The delightfully homely cookery school adjoining MacNean House & Restaurant offers a range of classes suitable for people of all cookery levels, with small numbers allowing hands-on instruction and assistance from Neven Maguire and his dedicated te ... more...
Just a scenic 20 minute ferry crossing from Burtonport, on the mainland - which is iitself just 15 minutes from the Regional Airport, Carrickfinn - Arranmore (Arainn Mhor) is much less visited than the more southerly Aran Islands off the coasts of Clar ... more...
Designed and managed as a showcase for organic farming and sustainable tourism in Ireland, Rock Farm Slane is on the Slane Castle Estate and it was established by Carina and Alex Conyngham (Earl and Countess of Mount Charles) as an ecotourism destinati ... more...
There is a lovely homely feeling about Henry and Lynda Deverell’s restored grain barn near Tullamore and, with its pitch pine floors and beams, log fires and very comfortable accommodation, it makes a great base for a relaxing holiday offering al ... more...
With its smart blue and white frontage and welcoming signage, it would be hard to drive past Barry and Catherine McLaughlin’s attractive roadside bar and restaurant just outside Bandon.
What they took on way back in 2006 was a typical pub, but - ... more...
Cheeses / Classes/Courses / Internet/Phone Mail Order
In rich pasture land beside the River Erne, Silke Cropp makes her wonderful range of goat, sheep and cows' milk cheeses. Silke is one of Ireland's longest-practising cheesemakers, and the original, Corleggy, is a natural rind hard goats' cheese with co ... more...
Aka Wicklow Fine Foods, Jim and Mary Healy's innovative family-run business re-located from Baltinglass in Co Wicklow to customised new premises alongside Rathwood Home and Garden World (www.rathwood.com) and Rath woodlands (where there are recreationa ... more...
Butchers / Classes/Courses / Meat & Game / Online Shop
An environmentally responsible business known for focusing on cooking quality and flavour, Crowe's Farm is one of Ireland's most successful quality pork producers, specialising in free range pork and organic bacon products.
Very much a family operatio ... more...
Des and Lisa McGahan's beautiful and immaculately presented country house estate is renowned as a luxurious venue, available for private parties, small weddings, golfing groups and corporate events. Set within a walled garden with 10 foot-high stone wa ... more...
Perhaps the most surprising protein produced in County Carlow is snails.
Near Bagenalstown, the ‘mother of snail farming’, Eva Milka, and her partner successfully farm snails, mainly for export, and run courses for aspiring snail farmers.
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With a rich historical and maritime legacy, East Cork has a truly unique variety of attractions to offer the visitor.
It is a haven for family holidays with a huge range of activities and attractions to keep the whole family entertained for hours.
In this extensive county, the towns and villages have their own distinctive character. In West Cork, their spirit is preserved in the vigour of the landscape with the handsome coastline where the light of the famous Fastnet Rock swings across tumbling ocean and spray-tossed headland. The county is a repository of the good things of life, a treasure chest of the finest farm produce, and the very best of seafood, brought to market by skilled specialists.
The town of Killarney is where the Ring of Kerry begins and ends for many, among the lakes and mountains where they are re-establishing the enormous white-tailed sea eagle, has long been a magnet for visitors. Across the purple mountains from Killarney, the lovely little town of Kenmare in South Kerry is both a gourmet focus, and another excellent touring centre. As one of the prettiest places in Ireland, Kenmare puts the emphasis on civic pride.
That Galway Bay coastline in Co. Clare is where The Burren, the fantastical North Clare moonscape of limestone which is home to so much unexpectedly exotic flora, comes plunging spectacularly towards the sea around the attractive village of Ballyvaughan.
Connemara, the Land of the Sea, where earth, rock and ocean intermix in one of Ireland's most extraordinary landscapes, and is now as ever a place of angling renown - you're very quickly into the high ground and moorland which sweep up to the Twelve Bens and other splendid peaks, wonderful mountains which enthusiasts would claim as the most beautiful in all Ireland. Beyond, to the south, the Aran Islands are a place apart.
Rivers often divide one county from another, but Fermanagh is divided - or linked if you prefer - throughout its length by the handsome waters of the River Erne, both river and lake. Southeast of the historic county town of Enniskillen, Upper Lough Erne is a maze of small waterways meandering their way into Fermanagh from the Erne'e source in County Cavan.
Co Cavan shares the 667 m peak of Cuilcagh with neighbouring Fermanagh. No ordinary mountain, this - it has underground streams which eventually become the headwaters of the lordly River Shannon, Ireland's longest river that passes south through many counties before exiting at the mighty estuary in Limerick. A magnet for tourism now with boating, fishing, cycling and walking-a-plenty.
Between the sheltered bays at the foot of the Glens of Antrim, the sea cliffs of the headlands soar with remarkable rock formations which, on the North Coast, provide the setting for the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant's Causeway.
A selective companion guide to our famous broad-based online collection, the ‘glovebox bible’ includes a uniquely diverse range of Ireland's greatest places to ...