plan 1 your trip - lonely planetmedia.lonelyplanet.com/shop/pdfs/ireland-10-contents.pdf• the...
TRANSCRIPT
PLAN YOUR TRIP
Welcome to Ireland ......... 221 Top Experiences ......... 6Need to Know .................. 16First Time ......................... 18What’s New ...................... 20If You Like ......................... 21Month by Month .............. 24Itineraries ......................... 28Great Outdoors ............... 33At the Irish Table ............. 41Regions at a Glance ........ 46
YOUR PLANNING TOOL KIT
Photos, itineraries, lists and suggestions
to help you put together your perfect trip
UNDERSTAND IRELAND
Ireland Today ................... 692History .............................. 694Irish Way of Life ............... 708Music ................................ 712Literary Ireland ................ 715Irish Landscapes ............. 718Sporting Ireland .............. 722
and
d
87 would be White Irish 1 would be Mixed7 would be White Other 2 would be Unspecifie2 would be Asian 1 would be Black
if Ireland were100 people
10,000–8000 BC
After the last ice age ends, humans arrive
in Ireland during the mesolithic era,
originally crossing a land bridge between
Scotland and Ireland. Few archaeological
traces remain of this group.
450The rst N
farmers Ireland by bo
as far a eIberian pe
bringing cattland crops, the beginnsettled agr
ec
eventually resulting in a full union in 180blessed with its rich Geor ian herita e, amuch in evidence in the capital today
Ireland – or at least most of it – nallywith six counties of Ulster holdin rmcrown. At the turn of the millennium Irelbut very much at peace with itself.
You’ll nd evidence of Ireland’s rich h
31-history-ire-10.indd 694 13/09/2011 10:26:22 AM
Ireland of the Postcard Yes, it exists. Along the peninsulas of the southwest, the brooding loneliness of Connemara and the dramatic wildness of County Donegal. You’ll also nd it in the lakelands of Counties Leitrim and Roscom-mon and the undulating hills of the sunny southeast (‘sunny’ of course being a relative term). Ireland has modernised dramatical-ly, but some things never change. Brave the raging Atlantic on a crossing to Skellig Mi-
Tread Carefully… …for you tread on history. Everywhego Ireland’s history presents itself, frbreathtaking monuments of prehIreland at Brú na Bóinne to the fabulins of Ireland’s rich monastic past adalough and Clonmacnoise. More history is visible in the famine museCobh to the interactive displays of VHill in County Wexford. And there’s so young that it’s still considered th
welcome to Ireland
01-welcome-ire-10.indd 2 13/09/2011 3:35:03 PM
“All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!”TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET
PAGE
1
PAGE
691GET MORE FROM YOUR TRIP
Learn about the big picture, so you
can make sense of what you see
Dublin Museums Entertainment History
plenty of choice when deciding where to enjoa pint of Dublin’s mostcelebrated produce. Bubeyond Guinness and chatter there is theatreand new, concerts nefrenzied, and all mannsporting distractions, fan afternoon in the cotry’s largest stadium tonight at the dogs – witdinner and betting slipserved at your table.
