try to learn a few words of Irish every now and again. (Dia dhuit a chara - Hello friend).

By plane
Cork Airport is 6 km south of Cork city center. It has flights from UK and Europe but is too small for direct long-haul aircraft. If you're flying in and renting a car, which you'll need to explore the southwest, then Dublin or Shannon  might also work well.

By train
Trains run hourly from Dublin Heuston, taking 2 hr 40 min to Cork via Kildare, Portlaoise, Ballybrophy, Thurles, Limerick Junction and Mallow. There are also rail connections from Limerick city, Waterford and Tralee.

By bus
There are no through-buses to Ireland from UK or the continent: change in London for the ferry ports. Buses run hourly from Dublin Airport (3 hr 30 min) and Busáras (3 hr) to Cork.

A bus runs hourly from Galway via Ennis, Shannon Airport, Limerick and Mallow to Cork, with a faster bus every 2-3 hours.

Buses run from Rosslare ferry harbour via Wexford, Waterford, Dungarvan and Youghal to Cork.

By boat
From the Channel ports, first sail to UK then cross it to sail to Dublin or Rosslare. Summer ferries from Roscoff and Santander sail to Cork, landing at Ringaskiddy 7 km south of the city.

By bus
Bus routes radiate from Cork. Buses from Dublin are non-stop to Cork so for other towns you have to change there: Bus 251 for Blarney, 220X for Crosshaven, 226 for Kinsale, 237 for Clonakilty, Skibbereen, Baltimore and Schull, and 236 for Bantry, Glengarriff and Castletownbere. Expressway Bus 40 trundles right across Ireland from Rosslare to Tralee; within this county it links Youghal, Cork and Macroom. For Cobh, Midleton and Mallow take the train.

There are very few cross-country buses between the radial routes, so you might have to double back via Cork. See individual towns for Local Link bus services. These are generally too sparse for visitors, running once or twice a week, but a few are practical ways of getting in and around, eg the Kinsale-Clonakilty service.

Cork City Tours operate a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Cork, and excursions to the Jameson Distillery, all of which you can easily visit independently. But they also have long day trips out to far-flung spots like Mizen Head and Ring of Kerry, very difficult to reach without your own car. They hope to restart excursions in spring 2021.

By train
The only railways in the county are around Cork city: the mainline from Dublin Heuston via Mallow, and commuter lines to Midleton and Cobh.

By road
Bicycling is pleasant on the quieter roads, but there are no traffic-free bike lanes outside Cork city. In the west expect to cycle in the teeth of a stiff Atlantic breeze, which will somehow fail to be at your back when you return east.

Car hire is available at the airport and in Cork city, with all the major companies represented.

See

 * Cork city needs a few days to explore. City centre architecture is Georgian / Victorian, such as St Finbarre's cathedral, St Anne's with the Shandon Bells, the city gaol, and the English Market; while modern design is seen on the University campus.
 * Easy day-trips from the city are Blarney for its touristy castle and Blarney stone, Fota wildlife park and Arboretum, and Cobh the colourful port.
 * Other small ports were more important in bygone times: Youghal was a walled Tudorbethan town, and Kinsale was worth defending with two forts — one formidable, the other overgrown.
 * To the west, Ireland ends in stony peninsulas dotted with prehistoric sites. Bantry is a good base for exploring them.
 * Night skies are a lost cause near the city, but the rural places are free of light pollution. On a clear night, get away from the street lights and give your eyes 20 min to adjust, and the Milky Way and other objects will swim into view as never before.
 * Road Bowling is the Irish team sport of hurling a small cannonball down a public road. Wherever it stops, the next shot is taken from there, until one team crosses the finish line. It's played especially in County Cork and in County Armagh so you may well find a game along a back lane.

Do

 * The Wild Atlantic Way is the coastal driving route from Cork away up to Donegal. You're unlikely to want to do it all in one trip, it's best to explore one region at a time. It starts at Old Kinsale Head and heads west via Timoleague, Clonakilty, Galley Head, Glandore, Toe Head Bay, Skibbereen, Baltimore, Inishbeg, Cunnamore, Heir and Sherkin Islands, Ballydehob, Schull, Toormore and Barley Cove to Mizen Head. It then heads north via Sheep's Head to Whiddy Island, Bantry, Glengarriff, Castletownbere and Bere Island then Dursey Island. After Derryvegal you cross into County Kerry towards Kenmare. There isn't a fixed route, it's up to you whether you follow all the convolutions of the coast and hop to the islands, or shortcut on the main highway further inland.
 * Gaelic games: the County GAA play home games in Cork, with Páirc Uí Chaoimh as the main stadium and Páirc Uí Rinn their second ground. There are some 180 club teams across the county.
 * Fishing: there's sea angling, and coarse angling on the many lakes and rivers. The salmon-fishing rivers are the Bandon, and the Blackwater bordering County Waterford; the River Lee was finished off by a hydroelectric dam.
 * Surfing: popular spots include Garretstown near Kinsale, Castlefreke near Clonakilty and Barleycove on the Mizen peninsula.
 * Scuba diving: lots of shipwrecks, from shallow recreational stuff covered in marine life, to deep dark technical wrecks. There are a few inland sites but really only for novice training or if your sea-trip got blown out. Baltimore is a good centre.
 * In ports such as Cobh learn sailing, power-boating and navigation.
 * Theatres and cinemas are concentrated in Cork but there's a few in the other towns.

Eat

 * Cork has the biggest selection.
 * Clonakilty black pudding and Macroom oatmeal are local specialties.
 * Hotels and bars are often a good bet for food especially in the smaller places.
 * Some standouts are Max's in Kinsale, An Súgán in Clonakilty, Customs House in Baltimore, O'Connors in Bantry, Breen's in Castletownbere and Ballymaloe House near Midleton.

Drink

 * The pubs often have decent bar food and live music, and are open to 23:00 or later.
 * Cork has a huge selection. An Bróg (meaning "The Shoe") has one woozy regular who's beginning to suspect they don't sell shoes.
 * Youghal was used in the 1956 film Moby Dick to represent New Bedford, and Moby Dick's pub was the base for director John Huston.
 * In Clonakilty, raise a glass in Donovan's Hotel to the only wartime USAF crew member to survive an emergency landing only to be drunk to death by overwhelming Irish hospitality. He was called Tojo and he was a monkey. He may even have been navigating, as the crew thought they were over Norway.
 * Distilleries and breweries: best known (and heavily marketed) is the Jameson distillery at Midleton near Cork. Others are in Kinsale, Skibbereen and Cape Clear Island off Baltimore. These may offer tours, and it's worth sampling their products anyway.

