Fia Larkin's boutique hotel overlooking Dun Laoghaire harbour and Dublin Bay has evolved over several years, and it has become an increasingly favoured destination for independent travellers with a taste for something a bit different - the emphasis is ... more...
To grab a table at the front of Eileen and Sam McNicholl's atmospheric pub, Connolly’s of Leap, is to be noticed outside one of West Cork’s coolest venues. Inside, the walls drip with musical history; but for now, the iconic but diminutive ... more...
This lively, youthful café-restaurant just off Grafton Street does quality informal food at reasonable prices and is specially noted for its gourmet pizzas - try the Bowery, for example, an Italian sausage pizza with roasted cherry tomatoes, moz ... more...
Although it is in the centre of town, Catherine and Derek O’Sullivan’s attractive bistro is fortunate to have a view of the bay and, despite the nearby traffic, there's no shortage of competition for a table on the small terrace on sunny da ... more...
The ancestral home of the O'Briens, barons of Inchiquin and direct descendants of Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, this is one of the few Irish estates tracing its history back to Gaelic royal families, and it is now one of Ireland's grandest hotels, ... more...
Just outside the traditional seaside holiday town of Newcastle, and close to the championship links of the Royal County Down golf course, this friendly hotel on the edge of the Mourne mountains has a pleasingly remote atmosphere and spacious public are ... more...
A real throw-back in time and refreshingly so: this entirely Italian-run restaurant has a classic Italian 70's interior with stained wooden floors and ceiling beams, Venetian trompe-l'oeil scenes on the walls and candlewax-dripped Chianti bottles on ev ... more...
The smart, discreet frontage of this appealing restaurant fits in well with the neighbouring row of chi chi boutiques near Malahide marina. Kajjal is a sister restaurant of the highly-regarded Kinara Indian/Pakistani restaurant on Clontarf’s se ... more...
Once a branch of the famous Youkstetter’s pork butcher shops immortalisd by James Joyce in Ulysses, this handsome tiled shopfront with dark green paintwork, matching awning and outside seating, has been home to Aidan and Karen McNeice’s pop ... more...
With Galway to the west, Clare to the south-west and Athlone and the Shannon lakes to the north-east, there’s an entire region to be enjoyed from Ballinasloe and this modern four star hotel would make a good base for exploring it.
While not exac ... more...