The Ireland Edit Golf Collection
Ireland's greatest links are only the beginning. These collections combine how to play, where to stay and where to eat into complete editorial journeys.
The short answer
Ireland's golf is links golf, and the five destinations worth building a trip around are Royal County Down, Royal Portrush, Lahinch, Ballybunion and Adare Manor. We treat each as a place rather than a tee time: how the course plays, the three days that should surround it, where to eat afterwards, and how to get the booking confirmed. Peak season runs May to September.
Related:the Royal County Down collectionthe Royal Portrush collectionIs Ireland Worth Visiting?
A Note From The Editors
“The round is only half the story.”
We plan Irish golf trips the way we would plan them for a close friend. The tee time is the anchor. Everything around it is the trip.
Choose Your Journey
Every destination is a complete editorial book. Four chapters, read in order: how to play the course, the three days around the round, where to eat when the flag is back in the hole, and how to book the tee time itself.
“Where restraint beats power.”
Newcastle, County Down
Where restraint beats power.
① Play
How To Play Royal County Down9 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Royal County Down10 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Royal County Down9 min read
④ Book
How To Book7 min read
35 min · four chapters
“Where championship golf rewards discipline.”
North Antrim Coast
Where championship golf rewards discipline.
① Play
How To Play Royal Portrush10 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Royal Portrush10 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Royal Portrush10 min read
④ Book
How To Book9 min read
39 min · four chapters
“Where imagination matters more than certainty.”
County Clare, Wild Atlantic Way
Where imagination matters more than certainty.
① Play
How To Play Lahinch9 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Lahinch10 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Lahinch9 min read
④ Book
How To Book9 min read
37 min · four chapters
“Where patience reveals greatness.”
North Kerry, Atlantic Coast
Where patience reveals greatness.
① Play
How To Play Ballybunion9 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Ballybunion9 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Ballybunion8 min read
④ Book
How To Book9 min read
35 min · four chapters
“Where ceremony holds the round together.”
County Limerick, The Golden Vale
Where ceremony holds the round together.
① Play
How To Play Adare Manor7 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Adare Manor7 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Adare Manor7 min read
④ Book
How To Book7 min read
28 min · four chapters
“The truest links inside fifteen minutes of Dublin, and the city that anchors the trip.”
Sutton Peninsula, County Dublin
The truest links inside fifteen minutes of Dublin, and the city that anchors the trip.
① Play
How To Play Portmarnock8 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Portmarnock8 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Portmarnock7 min read
④ Book
How To Book9 min read
32 min · four chapters
“Tom Doak's Donegal links, the resort around it, and the far north of Ireland.”
Rosapenna, County Donegal
Tom Doak's Donegal links, the resort around it, and the far north of Ireland.
① Play
How To Play St Patrick's Links7 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around St Patrick's Links7 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around St Patrick's Links7 min read
④ Book
How To Book7 min read
28 min · four chapters
“Two miles of Atlantic promontory, the most expensive round in Ireland, and the town that earns the other two days.”
Kinsale, County Cork
Two miles of Atlantic promontory, the most expensive round in Ireland, and the town that earns the other two days.
① Play
How To Play Old Head of Kinsale8 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Old Head of Kinsale8 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Old Head of Kinsale9 min read
④ Book
How To Book8 min read
33 min · four chapters
“The links at the end of the Iveragh Peninsula, the Payne Stewart round, and the drive that earns it.”
Ring of Kerry
The links at the end of the Iveragh Peninsula, the Payne Stewart round, and the drive that earns it.
① Play
How To Play Waterville8 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Waterville7 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Waterville8 min read
④ Book
How To Book7 min read
30 min · four chapters
“Arnold Palmer's first European design, the dunes at Barrow, and the strictest booking terms in Kerry.”
North Kerry
Arnold Palmer's first European design, the dunes at Barrow, and the strictest booking terms in Kerry.
① Play
How To Play Tralee9 min read
② Plan
Three Days Around Tralee7 min read
③ Eat
Where To Eat Around Tralee8 min read
④ Book
How To Book7 min read
31 min · four chapters
Plan It With Us
Share your dates, group and must-play courses. We will come back with the order we would play them in, where to stay between rounds and what needs booking first.
“The best golf trips are remembered
for the evenings.”