Sleep

 * Cork city has the widest selection, with several hotels getting rave reviews.
 * Beyond the city, top rated places include Eccles Hotel in Glengarriff, Bridge House B&B in Skibbereen, The Castle in Castletownshend, and Inchydoney Island Lodge near Clonakilty,
 * See Lismore for Ballyvolane House, 38 km northeast of Cork.

Connect

 * Listen to Cork 96 on 96.4 MHz, C103 on 102.6 MHz, or Red FM on 106.1 MHz. (Those frequencies are for the city, and vary around the county.)
 * Read Cork Independent, The Echo, The Cork, The Corkman or Cork Beo.

Stay safe
For emergency assistance (police, ambulance, fire & rescue and coastguard), phone 112 or 999.

South Doc provide out-of-hours primary medical services across the county, +353 1850 335 999.

Go next

 * Northwest is County Kerry, with wild hills and rugged harbours similar to the far west of County Cork.
 * North is County Limerick, with ruined castles of the Desmond dynasty, a prehistoric complex, and the interesting city of Limerick.
 * Northeast is County Tipperary, where top sights are Holycross near Thurles and the Rock of Cashel.
 * East is County Waterford, mostly lush country with mansions and gardens, especially around Lismore.

title: County Cork


text:
County Donegal

County Donegal (Contae Dhún na nGall) is in Northwest Ireland and Lakelands Region and is the northernmost county in Ireland, stretching further north than any part of Northern Ireland. It's a large county but mostly hill and forest, with a population in 2016 of 159,192. Historically part of Ulster, Donegal was one of its three counties that joined the Republic of Ireland, while the other six are in Northern Ireland. So it's referred to as part of "the south" in spite of being so far north.

Towns and villages

 * (Leitir Ceanainn) is the principal town of the county, with lots of amenities, and the best base for seeing the north of Donegal.
 * (Leifear) is the minuscule county town, effectively part of Strabane in Northern Ireland.
 * (Dún na nGall) is a pleasant small town with many visitor amenities.
 * (Béal Átha Seanaidh) on the River Erne is a market town near the beach resort of Bundoran.
 * (Gleann Cholm Cille) has standing stones and ritual sites associated with St Columba.
 * (Na Gleannta) and Ardara are the main settlements around the Bluestack Mountains.
 * (An Clochán Liath) is the main village of The Rosses, the headlands of the west coast.
 * (Gaoth Dobhair) is the last reach of the long rugged west coast before it turns to face north.
 * (An Fál Carrach) and Dunfanaghy are resort villages on the north coast.
 * (Fánaid) has lonely windswept headlands and a good beach at Portsalon.
 * (Bun Cranncha) is the main village on the Inishowen Peninsula, with a crumbly castle and two forts raised against Napoleon.
 * (Carn Domhnach) is near Malin Head, the northern tip of Ireland.

Other destinations

 * is extensive woodland by a 19th century "castle".
 * off the west coast has stark empty scenery.
 * is another quiet island to the north, with 100 m high sea cliffs.

Understand
Donegal is a large, thinly populated county in the north of the Republic of Ireland, further north than any part of Northern Ireland, and connected to the rest of the Republic by a strip only 9 km wide. Glaciers gave it a fractal coastline, gouging out large fjords such as Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly, and innumerable smaller inlets, peninsulas and islands. Except for its eastern edge, it's mountainous with poor soil and a cool wet climate. However ancient travel (even locally, to market) was better by sea than across the hills and bogs, so early Christian leaders established monasteries, and people fished. Vikings sailed up the fjords and settled (hence Dún na nGall, "Fort of the Foreigners", similar to "Galway") but were ousted in the 11th century, and the area came under Gaelic rule from clans such as Uí Neill and Ó Domhnaill. By the 12th century the Normans in their chain mail were clanking into the south of Ireland, grabbing the best land, and dividing it into shires or counties. And as far as this affected Donegal, they might as well have drawn county boundaries on the Moon.

The next big push from England was under the Tudors from the 16th century, and this extended further and deeper, as the arable land was divvied up into "plantations" settled by loyal colonists. Still the ancient kingdoms of Tír Conaill ("Land of Conal", Donegal) and Tyrone held out. The last act, almost, was the Nine Years War of 1593-1603 which broke them, and the Gaelic chiefs fled into exile. Just as the Tudors were congratulating themselves, yet another rebellion broke out, and Derry was burned before the trouble was crushed. That city was therefore reinforced with walls, a London business consortium took it over and called it Londonderry, and colonisation efforts were re-doubled with loyal Protestants from Scotland.

Ulster further east therefore became industrial and Protestant, while Donegal on its Atlantic fringe was neglected. Its people were subsistence farmers with little to spare even in the good years, and the famine years struck hard. Those who could, got out. Some of them formed Catholic enclaves in unfriendly Belfast, but more went on to Glasgow or to North America.

Irish striving for independence led to the Anglo-Irish conflict, and in 1921 created the state (later the Republic) of Ireland, at the price of partition. Six of the nine counties of Ulster remained within the United Kingdom, while Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal joined the south. This blighted both sides of the border and especially Donegal, which was suddenly cut off by a hard border from both north and south, neglected by Dublin and cast under the same pall as Belfast and Derry. Only with the Good Friday Agreement and open border since 1998 has it been able to re-launch itself as a tourist destination, and this is still a work in progress. There has been an ugly rash of holiday bungalows and second homes, but facilities and amenities are not as available as in, say, Kerry, especially out of season. The advantage for the independent traveller is that mass tourism has never arrived here and you can discover the place for yourself.

By plane
, a famously scenic airport, has two flights daily from Dublin by Aer Lingus (with seamless connections to/from the US) and seasonal flights from Glasgow by Loganair. The airport has car hire and taxis and is serviced by a local bus service. If you are fortunate enough to arrive on a clear day, the views on approach are remarkable and worth the journey.

has flights from London Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Liverpool, and in summer from the Med.

You could also fly into either of the Belfast airports or into Dublin and hire a car, since you'll be needing one in Donegal.

By train
The county has no railway. The nearest railway stations are Sligo, with trains from Dublin Connolly, and Derry with trains from Belfast.

