What better way to enjoy the cozy season than by snuggling up next to a bustling fire inside the fortified corridors of a medieval castle. If you’re around in late October, join us for our Halloween festivals (originally known as Samhain) in the land where the holiday began. With students back in school, there’s more flexibility and freedom to explore our iconic sights with less people around. For centuries, our people have perfected the art of summer festivals and bonfires, which will continue to burn for years to come.īetter prices, fewer crowds, and crisp fall air are what bring visitors to Ireland during the autumn months. Our temperatures don’t get scorching hot like a few of our fellow European countries, so this is the best place to enjoy your time off without melting. Hello Sunshine! Let our warm Celtic light fill your days with happiness as you explore our homelands on your next summer vacation. Plus, it’s the season for fun (or as we call it, craic) when everyone comes together from countryside to city lights in celebration of St. That gives us more time to enjoy the wildflowers in bloom, the adorable animals frolicking in our rolling green hillsides, and perfect weather everywhere we go. Springtime comes early in Ireland and is traditionally celebrated on the first of February. And as the Celtic Experts, we’re here to show you the benefits of traveling during every season, all year long. Want to debate my selections? Let me hear your thoughts with a comment below.Twitter feed Twitter Facebook page Facebook Every season is a great season to travel to Irelandįrom lighter autumn crowds, to festive holiday winter markets, to beautiful spring weather and warm summer sunshine there is no ‘off season’ when it comes to traveling to Ireland. It's that close of a call from one links to the next. Before you get too upset at where your favorite course ranks in this top 10 of Ireland and Northern Ireland, remember this list is splitting hairs. The return of The Open to Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951 - the Dunluce course at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland will host July 18-21 this summer - and the final season of Game of Thrones, filmed mostly in Northern Ireland, signal two good reasons to shine a spotlight on such a diverse destination. I also disqualified the new Hogs Head and one of my all-time favorite golf experiences, Old Head Golf Links, since they're mostly private members clubs with only limited public access these days. Neither did the scenic Ardglass with the oldest clubhouse in the world. A foursome of stout Irish Open hosts ( Strand at Portstewart, Glashedy at Ballyliffin, County Louth, Royal Dublin) and a past Ryder Cup venue (the Palmer course at the K Club) and likely future one ( Adare Manor) didn't make the cut, either. There are so many great places to play that I feel guilty leaving out amazing dunes-laden links like County Sligo and Carne Golf Links. I've told people I want my ashes spread at Tralee, yet the scenic Arnold Palmer design didn't even make my top five. Nobody is going to agree with my choices, and I'm cool with that. I've experienced them in sun, in rain, in wind, in wonderful weather. I've played all the top courses except the European Club at least once. I'm using all these rounds as research to rank the best courses on the Emerald Isle. Maybe that's why I've made more golf trips to Ireland and Northern Ireland - a dozen or so - than any other golf destination in the world. The creativity around the greens - sometimes putting or using a hybrid from 30 yards away - inspires me to focus more than America's game. The golf gods gave me a game more suited to links golf - where my low and straight ball flight sends shots bounding down firm fairways. I tell people all the time that I was born on the wrong side of the pond. It was all so foreign, and it still felt like home. Bunkers with sod walls stacked like legos. Gorse more golden than the brightest sun. The native grasses, longer than my stubby legs, waving in the breeze. It was my introduction to links golf, a shock to the system that opened my eyes to what a golf course could - maybe the word is 'should' - be. I set foot in Ireland for the first time in 2003 as a newbie golf writer.
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