Heading to Ireland - need recs

Heading to Ireland in late August/early September for a football game at Croke Park. Planning on Dublin for 4 days and somewhere in Northern Ireland (looking for hotel rec as well) for 3 days. Any recs for either location that do NOT refer to gold or beer/stout? Will have car for Northern Ireland part of the trip. First trip to Ireland for us. Thanks in advance!

If you don’t mind information that’s about 10 years old, Lori, PM me your netdress and I will send you my diary and list of B&Bs that I stayed at during a 2-week trip there in 2005. I had a wonderful time.

Cheers,

Mike

The Inishowen Peninsula is extremely beautiful in Northern Ireland. The little fishing villages are also pretty and fun. The Giants Causeway is fun and interesting. When I went on a tour of Ireland, I had no idea my favorite part would be Northern Ireland.

Agree on the Giant’s Causeway - definitely worth seeing. We stayed at the Bushmills Inn there (part of the Distillery). Not fancy, but pretty solid. They had some of the best Toffee pudding I’ve ever had, and of course some great Irish Whiskey.

Posting this from Dublin…
That said I work here, commuting weekly to uk, so I really haven’t seen enough of the city, and have yet to get out to the countryside that the locals rave about.

In Dublin there are some great restaurants really close to office/hotel, many on Camden St.
Il primo is perhaps my favourite, not cheap for what has the feel of a wine bar, but fantastic flavour and enough interest on the wine list
Seagrass do free corkage every night, and the food is excellent. If only decent dining were always this simple.
Camden kitchen looks a little grungy from the outside, but is homely and some of the dishes are excellent, notably the duck confit.
Neon is a fun and very cheap thai ‘streetfood’ eatery, but the food is decent with it
Green 19 does honest and sometimes very tasty indeed irish bistro food
Against the grain has ok food, but the appeal is the wonderful range of craft beers, including the Italian Re Ale beer on tap, but also Sam Adams that tasted so much better than when in bottle.
Jaipur looks good for curries, but we have yet to visit. Punjabi by nature in Ranelagh village is very good
For a touristy yet still fun sunday afternoon, Irelands oldest pub, the brazen head have genuine Irish musicians playing well known Irish folk classics. It is fun.

The downstairs wine bar at the remarkable food shop Fallon and Byrne is charming, and is a nice break from the city.

The temple bar region is a tourist trap, and not recommended, however the chicken wings in vinegar at the Elephant and Castle restaurant are well regarded.

In Belfast, Ox is apparently the top place to go to, and I am heading up there for an offline in May/June. Also a place called the boathouse just up the road in Bangor.

Hope this helps

Regards
Ian

Had a 1 day stopover in Dublin about a year ago. Had dinner at the winding stair and loved it. Several friends have tried it since and loved it as well. Casual, well priced, nice service and good wines. Check their website.

This is a fabulous Hotel in central Dublin, part owned by U2 - great bar downstairs too. http://www.theclarence.ie/
It’s pretty pricey though IIRC.

The Irish people are wonderful and local produce and dining is excellent in my all too limited experience.

Hi Douglas - thanks for this - as I was researching I came across Inishowen and we’re staying in Redcastle. I found a “McLaughlin’s Tour of Northern Island” http://clanmaclochlainn.com/tour.htm and a map of the peninsula with land ownership plots aong the coast – all McLaughlins. http://clanmaclochlainn.com/genmap.htm
Should be fun!

Thanks for the recommendations - looking forward to the trip!

don’t drive in the cities.

John, I started another thread on this forum (County Kilkenny). I will have to drive from there into the heart of Dublin and back out again. If I was to follow your advice, is there a place to park outside the city, store the car overnight, and take a bus or trainthe rest of the way?

Brad
I don’t know. My experience was coming in on a red-eye, and then driving on the opposite side of the road in Dublin. I’m normally a confident driver, but I found it to be a perfect storm of stress.

Wife is headed to Sligo for work on Monday but will be in Dublin on Sunday afternoon and evening. She wants a traditional type pub with traditional type food. Her hotel is by the airport so I’m assuming she will have to take a cab where ever she goes. Should I send her to the Brazen Head?

I am also in need of some recommendations. Upthread, I had referneced starting another thread regarding County Kilkenny, but that is no longer happening. Rather, our itinerary is as follows…

Four nights in County Kerry, near Kenmare on the Ring of Kerry. Staying in a self-catering cottage, and will likely do a fair amount of cooking on our own. But I will still welcome recommendations for nearby restaurants, local specialities not to be missed, etc. Also, must stop attractions along what we plan to do for three separate days: Dingle Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, and Baera Peninsula.

One night in Dublin. Staying at The Dawson Hotel. We are entered in the Dublin Marathon the following day. Consequently, I won’t be very adventurous food-wise on this night, and won’t be drinking. But I’m running the race, and my wife is walking (course is open for 7.5 hours). So I’m looking for a place I can “recover” for three hours while waiting for her to finish.

Four nights in County Wicklow. Another self-catering cottage, and only 30 minutes from Dublin. So I’m looking for both Dublin recs as well as County Wicklow recs.

Tim
Although it is a tourist destination, with many nationalities present and some fairly safe choices of songs (to aid sing-along), the Brazen Head is still good fun, and the musicianship on the day we went very good indeed, I’m glad we went and it did put a smile on my face. The beer isn’t excessively priced (though unusually the half pints were ~ 60% of the cost of pints ). The location is not too bad if coming from the airport. €20 should cover a 1 way taxi fare. More authentic than most places in Temple Bar by all local opinion I’ve heard.

Plenty of other music venues if you want something a little less touristy. Whelans on Camden St is apparently pretty good, but there are many places.

Brad
Where does the Marathon finish? Although this may not be too near, there is a very good beer-focused pub called ‘against the grain’ on Camden St. Loads on tap and masses more by the bottle. Lots of quirky stuff and a place where you can grab a seat and chill. If you’d prefer a coffee place, they have a (very rare) Caffe Vergnano (a torinese outfit) café not far from Temple bar, plus the ‘Bald Barista’ between George St and Camden St which has very good coffee. Also on George’s St is an interesting/quirky little arcade housing a place that makes some good glass stuff which might make a nice little present for a late-finishing competitor.

Another option, is Fallon and Byrne. Ground floor houses an exceptional deli/supermarket (think Fortnum & Mason / Peck etc.), but downstairs is a rather pleasant wine bar serving light snacks and would be a safe place for your wife to navigate to if she were to meet you there. IIRC it’s on Exchange St, pretty central

regards
Ian

Ian,

The finish line is at Merion Park. I should have included that. Sorry.

Hi Brad
Not a part of town I know at all well. The nearest place I can think of is the Ely Wine Bar

though do you really want wine after a marathon?

p.s. Fallon & Byrne are on Exchequer st (not Exchange st as I mis-recalled above)
regards
Ian

Matt the Thresher has good oysters and seafood. And pulls a good pint. Located nearby.

Wine, not so much. A pint or two for sure.

Looks good, Mark. Thanks.