By bus
Letterkenny is the main transport hub. Buses run every couple of hours from Dublin, taking 4 hours via Dublin Airport, Ardee, Carrickmacross, Monaghan, Omagh, Newtonstewart, Strabane and Lifford. Another route from Dublin city and airport is via Virginia, Cavan, Enniskillen and Ballyshannon to Donegal Town. They also run every couple of hours from Derry to Letterkenny (30 min) and continue to Ballybofey, Donegal Town, Ballyshannon, Bundoran, Sligo, Charlestown, Knock, Tuam and Galway. Bus Éireann are the main operator but share or compete with others. From Belfast, travel via Derry.

By car
From Dublin take N2 to Monaghan, then A5 through Omagh to Strabane and Lifford. From Sligo follow N15 to Donegal Town. From Belfast follow M2 / A6 to Derry then N13.

By boat
Ferries from Cairnryan in Scotland sail to Belfast and Larne. You could also sail to Dublin and drive north. The nearest ferry port with direct sailings from Europe is away south at Rosslare.

An international ferry plies across the outlet of Lough Foyle, between Macgilligan Point in County Londonderry and Greencastle in Donegal. It takes vehicles but only sails in summer.

By car
This is the only realistic way to see much of the county in comfort, but take your time. The Letterkenny - Ballyshannon road is good quality but beyond is the wild west, with narrow twisty roads, some single track. You don't need 4WD but you do need to be alert for potholes, oncoming trucks, loose sheep, and poor signage. Don't try to drive straight here after a long tiring flight, with dusk falling. Quality of road surface depends on the finances of the local highways dept: if you're lucky it'll just be mediocre. If you're unlucky, your trip will coincide with the once-in-a-decade repairs: the only way to repair a narrow road is to close it entirely, with long intricate diversions. And don't let your tank dip below a quarter, since lurching in second and third gear will suck away your fuel. Electric charging? - well, that's probably what St Brendan the Navigator was searching for.

Road signs in the Gaeltacht areas are solely in Irish, so you need to know those place-names: see individual pages.

By bus
All your patience will be needed if you try to tour hereabouts by bus. See above for the Derry - Letterkenny - Donegal Town - Ballyshannon route, with buses every couple of hours, the closest this scattered county gets to a "transport corridor". Other routes might have only a couple of buses M-Sa, and nothing on Sunday. Local buses radiate from Letterkenny to Rathmullen, Moville, Carndonagh and Buncrana; to Dungloe and Burtonport (for Arranmore ferry); to Dunfanagh, Falcarragh and Magheroarty (for Tory Island ferry); and to Glenties, Ardara and Killybegs. From Donegal Town they run to Killybegs and Glencolmcille, and Bus 30 from Dublin runs through Enniskillen, Belleek and Ballyshannon to Donegal Town. One bus hugs the west coast from Falcarragh via Magheroarty, Derrybeg, Bunbeg (for Gola Island ferry), Crolly and Loughanure to Dungloe.

By bicycle
Donegal is a great place for cycling, but it's hilly, with traffic always squeezing past you on the narrow roads. Plus the rain and the stiff Atlantic breezes and the midges. Did we mention the hills already? It's bliss, honestly.

By boat
The ferry port for Arranmore is Burtonport, for Gola Island is Bunbeg, and for Tory Island is Magheroarty.

See

 * Cliffs, sea stacks and mountains adorn much of the coast. Prominent peaks are Slieve Naght in the north, Errigal in the middle and the Bluestack mountains in the south.
 * Folk museums include the Famine Village Museum near Carndonagh, the flax and corn mill at Newmills west of Letterkenny, and Glencolmcille folk village.
 * Railways in Donegal were blighted by Partition, but a narrow-gauge network kept going well into the 20th century. Find it in Donegal Town and at Fintown east of Glenties, though the best exhibits are in the Ulster Transport museum at Holywood near Belfast.
 * Prehistoric sites abound. Best of them are Grianan of Aileach at Burt west of Derry, the Kilcooney tombs and Lough Doon fort north of Glenties,
 * Guns and watchtowers against Napoleon were set up at many points on the coast. Best preserved are those on Lough Swilly, as they remained in later use - to 1986 at Fort Dunree near Buncrana.
 * Islands: Arranmore and Tory Island are inhabited and have ferries. Gola Island has summer cottages and a ferry. Inishtrahull, 10 km off Malin Head, is the most northerly part of Ireland and is uninhabited; boat trips seldom visit as its name is Irish for "dangerously exposed landing beach, think twice!"

Do

 * Theatres and cinemas are found in Letterkenny and Ballyshannon.
 * Gaelic games: Donegal GAA play football and hurling at Sean Mac Cumhaill Park in Ballybofey / Stranorlar. There are some 40 club teams in the county.
 * Golf courses are found all over the county, mostly links with some parkland. Examples are Ballyliffin, Murvagh near Donegal Town, and Portsalon on Fanad Peninsula.
 * Trad music is found in pubs and hotel bars all over.
 * Hill-walking: you need the weather, and especially the visibility. Glenties is a good base, eg for climbing Errigal.
 * Glenveagh is the only national park in the county, but a good one, with scenic walks and climbs and a preserved castle that was previously a hunting lodge.
 * Sea angling trips sail from many coastal villages.
 * Surfing: several beaches are accessible by road but exposed to the full force of the Atlantic.
 * The Wild Atlantic Way is a coastal itinerary from Inishowen Peninsula at the north tip of the county to Kinsale in County Cork, 2500 km in all. There isn't a set route, so if you're near the coast you won't be wrong. It's up to you how many peninsulas and headlands you include, whether to visit any islands or veer inland for places such as Glenveagh and Gweedore.

Events

 * Donegal International Rally is an on-road car rally over 3 days in June, based in Letterkenny but touring the county. Dates and routes for 2022 are tba.
 * Earagail Arts Festival is held in July at various venues across the northwest of the county. The next is 9-24 July 2022.

Eat

 * Letterkenny has the widest choice of cuisines, but it's mostly cheap-and-cheerful.
 * Pub grub is often the best option in the villages, especially if there's a good view.
 * Seafood is a Donegal staple: Killybegs remains a busy fishing port.
 * For splurge fine dining, seek out the upmarket hotels.

Drink

 * Lots of pubs everywhere, often with trad music, but in 2020 and 2021 they were blighted by Covid, while those serving food could call themselves restaurants and stay open.
 * Hotel bars have higher prices but usually a better choice of food. They have extended hours only for residents, as Brendan Behan once uproariously demonstrated in the Highland Hotel in Aradara.
 * There's a micro-brewery in Letterkenny, a whiskey disillery in Crolly near Dungloe, and a gin distillery in Carrick towards Glencolmcille.

