Andy Cooper heads across the Irish Sea to explore the Dublin Coast Trail as he visits Ireland’s east coast…
Shame on me, but I haven’t explored Ireland’s east coast enough. You might be the same. So near and yet so far. So familiar and yet unfamiliar. From a personal perspective it feels like a country I should have visited more – so it has been on my wishlist for some time.
Thankfully, the good folks at Tourism Ireland stepped in to help me fix this to some degree by arranging a double-headed visit taking in two distinct parts of this glorious isle.
Firstly, the Dublin Coast Trail. I guess many of us who have visited Ireland have ‘done Dublin’. It is the obvious place to go with its cosmopolitan mix of ancient history and architecture, a lively entertainment and dining out scene and first class tourism attractions.
But perhaps a better way to try the city next time is to loop it in with its eponymous coastal trail. Starting with Skerries north of the city and journeying south to Killiney, the trail is connected by rail, allowing you to hop on and off at your convenience and explore all it has to offer.
You are so close to Dublin along the trail and yet so far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, allowing you to take in the delights of some perhaps overlooked resorts and beaches dotted along its route. (visitdublin.com/guides/dublin-coastal-trail)
For my couple of days of exploration, I was based at The Grand Hotel in Malahide (thegrand.ie), just a few short minutes by train from the centre of Dublin. The Grand is indeed just that…an imposing, luxury hotel right on the seafront in a lovely resort, where magnificent sea views abound.
If you are not dining at the hotel’s fabulous restaurant then just a short walk away is the centre of town, where there are plenty of options. On the first night, I visited Gibneys of Malahide (gibneys.com) billed as offering “a traditional Irish pub experience”. Normally, those words might raise memories of rather failed pastiche offerings outside of Ireland, but here you get the full-on, proper experience – hearty, traditional food, served efficiently by a friendly team, whilst a traditional band with fiddler only adds to the buzzy atmosphere.
The following day I took time out to explore Malahide Castle (malahidecastleandgardens.ie/), a fascinating building with wonderful gardens and an intriguing 800-year-old history.
After this invigorating stop close to Dublin, it was time to head south east and take in some of the more distant parts of the country. En route to my destination – Waterford – I took time out to visit some of the magnificent beaches on Ireland’s east coast.
In my opinion, none is more spectacular than the golden sweep of Brittas Bay, a stunning stretch of golden sands which has its own small slice of modern history – it was used by film director Steven Spielberg as a stand-in for the D-Day Normandy beaches when he was filming the blockbuster movie Saving Private Ryan.
I drove into Waterford full of anticipation for a place which has such an iconic name connected with crystal but, as I discovered, offers so much more than that to visitors. Yes, a visit to The House of Waterford Crystal (discoverireland.ie/waterford/the-house-of-waterford-crystal) did feel obligatory as my first stop-off point and I was glad I did.
There I discovered the fascinating origins of the industry and the factory tour showcased all stages in the creation of this fine crystal. Visitors can engage with the people behind the craft and see what their daily work entails as they create crystal before your very eyes. Truly mesmerising.
Discover Ireland’s Ancient East
Waterford is a busy city, with lots of development work going on in the centre when I visited which gave it the feel of somewhere which is investing in its future. And the coastline in this part of Ireland – known as The Waterford Copper Coast – is now a UNESCO Global Geopark.
The Copper Coast gets its name from the 19th century copper mines that lie at its heart. It is a stretch of spectacular coastline consisting of scalloped beaches and coves buttressed and enclosed by rocky headlands. Oceans, volcanoes, deserts and ice sheets all combined to create the rocks, which provide the physical foundation of the natural and cultural landscapes of the Copper Coast.
As I said, Waterford is also about so much more than crystal and I filled the rest of my day with a pootle round the Waterford Treasure Museums to bone up on even more on the 1,000 years of history this part of the world can boast. (discoverireland.ie/waterford/waterford-treasures-museums-in-the-viking-triangle).
And no trip to these parts would be complete without a trip on the Waterford Suir Valley Railway, which brings the golden age of railways to life on board a vintage train ride departing from Kilmeadan. (discoverireland.ie/waterford/waterford-suir-valley-railway).
After a fascinating day of discovery, it was time to check into the nearby Haven Hotel in the gorgeous coastal village of Dunmore East. What a warm welcome awaits here. Locals and visitors mix in a busy hotel which not only offers beautiful accommodation with views out over the bay, but is also a busy spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I enjoyed my time there enormously, helped by a couple of pints of Guinness of course! And is it just an urban myth that it tastes better in Ireland…I will leave you to judge on your next visit!
All too soon, I was off to my next stop – the fabulous town of Wexford. Top of the agenda was The Irish National Heritage Park (discoverireland.ie/wexford/irish-national-heritage-park). Learn about different historical periods on the heritage trails, depicting the first settlements in Ireland up to the arrival of the Normans in the 12th century. Fascinating and extremely well done.
Taking in one last stop-off on my journey to experience the magic and mystery of the Hook Lighthouse (discoverireland.ie/wexford/hook-lighthouse-visitor-centre) I headed back in the direction of Dublin in anticipation of my flight home.
Not quite done yet though, I billeted myself at the rather wonderful Glenview Hotel, a five-star spot just south of the capital. (glenviewhotel.com/). And what a wonderful way to round off my visit. Elegant surroundings, first class service and superb facilities make this a real showstopper of a hotel. It was the perfect resting point before the short journey to the airport the following morning.
And so my brief sojourn to this part of Ireland’s east coast ended, but not without me making a vow to return a little sooner and spend longer taking in all the delights it has to offer.