The Parallel Fairway
A links round is four and a half hours on foot, five where buggies are banned. We publish a full companion day for every marquee destination: a weaving mill in Donegal, a walled garden under Errigal, oysters from the bay you can see, a seaweed bath above the strand in Ballybunion. Seven tracks, each timed to the round, each within thirty minutes of the first tee.
Read the seven companion daysRyder Cup 2027 at Adare ManorPlaying Adare Manor: the dossierThe Southwest Championship Swing, 7 daysThe North Coast corridor, 2026 green feesNorth Coast Links 2027, and BellarenaThe Northwest links, Carne to RosapennaWatched A Course Called Ireland? Play itThe Decision
A side-by-side of the anchor destinations. Character first, then the practical considerations that decide the round.
| Compare | Royal County Down Co. Down | Royal Portrush Co. Antrim | Lahinch Old Co. Clare | Ballybunion Old Co. Kerry | Adare Manor Co. Limerick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Restrained. The connoisseur's links. | Championship. The Open venue, sharpened. | Playful. Imagination over certainty. | Emotional. The most soulful ground in Ireland. | Stately. Ceremony holds the round together. |
| Best For | The player who values restraint and shot-shaping. | Serious golfers who want the modern championship test. | Golfers who like blind shots and the ground game. | Pilgrims. Anyone chasing the game's soul. | Non-golfing partners, resort-lovers, Ryder Cup pilgrims. |
| Visitor Difficulty | Severe. The hardest walk-off in Ireland. | Severe from the Open tees. Fair from the visitor tees. | Deceptive. Trouble is where you can't see it. | Punishing on the back nine. Kind if you keep it low. | Demanding but forgiving. Wide fairways, protected greens. |
| Signature Hole | |||||
| Best Season | May–early July. Long light, firm ground. | Late May–September. Wind is the constant. | April–June, September. Avoid festival week. | May, June, September. October if you're brave. | April–October. The estate photographs best in autumn. |
| Green Fee (Visitor) | £395 peak (2026). Book 12 months out. | £340 peak (2026). Dunluce, championship tees. | €325 peak. Easiest anchor tee time to secure. | €330 peak, Old Course. Cashen a further €165. | €595 peak, guests only. Stay to play. |
| Where To Stay | Slieve Donard, on the ground. | Bushmills Inn, ten minutes from the 1st tee. | Moy House or Vaughan Lodge, both walkable. | Listowel Arms or a rental in the town. | The Manor itself. No substitute. |
| Pair It With | Ardglass and a night in Belfast. | Portstewart and the Giant's Causeway. | Doonbeg and the Cliffs of Moher. | Tralee, Waterville, and the Ring of Kerry. | Dromoland and a Shannon side-trip to Doonbeg. |
Royal County Down
Co. Down
Royal Portrush
Co. Antrim
Lahinch Old
Co. Clare
Ballybunion Old
Co. Kerry
Adare Manor
Co. Limerick
If you can only build the trip around one, we default to Royal County Down for the player, Ballybunion for the pilgrim, and Adare Manor for the couple travelling together. Portrush if the calendar lines up with settled weather. Lahinch if you want the round you'll still be talking about in December.
Continue Reading
The Journey
Explore the seven-day journey. The full country golf week, day by day, southwest arc with the northern round folded in.
The Stay
Country houses, links resorts and city rooms we book around a round. Every property vetted.
The Region
Kerry, Clare, Antrim, Down. The wider country beyond our ten flagship destinations.
The Editors
How we choose what to publish, and why we would rather write about ten courses than six hundred.
Index
More courses worth travelling for. The names that matter, listed simply. We have written editorial collections for ten of them. The rest sit here for the golfers who already know the ground.
The Working Manual
Five planning questions we get asked every summer. Answered honestly, in the numbers we actually use ourselves, so a visiting fourball arrives at Royal County Down or Ballybunion knowing what the day costs, what to wear, and what to carry.
The Caddie
The €60 on the eighteenth green that changes the round.
Read
The Bag
Which pro shops carry the good sets, and when to reserve.
Read
The Clubhouse
What Portmarnock and RCD actually enforce at the door.
Read
The Freight
Courier or Aer Lingus, and where the bag should land.
Read
The Ballot
Where a certificate is checked, and where it is not.
ReadThe Ireland Edit
A publication for travellers who would rather read ten collections done properly than six hundred done quickly.
Last reviewed by the editors of The Ireland Edit
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Courses, order of play and where to sleep between rounds.