Sleep

 * Letterkenny as the largest town has mid-range business hotels.
 * Much accommodation is in small B&Bs. These were closed by covid in 2020 and 2021 because of the impracticality of distancing, and it remains to be seen how many will re-open in 2022.
 * Camping and caravan sites were similarly afflicted. Many sites around the coast are just static units on long-term lets, not available to campers or tourers. The good news is that a county badly lacking yurts now has them, for instance at Portsalon on the Fanad Peninsula.
 * Outstanding places are Millpark and Lough Eske Castle near Donegal Town, Rathmullen House and Frewin House on the Fanad Peninsula, Red Door in Buncrana, and Caisleáin Óir Hotel in Annagry near Dungloe.
 * Consider basing in Derry for exploring the north of Donegal.

Go next

 * East is the historic city of Derry. The County Londonderry coastline is scenic.
 * Continue east for the big attractions of the County Antrim coast: Bushmills, Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede and the Antrim glens.
 * Belfast is a fascinating destination and deserves 2 or 3 days to explore.
 * Southeast is County Fermanagh, with lake and river scenery around Enniskillen.
 * South you cross a thin strip of Leitrim, then the landscape becomes dramatic beneath Ben Bulben in County Sligo.

title: County Donegal


text:
County Down

County Down is one of the six counties of Ulster that comprise Northern Ireland. It contains part of Belfast, the capital and transport hub, so most visitors to the province are destined to pass through. It's worth taking the extra time to explore the Victorian resorts east along the coast, the religious centre of Downpatrick, and the scenic Mourne Mountains.

Cities and towns

 * is the lively capital of Northern Ireland, a mix of modern and Victorian that needs several days to explore. Most of it is in County Antrim, but the east-side County Down section is crucial: it includes the powerbase of Stormont, and the Titanic Quarter which re-launched the city as a tourist destination after 30 years of paramilitary conflict.
 * on the edge of Belfast has the Ulster Folk and Transport Museums.
 * a town on the coast, which used to be a resort.
 * has the Somme Heritage Centre. Down the Ards Peninsula is Mount Stewart House and Grey Abbey.
 * has a grand mansion, two ruined castles and a prehistoric tomb.
 * , believed to be the burial place of Saint Patrick, has a cathedral and ruined abbey.
 * is a seaside resort, and a good base for exploring the Mourne Mountains.
 * is split between the counties of Armagh and Down, with a town hall spanning the river between them. In the 1990s they discovered a medieval castle in a disused bakery. The Ring of Gullion rises to the west.
 * is mostly in County Antrim and is where the Irish linen industry was founded. It was also notorious during the Troubles as the site of Long Kesh / Maze / "H-blocks" prison.
 * is a village with Georgian architecture, including the residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
 * has the last remaining traditional Irish linen weaver in Ireland.

Other destinations

 * are Northern Ireland's highest peaks, dramatic and easily accessed for hill-walking.
 * is a 16 mile (26 km) sea inlet, named for the tide-race through the strait at its south end, where there's a ferry. It's dotted with islands, wetlands, and prehistoric and medieval sites. For those at its north end and on the Ards Peninsula, see Newtownards. For the south end see Strangford and Downpatrick.
 * were inhabited until their lighthouses were automated. They're now birdlife reserves, reached by boat trips from Donaghadee.

Understand
The Normans divided Ireland into shires or counties, but this had no effect on Ulster which remained ruled by Irish chieftains or petty kings right up to the 17th century. Then the Nine Years War deposed the last of the chieftains, who fled to the continent, their lands were seized, and the new southern overlords started making up for lost time. To prevent further rebellion Ulster was settled with loyal British subjects, mostly from Protestant Scotland. This was concentrated around Belfast and in the lowland areas of Counties Down, Antrim and Armagh, which developed industry - initially linen, later metal-bashing and other smokestack trades. The British monarch was Catholic until 1688, when Down was one of the first areas to rebel against the rule of James II - they were beaten at first, but reinforcements arrived and cemented the Protestant rule of William III. By the time of Irish independence in 1921, County Down was one of the six counties of Ulster that were predominantly Protestant and that remained within the United Kingdom in the entity called Northern Ireland.

In Irish a dún is a fort, usually on a hilltop, and the landscape is dotted with them. County Down took its name from its administrative seat at Dún Pádraig, Downpatrick, the fort or hill of St Patrick who is believed to be buried there. Belfast burgeoned as an industrial city, a seaside resort grew up at Bangor, Downpatrick stood in farmland amidst the drumlin or "basket of eggs" rolling country near Stangford Lough, while further south were rain-lashed mountains: see Mourne Mountains for how fire, mud and ice forged this region.

The county boundaries often follow rivers which divide towns: Belfast, Lisburn and Newry are all bisected. It was only a minor inconvenience, and Belfast was a self-governing metropolis. It also helped that County Down did not have a land border with the Republic, so it escaped the blight and banditry that afflicted Tyrone and Armagh. (At Carlingford Lough however it's separated only by a narrow sea channel, which facilitated the IRA's Warrenpoint massacre of 1979.) There were other problems with the county structure of Northern Ireland so in 2011 they were abolished as units of government. County Down is now divided into the districts of Belfast City, Ards and North Down, Newry Mourne and Down, and Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon which is mostly in County Armagh. None of this makes the slightest difference to visitors, the counties still make sense for planning itineraries, and these pages continue to reflect the previous structure.

English is the primary language, although the local rapid, hard accent can be a challenge to understand; it's quite unlike the lilt of other Irish accents. Very few in Down speak the Irish language. The language was actively suppressed by the British so over centuries it declined. There is now a revival of the language in the county, Irish Language Centres in both West Belfast and East Belfast and a number of Irish language primary schools.

Get in
Belfast is the transport hub, with two airports (City or George Best just east, with mostly UK flights, and International or Aldergrove 20 miles west, with European plus some UK flights), ferries from Stranraer, Birkenhead and the Isle of Man, trains from Dublin and Derry, and buses from Dublin and across Northern Ireland.

From the south the usual approach is to cross the border at Newry then follow A1. A scenic route into the Mourne Mountains is by the Carlingford Ferry across the opening of the lough east of Dundalk. See Newry for details.

