scenic drives ireland

The Achill Drive - (121km/76mls - Detour 22km/14mls)
Westport - Newport - Mulraney - Achill Sound - Dooega - Keel - Dooagh Keem Bay - Dugort
Leave Westport on the N59 road for Newport. On the right, 1km outside town , is a monument commemorating a major event in Irish History. It was here, in June 1879, that the Irish Land League, an organisation established to protect tenant farmers, had its most important meeting, which was addressed by the League's two leaders, Charles Stewar...

Donegal and Yeats Country This is a two day circular tour over 515km on main route. Day1 Carrick on Shannon-Carrigart 322km The popular centre of Carrick on Shannon well known for cruising and coarse fishing is the starting point for this tour. The first town on this route is Boyle-3km from Lough Key Forest Park, with its numerous facilities, from boating to nature trails. Your drive will continue to Collooney, entering the magical country of Yeats. Share his experiences as you drive thro...

Day One Newry-Newtownards take the lake shore road past Narrow Water Castle through Warrenpoint to Rostrevor. Turn here up into the western Mournes to Hilltown. Then via B8, pausing after 2 miles to inspect Pat Kearney's Big Stone, on to Lough Island Reavy, to Castlevellan Forest Park to visit the National Arboretum. Continue on the A25 to Downpatrick, passing close to the Butterfly House at Seaforde, and Inch Abbey, a medieval monastery set among the marshes.
You will want...

Donegal Town to Lifford via Barnesmore Gap, Ballybofey, Convoy and Raphoe. The N15 from Donegal town skirts the southern extremities of the Bluestack Mountains. From there continue on to the twin towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar, on the river Finn. Ballybofey is home of Magee Tweeds, from there it is a short drive to Lifford the administrative capital of Donegal....

Westport To Connemara - (174km/109mls)
Westport - Louisburgh - Delphi - Leenane - Maam Cross - Cliftden - Letterfrack - Leenane - Erriff Valley - Westport
Leave Westport, taking the R335 road to Louisburgh. This route gives you superb views of Clew Bay with its numerous small islands - submerged drumlins, reminders of the Ice Age. To your left is Croagh Patrick, or the Reek, a holy place and a place of pilgrimage.
Eight kilometers from Westport there is a road to the righ...

The Dingle Peninsula which stretches out into the Atlantic Ocean, is the most northerly of the mountainous promontories which form the indented coast of South-West Ireland....

You're never far from Benbulben on this tour, the mountain that so inspired Yeats. The coast is quiet and much broken; inland are lakes and pastures.
This area is called 'Yeats Country' as the poet passed much of his childhood and was eventually buried here, though his adult life was largely spent in Dublin, and in Galway at Thoor Ballylee or at Coole Park.
Above Sligo Town the curious hulk of Benbulben looms like a capsized ship, its flat limestone top scored by erosin. Off...

This magnificent drive crosses a pass in the Caha Mountains is backbone of the Beara Peninsula, from Adrigole in Cork  to Lauragh in County Kerry.
Taken in either direction it is a spectacular route, with Glanmore Lake brooding deeply below and great coums and corries opening on each side.

The road is called after Tim Healy, a controversial man, much liked and much hated, who was appointed Governor-General of the new Irish Free State which came into being after...

The Shannon is a splendid river but it owes its splendour not only to its winding length but also to the many large and beautiful lakes which it drains and that feed it. This drive will dazzle the tourist with lake vistas; Lough Key, Lough Arrow, Lough Skean, Lough Meelagh, Lough Allen and others. All lie amid forests and greenery in all its shades. A tour in Leitirm is a recipe for relaxation and renewal. Appropriately the famous An Tostal Festival is held at Drumshanbo. Carolan, the bard sle...

Among the many walks or short drives from Avoca village are 1. Go past the Catholic Church and out via Sulphurbrook and Kilmacoo, turn left at Kilmacoo Cross, through Conary village; turn left at next crossroads to the Motte Stone, a glacial boulder of granite about 10 feet high by 14 feet by 10 feet perched on the summit of a hill over 800 feet high. From the top of the stone there is an extensive view of the valley. 2. From Avoca village turn left at Ballygahan Garage up Red Road...