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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Ireland. Where's nice?

42 replies

HecateHarshPants · 05/07/2012 09:06

Done England, Scotland and Wales. Now we want to do Ireland. I wonder which is nicer, Northern Ireland or Eire (hope I have the two names right, I know many Irish people feel strongly)

What would you recommend?

Am really looking for self catering cottage, preferably with a pool, but I'm flexible on that. But must be a really lovely area with fun for the children.

OP posts:
annelid · 06/07/2012 23:04

HecateHarshPants - we have booked our cottages through this site www.hogansirishcottages.com/

Maryz - thanks for that link to the other thread

Maryz · 06/07/2012 23:29

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SummerRain · 06/07/2012 23:44

We had a week of blasting heat in march, then one in april and a couple of days in June. Other than that it's been pissing down so me and the kids are patchily tanned and soaked to the skin Hmm

It's bound to dry out at some point though right?

Maryz · 06/07/2012 23:48

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MrsCobbit · 07/07/2012 00:14

Another vote for Achill! And Galway is super as well

SummerRain · 07/07/2012 00:19

Good god, I'll have a house full of teenagers in 2020..... what good will it do me then? I need dryness now so they can fecking well go outside and play (in the fucking countryside we went to great lengths to move to) without drowning!

Maryz · 07/07/2012 00:19

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cocolepew · 07/07/2012 00:20

My house is nice but could do with a dust.

Otherwise the Antrim coast or Enniskillen. Connemara is gorgeous but Ive only ever drove through it!

igggi · 07/07/2012 00:24

Bit concerned that after a week in a cottage in one location you are going to say you have "done" Ireland too!

chipmonkey · 07/07/2012 01:09

No need to split hairs, igggi! We have "done" England twice in the last few years but it doesn't mean we're done with England. We will definitely be going back at some stage.

Hecate, my favourite places in Ireland are:
1/ Cork. There are lots of lovely towns and the food, IMO, is far superior to what you would find in Dublin.
2/ Wexford. Slightly biased as my Mum lives there but the beaches are lovely, particularly Curracloe, Duncannon and Rosslare Strand. The advantage also is that you can get a ferry from Wales to Rosslare so not too much driving afterwards.
3/ Fermanagh: The lakes are beautiful.
4/ Donegal. Knockalla beach is probably the best I have ever been on.
5/ Galway. The Maam Valley has breathtaking mountainous scenery.
6/ Kerry, the ring of Kerry is so very beautiful

A place we have holidayed in ourselves is Trabolgan Now, I don't want to say that it's the best place ever. It tries to sell itself as Center Parcs but really it's more like Butlins/Pontins but with more trees! However they do have a pool ( it's smaller than that picture would suggest) and loads of activities for kids. Ds2 did abseiling and zipwiring, ds3 did paddle-boating on a little pool and mini-karting and we didn't see ds1 for the whole trip.We had a cottage with a dishwasher/washing machine etc. It was also a good base from which to explore Cork, we went to Fota Wildlife Park one day, to a beach another day.

But if that wasn't your thing, cottages in the grounds of hotels are often very nice. My neighbour has stayed here in these self catering cottages near Bunratty Castle. There is a mediaeval folk park in the grounds of Bunratty Castle and they hold Mediaeval banquets in the Castle itself. No pool though! Or I can't see one on the site.

PipinJo · 07/07/2012 10:44

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HecateHarshPants · 08/07/2012 15:52

done as in been to. Had a holiday in. Not done as in seen everything there is to see and no need to ever go back in my life.

Bloody hell. Grin

OP posts:
HecateHarshPants · 08/07/2012 15:59

ah. questions.

where will we start out - haven't got a clue! I have some vague idea about taking a ferry Grin

Stay - a week

children - 11 & 13

Spend - flexible

Drive - both of us drive and we're quite happy to drive a fair way. (we used to do 40 miles a day on school runs and the nearest supermarket is a 20 mile round trip, so we're well used to it Grin )

OP posts:
totallypearshaped · 08/07/2012 16:16

With the euro exchange rate, you'd be better off in the South. I mean Antrim's OK - the Glens and the Giant's causeway, but there it is, on the far North, with all the rest of the quite heavily populated North to travel through before you see anything nice again.

I'd head to the South, and to the West.
Also I'd forget totally about a pool - if it stops raining you can go swimming in the freezing sea - or even if it's raining - it's all water after all.

Surfing schools are fabulous for the kids as they have wetsuits as well. We love the one in Fanore, Fanore Surf School, in Co Clare on the west coast, a little bit south of Galway city.

Ireland is a place to slow down, not gad about looking at the sights: you may find the pace a bit slow in one place for two weeks so I'd advise two places.

Galway is lovely and has an arts festival at the moment
and Cork is warm - think Devon in temperatures.

Donegal is wild and coldish
Mayo is like a deserted Lake District.
Waterford is dryer (ish) Wexford like Somerset.

Basically the weather is shite, rain rain and more rain, but you don't come to Ireland for the sunshine.

Kick back and spend some time with yourselves. Bring some cards and board games! Enjoy the scenery and look for some workshops / arts and crafts things to do. Lots of horse riding too, especially in Sligo (Sligo equestrian centre), again west and north a little bit of Galway.

For accommodation have a look at Special Places to Stay, and the Irish Tourist Board's website: Discover Ireland.

Have fun!

chipmonkey · 08/07/2012 16:19

You can ferry to Dublin, Wexford and Cork.
Possibly depends on whether you prefer ferries to driving!

zaphod · 08/07/2012 16:29

Try dreamireland.ie for a holiday cottage. We try to do the hotel with houses thing as there is the pool. Last year we went to Carlow, which was nice enough, especially as the weather was better than it had been here (galway/mayo) all summer. But my favourite spot is Mulranney in Mayo. Think the houses are already booked though, but worth trying.

glastocat · 08/07/2012 16:36

The north Antrim coast is fab ( I'm from there too) but I much prefer West Cork. And be prepared for rain,it's been pishing it down for months. As for a pool, your best bet is a holiday cottage in hotel grounds as others have said, there not much call for pools in this climate. Beara peninsula is much nicer than the ring of Kerry, and virtually tourist free.

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