Get around
Frequent trains run from Portadown and Lisburn across Belfast to Holywood and Bangor. The trains from Dublin also stop in Newry, as do some of the buses.

Most bus routes fan out from Belfast Europa bus station, which is next to Great Victoria Street railway station. However buses for Holywood, Bangor, Newtownards and Ards Peninsula (for Strangford) run from Laganside bus station, which is next to Lanyon Place railway station. At the tip of the peninsula, a ferry links Portaferry with Strangford.

It's a large county, and several places of interest are well out in the countryside, so you need a car.

A network of national cycleways crosses the county, though they're mostly on road.

See

 * Belfast needs several days to explore.
 * The Ulster Transport and Folk Museums are in Holywood.
 * The area's religious heritage is best seen at Downpatrick, where Saint Patrick himself is believed to be buried.
 * Stately mansions are dotted about: Hillsborough for an official powerbase, Mount Stewart at Newtownards for Victorian aristocracy, and Strangford for Game of Thrones.
 * Prehistoric monuments are found even near Belfast. The best example is at Castlewellan near Newcastle.
 * The Invisible Tree is in Rostrevor in the Mourne Mountains, but for obvious reasons it can't be depicted here.

Do

 * Mourne Mountains for hiking and climbing. Newcastle is the best base for exploring them.
 * Golf: the principal courses are Royal Belfast at Holywood, Royal County Down at Newcastle and Down Royal near Lisburn.
 * Watch Gaelic Games: the County GAA play Gaelic football and hurling at Páirc Esler in Newry. There are some 40 club teams across the county.

Eat

 * Belfast has the greatest range. The Great Room restaurant within Merchant Hotel is splurge surroundings for a mid-budget price.
 * Lisburn has Lithuanian fare at Baltic Coast.
 * Bangor and Newcastle have a good range; elsewhere seek out the bars and golfing hotels.

Drink

 * Crown Liquor Saloon in Belfast is a must-try, a gorgeous Victorian bar opposite Europa bus station.
 * There are breweries in Holywood and Lisburn.
 * Local whiskey: Echlinville Distillery, 10 miles south of Newtownards, has produced whiskey since 2016. No tours.
 * There are also micro-distilleries in Moira and Saintfield, both near Lisburn.
 * Next door County Antrim is a cider-producing region, look out for local products.

Go next

 * Belfast is the transport hub, so all of Northern Ireland, plus Dublin and the prehistoric complex of Brú Na Bóinne, is within a day trip.
 * County Antrim has scenic glens and a fine coastline - don't just rush to the touristy Giant's Causeway.
 * Armagh is the ecclesiastic capital of Ireland with two cathedrals and a prehistoric "fort" that was clearly religious not defensive.

title: County Down


text:
County Dublin

County Dublin (Contae Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a historic county surrounding Dublin city in the Republic of Ireland, with a population of 1.5 million in 2022. It was abolished as an administrative or political unit in 1994, with its territory allocated to four new entities. Nevertheless it still coheres as a destination for travellers, in two ways: for the city to escape to the surrounds, for instance to the seaside at Howth or the races at Leopardstown; and for visitors to stay here and day-trip into Dublin while avoiding the city's congestion and high prices.

Cities and towns
The former county now comprises the City of Dublin, the County of Fingal to the north, South County to the southwest, and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County on the south coast.

 * , Ireland's capital city, is a wonderful destination, packed with top museums, galleries, eating places . . . why even the jail is a must-see, as the nation's revolutionary patriots were to discover.

County Fingal lies to the north of the city.
 * is centre of this new county. Dublin Airport is here, plus a battered castle and blessed well.
 * is a prosperous place on the coast, which extends south into the beach resort of Portmarnock.
 * is a seaside resort; just offshore is the uninhabited "Ireland's Eye".
 * is a small commuter town.
 * is a small town with a notable church, Round Tower and (amazingly) a vineyard.
 * is a former fishing village, now a commuter town.
 * is at the north end of the county near Drogheda.

South County is actually to the southwest; it's modern commuterland (eg around Tallaght) and lacks historic townships and visitor attractions.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County to the south has:
 * is the former port, now a quiet seaside town with a large marina.
 * has Italian-style villas and a couple of Norman turrets, plus boat trips to Dalkey Island.
 * is a coastal town with the nearby University College Dublin as a "city-within-a-city" on Belfield Campus.

is just across the boundary in County Wicklow, but within the city's transport system.

Understand
County Dublin was at the centre of the historic Gaelic kingdom of Leinster, but its rivers, beaches and fertile hinterland attracted a series of visitors. The Vikings established a large settlement by what is now Dublin castle, on friendly terms with the Leinster kings, but their power was broken by the Munster man Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Next came the Normans, colonising the southwest and Leinster from the 12th century, and dividing the country into shires or counties. The Normans weakened in the 13th / 14th century and were ousted by the Gaels from much of Ireland, but they hung on in the area around Dublin behind their protective "Pale" - a palisade. The 16th century Tudors set about subduing the rest of the country, but "the Pale" had remained loyal and didn't suffer punitive wars. Dublin also fell swiftly to Cromwell so his atrocities were elsewhere, and King William marched in unopposed after the Battle of the Boyne. The county's fortunes rose and fell with that of the city, which became merely a regional centre under the thumb of the English Protestants, but developed industry and culture, and was at the crux of the "Troubles" leading to independence.

The city and county have a mild climate moderated by the Atlantic, so they are year-round destinations. It seldom snows or freezes hard; summers are cool, around 19°C (66°F) in July and August. The area is not particularly wet - its average annual rainfall of 732.7 mm (28.8 in) is less than London - but light showers are frequent. It's glorious when the sun shines but unless at some point in your trip you've spent 15 minutes sheltering under a shop awning on Grafton Street with cold rain dripping down your neck, wondering if it's too early to go the pub, you haven't really experienced Dublin.

Get in
is 10 km north of downtown Dublin, and has excellent connections across Europe and to North America. It's within the town of Swords near the M1 / M50 junction, so it's accessible for all road routes across Ireland, and many inter-city buses run to the airport.

Dublin Port has ferries from Liverpool, Holyhead on Anglesey Wales, and the Isle of Man. Ferries from Fishguard in Wales and Cherbourg in Normandy sail to Rosslare, with train connections to Dublin. The former port at Dún Laoghaire is no longer used. For touring the north, another ferry connection is from Cairnryan near Stranraer in Scotland to Belfast then drive or bus south.

