Hi,
A little background on me. I'm a recently retired 65 year old married male that loves to play golf on vacations. My wife and I took our first overseas trip this past spring. I was able to play golf in St Andrews. We loved every aspect of that trip and as soon we got back I was trying to figure how to go back.
My wife doesn't play golf but gave me the ok to go solo if I wanted to. We've worked for years to do things like this so she was all for it.
I did all this trip planning on my own the past few weeks and am a week away from leaving. I love all the tips and suggestions I get from this site. So I was hoping to get a few before I leave on August 7th.
I am looking for suggestions on places to eat or pubs to visit in some of the towns I'm visiting.
I am going to start in Dublin and will be driving around in a counter clockwise circle over 20 days trying to golf and see all the top sites.
I am calling it my Ireland Front 9. I am going to try to play nine different courses all around Ireland.
Here is my itinerary.
August 8th - 11th (No golf these days)
Arrive in Dublin around noon.
Take a taxi from airport to center city. I'm taking a cab because I don't want to rent a car while visiting Dublin and I have to haul around my golf clubs along with my backpack.
Thursday afternoon when I arrive I have a ticket to Kilmainham Gaol. Then dinner and some sleep.
Friday I plan on touring around Dublin doing the a lot of basic tourist tour stuff. I also purchased a dinner and pub crawl tour RS suggests for that evening.
Saturday I have a tour booked to go Bru na Boinne and Newgrange. This is an all day tour. When I return that night I'm thinking of just hitting pubs before leaving in the morning to North Ireland town of Portstewart.
August 11th - 14th
Sunday I am picking up a rental car (Thrifty) Sunday morning in the Dublin center city area.
Then driving to Portstewart in North Ireland. (3.5 hrs?)
Plan to play first round of golf at Portstewart that afternoon .
Monday plan to play 2nd round of golf at Ballyliffin. (1.5 hrs from Portstewart)
Tuesday plan on visiting Giants Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede Bridge and Bush mills.
August 14th.
Wednesday I leave Portstewart to Standhil/Sligo area (3hrs?) where I play round 3 at Strandhill Golf Course, weather permitting. If the weather is bad I plan to visit the town or Sligo or Donegal.
August 15th - 17th.
Thursday I leave Strandhill and drive to Belmullet (2 hrs) with a stop for round 4 at Enniscrorne.
Friday I play round 5 at Carne Golf Course.
August 18th - 19th.
Saturday I plan on driving from Belmullet to Galway with a stop in Westport for lunch. Then explore Galway after check in. Galway Saturday night pub crawl. (No golf planned today but there is a course in Westport and if the weather is nice?)
Sunday I have a Falcon Walk scheduled at the Ashford Castle. (No golf planned today)
August 20th - 21st
Monday I plan to drive from Galway to Ennistimon because I couldn't get a room in Doolin where I wanted to go. So I plan to go to Doolin in the afternoon then go see the Cliffs around sunset before returning to either Doolin or Ennistimon that evening. (No golf planned today)
Tuesday I plan on taking a bike tour on one of the Aran Islands. I plan on returning to Ennistimon before heading to Ballybunion. The room in Ennistimon had a two day minimum but I have a tee time and need to be in Ballybunion the next morning. So I plan on going to Ballybunion via the ferry on Tuesday after the Island tour.
Posted by
Upstate NY
36 posts
Dining in Dublin - I love Vintage Kitchen. Fantastic food and great playlist. They offer lunch a few days a week, but I’ve only been for dinner. Absolutely lovely. Music at The Conblestone.
For Galway - there are two places I always try to hit - Cava Bodega (tapas) and Il Vicolo (Italian in a beautiful old mill). Music nightly at The Crane.
Posted by
OP
74 posts
August 20th
I plan on staying in Ballybunion for a round of golf the next day.
August 21st-23rd
Wednesday I plan to play round 5 at Ballybunion before driving to Ballyferriter on the Dingle Peninsula for three nights.
Thursday I plan to play round 6 at CeannSibel Golf course in the morning then driving to Dingle for afternoon pub walk.
Friday I plan to play round 7 at Dooks Golf Course in the morning then drive part of the ring of Kerry down to the Cliffs before returning to Ballyferriter for the night.
August 24th - 25th
Saturday I plan on driving from Ballferriter to Kinsale for two nights. I plan to visit Muckross House and the other things in the area of the drive. (No golf planned today)
Sunday i hope to take the walking tour that RS suggests and get in golf round 8 in at the Cork Golf Club.
August 26th
Monday I plan on leaving Kinsale and going to Kilkenny via the Rock of Cashel. Stay in and visit sites in Kilkenny.
August 27th
This is my last day in Ireland. I plan to splurge the last day and stay at the Portmarnoch Resort $$$$ with round 9 planned at the Portmarnoch Golf Course $$$$ .
I leave Ireland on August 28th.
So here is what I have planned. I'm I missing anything?
Any suggestions on pubs or restaurants?
Any stops must I make?
Thanks everyone.
Posted by
1583 posts
Sounds like a great trip and I hope it's as enjoyable as it sounds. I can only make one suggestion and that's for Finn's Farmcut in Kinsale. Wonderful small restaurant for which reservations are a must. https://www.finnsfarmcut.com/. While in Kinsale you might also take a peak at Old Head and it's golf course. I don't know anything about golf but it looks like a beautiful setting if nothing else.
Posted by
OP
74 posts
Thanks for the suggestions on dinner. I think Italian sounds perfect after a week in Ireland.
Finns looks magnificent. On line says I have to call though to see if they can fit me in. They are closed on Sundays.
Old Head is a top course in Ireland for sure. But it's $$$$$ compared to Cork GC at $$$. Maybe next time on that one for sure.