History Virtually every Dublinstreet is lined with moments to its storied history, from the cobbled grounds of Trinity Coll
#_
regions at a glance
11-regions-at-a-glance-ire-10.indd 46 12/09/2011 4:26:48 PM
Know CURRENCY » Euro (€) – Republic
of Ireland
» Pound Sterling (£) Northern Ireland
When to Go
#
#
#
#
#
Warm to hot summers,mild winters
GalwayGO May-Sep
CorkGO May-Sep
KerryGO May-Sep
DublinGO any time lots of indoor attractions
BelfastGO May-Sep
04-need-to-know-ire-10.indd 16 25/08/2011 4:05:20 PM
Tracing Your Roots Roughly 80 million people worldwide can claim to be part of, or descended from, the Irish diaspora, with about 41 million of those in the US alone Most ma-
Literary Corners Four Nobel laureates for literature are just the higlight of a rich literary tration. Ireland is one of theEnglish-speaking world’smost notable heavyweigh
06-if-you-like-ire-10.indd 19 24/08/2011 2:49:22 PM
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PHRASEBOOK
ireland-10-cover.indd 2ireland-10-cover.indd 2 22/09/2011 3:13:00 PM22/09/2011 3:13:00 PM
©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY
Fionn Davenport, Catherine Le Nevez, Etain O’Carroll,
Ryan Ver Berkmoes, Neil Wilson
#
#
_
_
Donegalp460
Fermanagh& Tyrone
p671
Mayo & Sligop425
The Midlandsp499
Galwayp382
Clarep345
Limerick &Tipperary
p319
Kerryp270 Cork
p221
Wexford, Waterford,Carlow & Kilkenny
p165
Wicklow& Kildare
p136
Meath, Louth,Cavan &
Monaghanp531
Down & Armaghp605
Derry & Antrimp634
Dublinp54
Belfastp568
YOUR COMPLETE DESTINATION GUIDE
In-depth reviews, detailed listings
and insider tips
SURVIVAL GUIDE
Directory A–Z .................. 726Transport ......................... 734Language ......................... 740Index ................................. 750Map Legend ..................... 766
VITAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION TO
HELP YOU HAVE A SMOOTH TRIP
ON THE ROAD
Irish (Gaeilge) is the country’s o cial language. In 2003 the government introduced the O cial Languages Act, whereby all o cial documents, street signs and o cial titles must be either in Irish or in both Irish and English. Despite its o -cial status, Irish is really only spoken in pockets of rural Ireland known as the Gaeltacht, the main ones being Cork (Dún na nGall), Galway arraí) and Mayo (Maigh Eo).
Ask people outside the n speak Irish and nine out of 10 of them
probably reply, and they generally mean it. Irish is a
y subject in schools for those aged sh classes have traditionally
c and unimaginative,
Irish (in Cork, Kerry and WaIrish (in Donegal). The blue guidelines given here are anof modern standard Irish, wan amalgam of the three – if they were English, you’ll point across in Gaeilge withthink about the speci cs oor spelling.
BASICSD
(reply) Good m
Language
PAGE
52
PAGE
725
Look out for these icons:
o Our author’s recommendation S A green or
sustainable option F No payment required
DUBLIN . . . . . . . . . . . . 54AROUND DUBLIN . . . . . . . 132
COUNTIES WICKLOW & KILDARE . . . . . . . . . 136COUNTY WICKLOW . . . . . . 137Wicklow Mountains . . . . . . 137The Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152COUNTY KILDARE . . . . . . 157Kildare Town . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
COUNTIES WEXFORD, WATERFORD, CARLOW & KILKENNY . . . . . . . 165COUNTY WEXFORD . . . . . 168Wexford Town . . . . . . . . . . . 168New Ross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Enniscorthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179COUNTY WATERFORD . . . 182Waterford City . . . . . . . . . . 182Dungarvan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Ring Peninsula . . . . . . . . . . 193COUNTY CARLOW . . . . . . 198Carlow Town . . . . . . . . . . . . 198COUNTY KILKENNY . . . . . 203Kilkenny City . . . . . . . . . . . 203
COUNTY CORK . . . . . 221CORK CITY . . . . . . . . . . . . 223Blarney Castle . . . . . . . . . .234WESTERN CORK . . . . . . . . 239Kinsale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239Clonakilty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246MIZEN HEAD PENINSULA . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
SHEEP’S HEAD PENINSULA . . . . . . . . . . . . 263BEARA PENINSULA (RING OF BEARA) . . . . . . 264NORTHERN CORK . . . . . . 269Mallow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269
COUNTY KERRY . . . . 270KILLARNEY . . . . . . . . . . . . 272Killarney National Park . . .278RING OF KERRY . . . . . . . . 284Killorglin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285Skellig Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . .292Kenmare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .295DINGLE PENINSULA . . . . 297Dingle Town . . . . . . . . . . . . 299NORTHERN KERRY . . . . . 312Tralee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312Listowel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
