TRAVEL: A Vroom with a View

 North-West Costal Tour
Take the scenic Sky Road route out of Clifden and continue the circuit of the peninsula, with Clifden Bay to the south and Streamstown Bay to the north. Fine views of Inishturk and Turbot Islands lie before you. Join the main road north from Clifden at the head of Streamstown Bay and then take the left turn for the village of Claddaghduff. If the tide is out here, you can drive across the strand keeping inside the painted wooden poles, to Omey Island. enquire locally about the state of the tides. Continue around the coast road to the village of Cleggan, with great views of the islands of Inishark and Inishbofin and to the right lie the foothills of the Twelve Bens. Why not take the ferry to the lovely island of Inishbofin? Finally continue northwards to the village of Tullycross, 3km north of Letterfrack.

Waterways, Inland & Costal 
The east Coast and Midlands Region is a mecca for boating enthusiasts of all kinds, for anglers, swimmers and divers. Popular bathing beaches include Laytown and Bettystown in County Meath, Bray, Greystones and Brittas Bay to the south. a special feature at Laytown is an annual horse racing event on the strand. Carlingford and Bray are major centres for yachting, canoeing and board sailing. The Shannon is the longest river in Ireland. Deep and slow flowing, it was developed for navigation in the 18th Century. It is the most popular centre in the country for cabin cruisers, providing variety in its lakes, locks and river channel and passing through innumerable towns and villages which offer good food and drink, tourist information and craft shops, everything a visitor could wish for.

Lough Derg Drive
Taking in Ballina/killaloe, Ogonelloe, Mountshannon, Portumna, Terryglass, Dromineer, Nenagh, Portroe and returning to Ballina/killaloe. Travelling north of Ballina on the Western shore, excellent viewing points can be found at Ogonelloe and Mountshannon. at the head of the lake is Portumna, a busy cruising town where you can visit the delightful Forest Park and the restored Portumna Castle. Travelling clockwise around the lake you’ll find one of the best viewing spots of the entire drive near the village of Ogonelloe. a little further north is the pretty village of Mountshannon and Portumna, the town at the head of the lake. Continue to hug the shoreline to Domineer, a great centre for fishing and boating, or head to the busy market town of Nenagh. Travel back to the lakeside through Newtown and drink in the views from Portroe and your journey ends back at the southern tip in Ballina/killaloe.

Louth & Meath, and their Monastic Heritage 
Monasterboice is where this tour of great sites begins. Not far away is Mellifont, a sheltered green valley occupied by the foundations of the buildings set up by the first Cistercians to come to Ireland and then the route enters the valley of the River Boyne. There are ruins of a Franciscan friary on the Hill of Slane – where St. Patrick had defied the might of the old religions. Upstream is kells, the home of one of the most beautiful Gospel manuscripts ever created by man – it can be seen in Dublin now. Follow the river down to Trim, with substantial remains of two medieval monasteries and the most splendid castle in the country. and complete the loop by going northwards to Duleek and its Celtic cross.

The Gordon Bennett Route
They did things differently in 1903 when the speed limit in Ireland was 12mph and The Gordon Bennett Cup, for which daredevil motorists would race each other around a 104-mile circuit of kildare, Laois and Carlow, was enough to bring half the country to a standstill. It’s easy to re-trace the route today in Kildare, through athy and on to Kilcullen, thenacross the plains of the Curragh into Kildare Town. Who was Gordon Bennett? The flamboyant son of a New York Media Baron, whose passion for motor cars led him to sponsor the first-ever international motoring competition, which debuted in 1900, and arrived in Ireland three years later. Today, you can follow in their tyre tracks - at your own pace. Pass through The Curragh, Gordon Bennett (starting point), Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens, kildare Town and Heritage Centre, Newbridge Silverware and Museum of Style Icons and St Brigid’s Cathedral.