Trains from all over Ireland converge on Dublin; commuter trains make edge-of-city stops so you may not have to go into central Dublin then travel out again. Trains from Sligo, Belfast, Drogheda and the coast south to Rosslare come into Connolly Station north of the river, as do DART local trains. Trains from Waterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Galway and Mayo come into Heuston 3 km west of the centre - allow 45 min if you need to change stations.

Get around
See Dublin for transport options including the Leap Card, valid for buses and DART trains across the county. Trains within this fare zone run from Dublin Connolly south along the coast to Dún Laoghaire, Greystones and Kilcoole, north along the coast to Howth, Malahide and Balbriggan, and inland to Drumcondra, Maynooth and Kilcock; and from Dublin Heuston they run west to Sallins and Naas.

Car rental: Dublin Airport has the best choice and rates. That's wrong side of the city for the south, so a city-centre rental might work better.

See

 * Castles include the imposing (Dublin), plush (Malahide, Newbridge) and scrappy (Swords, and Bremore in Balbriggan). Plus various mock-castellations, stumpy little turrets and redoubts, and the coast is dotted with Martello Towers built within sight of each other.
 * Cliffs and headlands rear up on the coast at Bray, Dalkey and Howth, with long miles of genteel promenade between.
 * Museums: best of all is the Archaeology section of the National Museum in Dublin. Best out of the city are the Maritime and the Joyce museums at Dún Laoghaire.

Do

 * Boat trips visit the nearby islands: Dalkey Island, Ireland's Eye off Howth, and Lambay Island off Skerries. You can also take a boat cruise between Howth and Dún Laoghaire.
 * Go to the races at Leopardstown, in the southern suburbs of Dublin. It has meetings all year, flat-racing in summer and jumps ("National Hunt") in winter.
 * Gaelic games: the County GAA play Gaelic football and hurling at Croke Park in Dublin. There are some 90 club teams across the historic county.
 * Golf courses ring the city.
 * St Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide and especially here; it's always on 17 March whenever that falls in the week. Many towns around the county have parades, and Dublin will stage a week-long event.
 * Flavours of Fingal agricultural show and food & drink fair is held at the end of June at Newbridge House in Donabate north of Swords.
 * Flower shows are held across the county mid-July through August, various venues.

Eat

 * Dublin as a cosmpolitan city has the widest choice, in all price brackets.
 * Nothing outstanding around the county, but lots of mid-range and cheap & cheerful options.

Drink

 * Dublin's Temple Bar is very touristy, with raucous hen parties staggering along the cobbles. Go a quarter mile further south or west to find pubs of real character and distinction.
 * Guinness is a Marmite thing, you like it or you don't, and there's no shame in not liking. Lots of other quality craft beers to try. Smithwicks and Kilkenny beers are nowadays made in Dublin and no longer in Kilkenny.
 * Jameson is the best-known distillery, but there are several more worth sampling within the city.
 * Dublin water was vastly improved in the 19th century by the Vartry reservoir scheme, as explained at length by Bloom in Joyce's Ulysess. It was boosted in the 20th by the Poulaphouca reservoir on the other flank of the Wicklow mountains. Sláinte!

Go next

 * South is County Wicklow, with a line of mountains, Powerscourt gardens, and an outstanding monastic complex in scenic Glendalough.
 * North is County Meath, with Drogheda, the Boyne battlefield, and Brú Na Bóinne Neolithic complex.
 * West is County Kildare, lowland country for fishing and horse-riding.

title: County Dublin


text:
County Durham

County Durham is a county in North East England with a population of 510,800. It's north of Yorkshire and south of Newcastle, astride the main north-south transport route. The east is mostly farmland, interspersed by former mining towns. Darlington near its southern edge is the main conurbation, but Durham is its main visitor attraction. The west is hilly, with sheep farms and remote moorlands.

Cities and towns

 * has a well-preserved ancient centre, with a Norman castle and cathedral, and a large university.
 * the largest settlement in the county was birthplace of the railways and always industrial.

Most of the county's other towns are between Durham and Darlington, in fertile low-lying country along the A1. Beneath them is the Great Northern Coalfield, mined since medieval times, stretching up into Northumbria. Hence the industry, the steam engines to pump those mines, and the railways to haul and consume the coals. The underground mines have all closed, leaving the towns to scratch what living they can from new trades.

The main towns along this stretch are, , and.

Other towns in the north of the county are:
 * is a small former mining town near the coast. Shotton Colliery must be the world's only coal mine converted for skydiving.
 * village, in, has an impressive outdoor museum.
 * has the county cricket ground, a sizeable park, and an old church.
 * , a pleasant coastal town with a seaside walk and beaches.

The western part of County Durham is in the Pennines, the long chain of hills that forms the backbone of England. There are lonely moors, and steep river valleys flowing out eastward, so the main road A68 follows a roller-coaster trajectory. Here are:
 * is a market town with the grandiose Bowes Museum.
 * is a former mining town on the northern edge of the county.
 * in a scenic valley, with High Force waterfall.
 * in Weardale is an old lead-mining town.

To the southeast, around the River Tees, is an industrial area which from 1974 to 1996 was a separate county, Cleveland. Then this was abolished, and its towns south of the Tees were re-assigned to North Yorkshire. (The assignation is notional since these towns are "unitary authorities", not governed by a County Council.) Towns to the north, re-assigned to County Durham, are:

 * : a post-industrial port, with an interesting dockyard museum.
 * straddles the Tees and includes the town of Billingham. It's industrial, but there's a southern rural district, Yarm, now considered part of North Yorkshire.

The same 1974 re-organisation also removed Sunderland from County Durham. It's now part of Tyne & Wear.

Understand

Within England, only County Durham contains the word "county" in its title (in the way many Irish counties do), because the powerful Norman "Prince Bishops" of Durham ruled it as a palatinate separate from the rest of England's counties. Originally it covered all the territory between the River Tees and the River Tyne, but over the centuries, and especially with modern changes to local government, it's been whittled down and continually re-organised. The name no longer precisely corresponds to a unit of local government, and probably the only two people who can say exactly where County Durham lies are the High Sheriff and Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant, whose ceremonial duties relate to an older map of the world.

None of this is of the slightest concern to any traveller not gussied up in alderman's ermine or dress military uniform. For present purposes, "County Durham" on this page includes the post-2009 districts of Durham County (sic), Darlington, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees. It doesn't include Sunderland to the north or Middlesbrough, Redcar or Yarm to the south.