COUNTIES LIMERICK & TIPPERARY . . . . . . 319COUNTY LIMERICK . . . . . 322Limerick City . . . . . . . . . . . .322Adare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331COUNTY TIPPERARY . . . . 333Tipperary Town . . . . . . . . . .333Glen of Aherlow & Galtee Mountains . . . . . . . 334Cashel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .335
COUNTY CLARE . . . .345ENNIS & AROUND . . . . . . 347EASTERN & SOUTHEASTERN CLARE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
SOUTHWESTERN & WESTERN CLARE . . . . . . . 360Kilkee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .362Ennistymon . . . . . . . . . . . . .367Cliffs of Moher . . . . . . . . . 368THE BURREN . . . . . . . . . . 369Doolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
COUNTY GALWAY . . .382GALWAY CITY . . . . . . . . . . . 384ARAN ISLANDS . . . . . . . . 399CONNEMARA . . . . . . . . . . 410Lough Corrib . . . . . . . . . . . . 412Clifden & Around . . . . . . . . 415SOUTH OF GALWAY CITY . . . . . . . . . . 421EASTERN GALWAY . . . . . . 422Athenry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .422
COUNTIES MAYO & SLIGO . . . . .425COUNTY MAYO . . . . . . . . . 428Cong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428Croagh Patrick . . . . . . . . . .432Westport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .432Achill Island . . . . . . . . . . . . .437COUNTY SLIGO . . . . . . . . 447Sligo Town . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
COUNTY DONEGAL. . . . . . . . . 460DONEGAL TOWN . . . . . . . 461AROUND DONEGAL TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465Bundoran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .467
On the Road
See the Index for a full list of destinations covered in this book.
SOUTHWESTERN DONEGAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471Glencolumbcille & Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474Ardara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .475Loughrea Peninsula . . . . . .477NORTHWESTERN DONEGAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477Dungloe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .478Arranmore Island . . . . . . . .479Bloody Foreland . . . . . . . . . 481Tory Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481Dunfanaghy & Around . . . 483EASTERN DONEGAL . . . . 486Letterkenny . . . . . . . . . . . . 486Glenveagh National Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .487NORTHEASTERN DONEGAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489Fanad Peninsula . . . . . . . . 490Inishowen Peninsula . . . . . 491Buncrana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .492Malin Head . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
THE MIDLANDS . . . .499COUNTY LAOIS . . . . . . . . . 501Abbeyleix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .501Slieve Bloom Mountains . . .502COUNTY OFFALY . . . . . . . 505Birr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505Clonmacnoise . . . . . . . . . . 509Tullamore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512COUNTY ROSCOMMON . . . 514Roscommon Town . . . . . . . 517COUNTY LEITRIM . . . . . . . 519Carrick-on-Shannon . . . . . 519
COUNTY LONGFORD . . . . 524COUNTY WESTMEATH . . . .524Athlone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524Mullingar & Around . . . . . .527
COUNTIES MEATH, LOUTH, CAVAN & MONAGHAN . . . . . . . 531COUNTY MEATH . . . . . . . . 534Brú na Bóinne . . . . . . . . . . .534Battle of Boyne Site. . . . . .537Slane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .538Tara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .539Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .542Kells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .545Loughcrew Cairns . . . . . . 546COUNTY LOUTH . . . . . . . . 547Drogheda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .547Dundalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .556Cooley Peninsula . . . . . . . .557COUNTY CAVAN . . . . . . . . 559Cavan Town . . . . . . . . . . . . 560COUNTY MONAGHAN . . . 563Monaghan Town . . . . . . . . 564Carrickmacross & Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
BELFAST . . . . . . . . . .568BELFAST CITY . . . . . . . . . . 570AROUND BELFAST . . . . . . 604
COUNTIES DOWN & ARMAGH . . . . . . . . . .605COUNTY DOWN . . . . . . . . 607Bangor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
Ards Peninsula . . . . . . . . . . 611Strangford Lough . . . . . . . . 614Downpatrick . . . . . . . . . . . . 618Mourne Mountains . . . . . . .623Mournes Coast Road . . . . .625Newry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626COUNTY ARMAGH . . . . . . 627South Armagh . . . . . . . . . 627Armagh City . . . . . . . . . . . 629
