Tables set up outside Michael and Joyce Soden’s popular Derg Inn please the summer crowd, and a crackling fire is a welcome sight on a cold day - like many country pubs this is, perhaps, a place seen at its best off-season.
This is one of the ar ... more...
With its lush parklands, mature woodlands and a proper little narrow gauge steam railway winding through the grounds, Oakfield Park is a wonderful place to visit - and it's just a 15 minute drive from Letterkenny.
The 100-acre demesne is a beautiful s ... more...
A Connemara institution, Gerry Coyne’s lovely big-hearted pub dates back to 1811 and, judging by the memorabilia on display in the bar, there are plenty of artefacts here now that might be familiar to customers from that time.
It's a fascinating ... more...
Open since December 2005, this atmospheric restaurant on two floors - informal ground floor bistro with a more elegant dining room above - is in the former stables of College Green House and there is nothing clichéd about it, giving an intriguin ... more...
Named after the previous owner, Helen Mullane and Armel Whyte’s café-bar seems much older than it is, as the whole interior was reconstructed with salvaged materials (the flooring was once in the London Stock Exchange).
It is brilliantly ... more...
Despite recent development at this seaside village, Barna has retained some of its old charm around the harbour area – and its location, handy to both Connemara and Galway City, is a huge attraction. And so is this unique hotel which, alt ... more...
If you had to pick one pub in this pretty town, this soothingly dark atmospheric one would do very nicely - not least because it is owned by Matt Molloy of The Chieftains, a man who clearly has respect for the real pub: no TV (and no children after 9 p ... more...
Although often seriously over-crowded with tourists in summer, this famous and genuinely characterful old pub in the shadow of Bunratty Castle somehow manages to provide cheerful service and consistently above-average food to the great numbers who pass ... more...
A distinctive black and white three-storey building in downtown Salthill, just a stone’s throw from the Atlantic Ocean, Joanna Paszkiewicz and Chef Leon Mellsop's Black Cat has been a casual dining destination of choice for discerning Galwegians ... more...
Just across the Clare River from the historic Claregalway Abbey, this popular small hotel is owned and operated by the Dunleavy family. It makes a great base for exploring Connemara and the West and is busy throughout the summer with tourists and busin ... more...