Local information

 * County Durham Council website

Talk
Listen very carefully to the local language: you'll need to. First, believe it or not, it is English you're hearing. The minority populations and languages in this area are small: during the 20th century the county was shedding labour from mining and ship-building in an era when others (e.g., the textile towns) were drawing it in from UK and abroad. The only significant minority language is Polish, spoken by 1%.

The local English dialect is "Geordie", spoken in Durham, Newcastle and Northumbria; the word also means a resident of those areas. "Geordie" probably simply derives from "George", a very common name for a local coal-miner, and there used to be a miners' patois called "Pitmatic" or "Yakka" but it's almost died out. If you learn only one Geordie word, learn "Howay!", an all-purpose greeting, exclamation or warning.

But what makes Geordie a thing of fascination and wonder is that it is probably very close to English as spoken over thousand years ago, as it evolved from Anglo-Saxon. Read Beowulf and try to make sense of it, then have a local read it aloud in a heavy Geordie accent for a "Eureka!" moment. And attempts to translate the works of the Venerable Bede (8th century AD), who wrote in Latin, reveal that what he thought and dreamed in was Geordie. Howay, indeed!

By plane
has flights from London, Amsterdam, Paris and other west European cities. It's easy to reach, being on the metro.

Manchester Airport is some 150 miles south but has excellent global connections, competitive fares, and an hourly train service to Darlington, Durham and Newcastle.

near Darlington is closest but it only has flights from Aberdeen, Amsterdam and seasonal Med resorts. An hourly bus calls on its way between Darlington and Stockton.

By train

This county saw the world's first public railway, opened in 1825. The central spine of the county has excellent railway connections, being on the East Coast Main Line. Frequent fast trains come up from London Kings Cross via York to Darlington (2 hr 30 min) and Durham. They continue north to Chester-le-Street, Newcastle and Edinburgh. Other trains link Stockton, Middlesbrough and Sunderland. A branch line train runs hourly from Darlington to Newton Aycliffe, Shildon and Bishop Auckland (30 min).

By car
The main north-south highway is A1(M), which is 2-3 lane motorway throughout the county. Other major routes are the A66 trans-Pennine route (beware snow and ice in winter, and the road closes in bad conditions); A19 along the coast; and A68 along the Pennines to Corbridge and Edinburgh.

By bus
Darlington and Durham have National Express coach services to London Victoria and Leeds. Angel bus 21 runs from Durham to Newcastle.

Get around
The central spine of the county is well-served by public transport as described above. Local buses (run by Arriva) fan out from Durham and Darlington to the other small towns, serving a string of communities along a river valley, but they seldom venture cross-country over the moors. Especially in the west of the county, you'll need a car, or you'll need to enjoy stiff gradients on your bike.

See

 * Durham historic city needs a day or two to explore.
 * Darlington has a railway museum, the "Brick Train" sculpture, and city amenities such as the civic theatre.
 * Shildon south of Bishop Auckland has an even larger railway museum, "Locomotion".
 * Hamsterley Forest west of Bishop Auckland is a popular area for strolling and hiking.
 * Beamish has a wonderful outdoor museum showing life in a typical 19th-century Durham town.
 * High Force is a waterfall on the River Tees near Middleton-in-Teesdale. The whole upper Tees valley is scenic.

Do

 * Hike: the Pennine Way straggles along the crest between County Durham and Cumbria.
 * Watch a county or international test cricket match at Chester-le-Street.
 * Row on the river in Durham.
 * Sledge or ski in the winter: Weardale near Stanhope even has ski-lifts, and a whole 186 metres descent.

Eat
Parmo is the local version of Chicken Parmesan. Unlike the classic New York or Italian styles, here it's closer to a schnitzel on a pizza base, with breaded chicken, and béchamel instead of Parmesan sauce; sometimes pork is also used. It's classic post-pub food in the northeast, and is especially common in the parts of County Durham nearest Middlesbrough.

Drink
Darlington and Durham offer many drinking opportunities and cater for a wide variety of clientèle. Darlington notably has the chick Seen and Harvey's bars to the west of the town centre where the vast majority of customers are middle class students. Most people head to the nearby club "Inside Out" which on popular nights opens all three rooms and opens until 4am. There is also an 80s bar / small nightclub on Skinnergate and there are countless thriving bars and pubs around the town centre.

Sleep
There are large selections of youth hostels in the rural areas to the west, as well as luxury B&Bs and hotels. The towns feature hotels and B&Bs. Notably the Bannatyne hotel in Darlington which is a luxury hotel serving the region, and Rockliffe Hall in the very affluent village of Hurworth-on-Tees to the south of Darlington on the North Yorkshire border.

Stay safe
Keep your wits about you in Darlington town centre on a weekend night.

Beyond that, the hazards are mostly natural rather than man-made: the Pennines can experience cruel weather.

Go next
To the north is Newcastle, the attractive coastline of Northumberland and Berwickshire / East Lothian, then spectacular Edinburgh.

To the west is Cumbria and the Lake District.

To the south is the walled city of York, the craggy coastline of North Yorkshire, and charming genteel Ripon and Harrogate.

title: County Durham


text:
County Fermanagh

County Fermanagh (Contae Fhear Manach) is one of the six historic counties of Northern Ireland, tucked away on the province's western corner. These counties have been abolished and since 2015 the area has been governed within the larger Fermanagh and Omagh District. It's rural and thinly populated, with a population of 61,805 in 2011. The main reason to visit is for its extensive lakelands, which are linked by navigable waterways.

Towns

 * the principal town has a choice of castles: one functional, one palatial, and one in bits.
 * on the Irish border is near Florence Court and Marble Arch Caves.
 * on the border is best known for its pottery.
 * near Necarne Castle and Castle Archdale is a good base for exploring Lower Lough Erne.
 * is near Upper Lough Erne, with Crom Estate the highlight.

Understand
Fermanagh lies on sandstone and limestone so it's better drained and more fertile than much of Ireland, but it's very thinly populated. In legend the Fir Manach were settlers from Leinster, perhaps arriving in the 2nd century AD. It evolved into its own kingdom by the 11th century, and remained independent until 1607 as did Tyrone and Donegal. Then these last Irish kingdoms were crushed by the Nine Years' War, their rulers fled to the continent, and their lands were seized to be colonised by Scots and English.