COUNTIES DERRY & ANTRIM . . . . . . . . . . .634COUNTY DERRY . . . . . . . . 635Derry/Londonderry . . . . . .635Coastal County Derry . . . 650Coleraine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651Portstewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651COUNTY ANTRIM . . . . . . . 653Portrush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .653Bushmills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .657Giant’s Causeway . . . . . . . 658Ballycastle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660Rathlin Island . . . . . . . . . . 663Glens of Antrim . . . . . . . . 664Carrickfergus . . . . . . . . . . 668
COUNTIES FERMANAGH & TYRONE . . . . . . . . . 671COUNTY FERMANAGH . . 673Enniskillen . . . . . . . . . . . . . .673Upper Lough Erne . . . . . . .677Lower Lough Erne . . . . . . .679COUNTY TYRONE. . . . . . . 686Omagh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686Sperrin Mountains . . . . . . .687
333
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Ryan Ver Berkmoes Counties Clare, Galway and Wexford From Galway to Wexford, with plenty of de-lights in between, Ryan Ver Berkmoes has delighted in the great swath of Ireland. He fi rst visited Galway in 1985 when he remembers a grey place where the locals wandered the muddy tidal fl ats for fun and frolic. Times have changed! From lost rural pubs to lost memory, he’s revelled in a place where his fi rst name brings a smile and his surname brings a ‘huh?’ Follow him at ryanverberkmoes.com
Neil Wilson Belfast, Counties Down & Armagh, Derry & Antrim and Fermanagh & Tyrone Neil’s fi rst visit to Northern Ireland was in 1994, during the fi rst fl ush of post-ceasefi re optimism, and his interest in the history and politics of the place inten-sifi ed a few years later when he found out that most of his mum’s ancestors were from Ulster. Working on recent editions of the Ireland guidebook has allowed him to witness fi rst hand the progress being made towards a lasting peace, as well as
enjoying some excellent hiking and biking in the Ring of Gullion and the Mourne Mountains. Neil is a full-time travel writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has written more than 50 guidebooks for half a dozen publishers.
Read more about Neil at:lonelyplanet.com/members/neilwilson
Read more about Ryan at:lonelyplanet.com/members/ryanverberkmoes
OUR STORYA beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their fi rst travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born.
Today, Lonely Planet has offi ces in Melbourne, London and Oakland, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’.
Fionn Davenport Coordinating author Counties Dublin, Wicklow and Cork Despite its myriad economic problems, Ireland has proven itself to be undaunted, beautiful and just as bloody interesting as it ever was. Fionn suspected as much, but he needed to traipse through his hometown of Dublin and explore the wilds of west Cork to have it confi rmed in spades.
Catherine Le Nevez Counties Kerry, Limerick & Tipperary and Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan Catherine’s wanderlust kicked in when she roadtripped across Europe aged four and she’s been hitting the road at every opportunity since, completing her Doc-torate of Creative Arts in Writing, Masters in Professional Writing, and post-grad qualifi cations in Editing and Publishing along the way. With Celtic connections including Irish and Breton heritage (and a love of Guinness!), Catherine’s trav-
elled throughout every county in the emerald isle, and has covered 20 of them for Lonely Planet, including several editions of this book.
Etain O’Carroll The Midlands; Counties Mayo & Sligo and Donegal Born and bred in the boggy hinterland of the Irish midlands, Etain made the great escape to become a travel writer and photographer but despite criss-crossing the globe somehow the lure of the old sod never quite went away. She now writes about her homeland for a variety of publications and has worked on several editions of Lonely Planet Ireland. Savouring pristine beaches and remote pubs was one of the sheer joys of
research for this edition.Read more about Etain at:
lonelyplanet.com/members/etainocarroll
OUR WRITERS
Although the authors and Lonely Planet have taken all reason-able care in preparing this book, we make no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of its content and, to the maxi-mum extent permitted, disclaim all liability arising from its use.
Published by Lonely Planet Publications Pty LtdABN 36 005 607 98310th edition – Jan 2012ISBN 978 1 74179 824 1© Lonely Planet 2012 Photographs © as indicated 201210 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Printed in ChinaAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, and no part of this publication may be sold or hired, without the written permission of the publisher. Lonely Planet and the Lonely Planet logo are trademarks of Lonely Planet and are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Lonely Planet does not allow its name or logo to be appropriated by commercial establishments, such as retailers, restaurants or hotels. Please let us know of any misuses: lonelyplanet.com/ip.
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