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Wanted: tourists in Ireland...off the beaten track. We're talkintravel
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photos by Rich Carlson/foto-op
There is some good news to the bad news economy-destinations are more welcoming to tourists. Ireland has always opened Americans with open arms but now they need us more than ever before. Their recent economic boom was fueled in large part by high tech and banking and when they fell in America the ripples were felt across the pond. Ireland is now turning to tourism with renewed vigor.
Start your journey by visiting www.discoverireland.com, a free, government sponsored website with tips on everything from the best place to buy tweed to the nearest seaweed bath. (No, this isn’t a typo—just a cheap move to get your attention. Keep reading for details.)
Dublin, the capitol city, is great for a short stay, but you’ll discover the real Emerald Isle in the Northwest region, often referred to as the most beautiful part of the country. This unspoiled area of Ireland has preserved a traditional, rural way of life and it’s common to find inns and stores managed by generations of the same family. It must be desirable… Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have a home in Donegal and Pierce Brosnon got married in a country castle nearby. To get there, fly Aer Lingus to the Shannon airport.
Nearby, the town of Bunratty has the oldest operating pub in Ireland, Durty Nelly’s. You must go…where else will you get credit for visiting a historic site while enjoying a Guinness! If this beer is too heavy for you, ask the bartender to add some black currant syrup-it’s a trick I learned from my Irish friend. She also told me it’s not customary to tip the bartender. Pubs are a family place in Europe and the day we visited kids played on the lawn while adults sipped drinks at picnic tables and an elderly gentleman treated us to an impromptu accordion concert. Durty Nelly’s has a great view of the Burnatty Castle from their outside picnic tables. The castle is worth touring and the enjoining folk park is a good children’s attraction.
Next up, Sligo County, where people in the know check into the insane asylum. Relax, it’s a former nuthouse transformed into a modern cool hotel with rooms that are more like suites and a great restaurant.
Irish people make sure they don’t become mental cases by relaxing in a seaweed bath. The Celtic Seaweed Baths in.jpg)
Strandhill has taken recycling to a new level. They pick up seaweed off the beach, clean it and have you pay money to soak in it! I was a little freaked out by the possibility of bugs in my bathtub but my skin was as soft as a baby for days afterward. (www.celticseaweedbaths.com)
County Sligo has been immortalized by the Nobel Prize winning poet W.B. Yeats and a local resident makes his poems come alive at literary dinners. Damian Brennan and his physician wife open their architectural digest worthy home to tourists. While he read Yeats, she prepared a five-course gourmet meal that was the best dinner I had in Ireland. I don’t know about you, but I’m not accustomed to home cooking like this, much less being served by a doctor!
You can pay respects to your relatives by visiting Carrowmore, a 6000 year old burial site. Anthropologists say there were so few people in the stone age that we are all related to these ancestors. The passage graves and stone circles are one of the oldest and largest cemeteries in Europe.
After all this newly gained knowledge of literature, culture and history, I felt entitled to some fun and for me that’s shopping. In Ireland, you even get a history lesson in the boutiques, so I got bonus points! Magee Clothing Co. in Donegal, established in 1866, is one of the few places in the world that still employs people who sit in cottages hand weaving fabrics in the traditional method. A certain Sex in the City star has been known to frequent Magee, probably because she knows high-end designers like Max Mara use their tweeds. I snagged one of the men’s fedoras for myself. Made from scraps of leftover patterned tweed, it was one of a kind, but less expensive because it didn’t match.
You’ll be glad you purchased that tweed hat on the windy beaches of Donfanaghy. The only place to stay in this one street town is the Arnold’s Hotel. (www.arnoldshotel.com) Luckily it’s a real find. Established in 1922, it’s a family run operation and most of the local populace seems to work there and perform multiple jobs. It’s not unusual for the
barkeep to step away from his job to help guests access wireless Internet access. The innkeepers go out of their way to make you feel like part of the family and will gladly arrange any activity, from biking to horseback riding. The owner lent us his personal golf clubs, made us a tee time, and drove us to the course! Check their website for schedules of painting and writing workshops.
In Ireland, it's all part of doing business.
FOR MORE INFO: www.discoverireland.com
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