The "Plantation" colonists were Protestant, bringing with them new farming methods and industries such as linen, and they were numerous in the east of Ulster. They were few in Fermanagh, which lacked transport and never developed much industry. Trade across the rest of Ireland was boosted by an ambitious network of canals, such as the Newry Canal to Lough Neagh. Ironically it was only in the 21st century that Fermanagh was connected, with the opening of the Shannon-Erne Waterway, so you can nowadays sail a small boat cross-country from Enniskillen to Limerick and Dublin.

Pressure for Irish independence mounted in the early 20th century but was furiously opposed by the Ulster Protestants, and so in 1921 it came to partition. 26 counties, including three historically in Ulster, joined the new "Free State" and later Republic of Ireland. County Fermanagh was among the other six that remained within the UK as Northern Ireland. But the border was a nonsense, dividing towns and sundering them from their hinterland - the area's railways were one casualty. Fermanagh forms a wedge between the three Ulster-but-republic counties of Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan. For 50 years it was a "hard" but not a hostile border, merely tedious to cross; then came "The Troubles" with long delays while documents and travellers were suspiciously checked, and vehicles were searched for guns or ammo. Some 112 people were killed in the county during The Troubles.

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 enshrined an open, unpatrolled border, as trivial to cross as any county boundary. This looked doomed to be just another short-lived peace initiative when Omagh suffered a terrible bombing, but twenty years on the agreement has held. Strife-torn places in Ulster re-opened for business and re-launched themselves for tourism, and in Fermanagh the big practical and symbolic step was the completion of the Shannon-Erne Waterway. For several miles this forms the border, yet you can fish or boat along it at liberty. But since the UK left the European Union, those canal banks and reedy lake inlets have become the EU border, and there's anxiety about where this might lead.

Get in
See Belfast for long-distance travel options. The principal airports in Northern Ireland are Belfast International and George Best Belfast City, both a two-hour drive away. City of Derry Airport is slightly closer, with a limited range of flights from Great Britain.

Dublin Airport is about 2 hr 30 min to drive; it has the best range of flights with competitive fares. Check the rules on cross-border driving, which changed in 2021.

There are ferries from Great Britain to Belfast, Larne and Dublin.

Enniskillen has buses from Belfast, Dublin, Sligo and Donegal.

Get around
Enniskillen is the county transport hub, with buses from Belfast, Dublin, Sligo and Donegal, so anywhere along those transport corridors (such as Belcoo) has a reasonable service. Anywhere else has little or no public transport, you need your own wheels. Car hire in Enniskillen is possible but you'll do better to hire from your arrival airport. "Drive on the left!" they warn you, but have you seen the width of the back lanes hereabouts?

A network of national cycleways crosses the county, though they're mostly on road.

See

 * Castles: choose from the sternly functional (Enniskillen Castle became a barracks), the tumbledown (such as Necarne and Archdale at Irvinestown), and the decorative (such as Castle Coole in Enniskillen), and make-overs such as Crom near Lisnaskea.
 * Shabby abbeys: all the religious foundations were broken by the Dissolution circa 1540, but some continued as parish churches and graveyards. These include Aghalurcher near Lisnaskrea, and Devenish Island reached from Trory near Enniskillen.
 * Karst and caves: southwest along the border near Belcoo is limestone country, with Burren Park above ground and Marble Arch Caves below.
 * , also known as Colooney salient, is a pene-enclave: a portion of the Republic of Ireland almost cut off from the rest of that country, as it's surrounded by two arms of County Fermanagh. So its 100 inhabitants have to enter Northern Ireland to get anywhere, or ford a 110 m stretch of river. Likewise the east arm of Fermanagh ends in a claw with a pene-enclave almost surrounded by the Republic; it's much smaller and has a longer stretch of river from which to pick your fording point. None of this mattered while Fermanagh / Monaghan was simply a county boundary, but from 1921 it became a "hard" border when Ireland was partitioned, and during the "Troubles" from 1970 it became dangerous as it was difficult to patrol. Since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement it's again just been a trivial county line; but since 2021, anyone driving along the main road from Clones towards Cavan crosses the border of the European Union four times. Drummully is thus the most acute example of a problem that now hangs over all the border counties, and especially these two.

Do

 * What's on? Listen to Q Radio on 101.2 / 102.1 FM or read Fermanagh Herald or Impartial Reporter.
 * Boating: trips and hire are mostly from Enniskillen and marinas on the lower lough. There's less on the upper lough, though its many islets make it more sheltered - the lower lough is open and aligned with the prevailing breeze, so the waves can really mount up.
 * Gaelic games: Fermanagh GAA play football and hurling at Brewster Park in Enniskillen. There are about 20 GAA clubs across the county.
 * Caves: beyond the show caves of Marble Arch lies an extensive system for suitably skilled cavers to explore. They're often flooded, all that rainfall has to go somewhere.

Buy
Pounds sterling (£) are official currency, but many retailers accept Euro notes though not coins.

Eat

 * Bar meals and the better hotels are always your go-to.
 * Watermill Restaurant is a highly-rated thatched establishment on Upper Lough Erne near Lisnaskrea.
 * Just for a change, Dollakis in Enniskillen is Greek.

Drink

 * Holy water: Near Belcoo is a holy well consecrated by St Patrick wherein are miracles yearly wrought upon devout persons by performing their stations with true devotion are often restored to sight and limb and of other distempers by virtue of ye said water and by ye grace of God - travel guide of 1718, possibly in need of updating.
 * Enniskillen has the best choice of pubs.
 * Sheelin Brewery is 5 km south of Enniskillen. No tours.

Sleep

 * Camp in style at Castle Archdale by Irvinestown.
 * Fermanagh doesn't have chain hotels and the mainstay of local accommodation is B&B, but these mostly didn't open in 2020 or 2021.
 * Splurge places include Belle Isle and Knockninny near Lisnacrea, and Lusty Beg near Irvinestown.

Stay safe

 * Your main hazard is always traffic, and never underestimate the local waters. Beyond that it's about protecting your valuables, eg in parked cars.

Go next

 * Northeast to County Tyrone, where the Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh depicts the emigrant experience.
 * Northwest to County Donegal, with miles of scenic coastline along the Wild Atlantic Way.
 * Southwest to County Leitrim and the upper reaches of the River Shannon.
 * Further west to County Sligo, with the cloud-wreathed scarps, prehistoric sites and legends that inspired WB Yeats.
 * South to County Cavan, the heart of the drumlin belt, with lakes studded with dozens of islets.

title: County Fermanagh