Ireland Planning Essays: The Reference.
Longform essays for the decisions that actually matter: where to stay, when to come, how to shape the trip. Written for the American reader planning Ireland properly, by Americans who live here.
Where to stay
- 01
Country Houses At Christmas And In Winter: How To Choose
Which Irish estates are worth the money between November and February, which ones genuinely work with children, which ones we would skip, and what the Christmas packages actually buy you.
10 min read
- 02
The Five Great Irish Country Houses, Ranked And Differentiated
Ashford, [Ballyfin](hotel:ballyfin-demesne), Adare, Sheen Falls, Dromoland. Which one is actually for you.
9 min read
How to shape the trip
- 01
Ireland With Children: The American Family's Reference
How to shape a first Irish trip around children: two bases, a two-hour driving ceiling, hotels chosen for grounds rather than prestige, and the week we would actually book.
13 min read
- 02
Halloween In Ireland: The American Family's Reference
The American family's reference for Halloween in Ireland. Where the night actually comes from, what October 31 looks like with children, and which version of it is worth the drive.
11 min read
- 03
Christmas In Ireland: The American Family's Reference
What Christmas here actually feels like, what closes, where to spend it with children, and the version we would cross the Atlantic for.
11 min read
- 04
St Patrick's Day In Ireland: The American Traveler's Reference
The definitive American guide to March 17 in Ireland. The real rhythm of the day, where to stay, which hours to disappear, and which hours to show up for.
11 min read
- 05
What To Actually Do With That Parish Name
The practical companion to Canon No. 9. Four things to do before you fly, and the shape the day should take when you get there.
7 min read
- 06
What Americans Get Wrong About Being Irish-American
The Ireland your family left is not the Ireland you are visiting. The heritage is real. The continuity is not. What to do with that, on a trip, without grief and without performance.
7 min read
- 07
First Trip To Ireland: The Honest 7-Day Spine We Send Friends
What we tell American friends who are coming once and want to do it properly.
8 min read
Golf
- 01
How To Play Narin & Portnoo Links, The Hanse Restoration On Gweebara Bay
Narin & Portnoo is a 1905 links on the Donegal coast that Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner rebuilt between 2018 and 2020, moving fifteen greens and returning the course to a shorter, stranger par. The club does not publish a scorecard online, so here is what we can tell you and how to plan the day.
7 min read
- 02
How To Play Mount Juliet Estate: Nicklaus, Five Lakes, And A Walled Sixteenth
Mount Juliet is a par 72 Jack Nicklaus Signature Design on the banks of the River Nore in County Kilkenny, about 7,200 yards from the back tees, with five lakes affecting six holes and over 80 bunkers. Here is what the course asks of a visiting American, how to play it, and how it compares to the rest of Ireland's parkland golf.
7 min read
- 03
How To Play The K Club: Palmer North, Palmer South, And Which One Is Your Round
The K Club in County Kildare holds two Arnold Palmer designs under one roof, a parkland course that has hosted a Ryder Cup and three Irish Opens, and an inland links that carried two European Opens. Here is what each course asks of a visiting American, and which one belongs on your card.
8 min read
- 04
How To Play Fota Island: Deerpark, Barryscourt, And A Day That Does Not Need A Long Drive
Fota Island sits on the old Fota estate east of Cork city, two courses on parkland and estuary ground, a par 71 Deerpark that has hosted the Irish Open three times and a shorter Barryscourt for the afternoon you do not want to lose to a long round. Here is what the club publishes, what it does not, and how we use the two courses on a Cork week.
6 min read
- 05
How To Play Enniscrone: The Dunes Course That Out-Duned The Famous Ones
Enniscrone sits on Killala Bay in County Sligo, routed through the tallest dune range on this coast, with a card the club lists at par 73 and 6,833 yards. Here is what the Dunes course asks of a visiting American, how the holes are built, and how to fold it into a Sligo trip.
7 min read
- 06
How To Play Druids Glen: A Parkland Round That Still Decides Four Irish Opens
Druids Glen is a par 72 parkland course in County Wicklow, 7,222 yards from the back tees, designed by Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock and built to host four Irish Opens. Here is what the course asks of a visiting American, how water comes into play, and how to fold it into a Wicklow week beside Druids Heath.
6 min read
- 07
How To Play County Sligo Golf Club At Rosses Point
The Colt Championship Links at Rosses Point is a par 72 that Harry Colt reshaped in 1927 and Martin Ebert touched again in 2024, set on a peninsula with Benbulben at its back and Sligo Bay on nearly every tee. Here is what the club actually publishes, which course to choose, and how to read a links that has been quietly producing champions since 1923.
6 min read
- 08
How To Play Ballyliffin Golf Club Glashedy Links, The Most Northerly Great Links In Ireland
Glashedy Links is the younger, more dramatic of Ballyliffin's two championship courses on the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal, a par 72 carved through towering dunes with Glashedy Rock sitting offshore for most of the back nine. Here is what the course asks of a visiting American, how it differs from the Old Links next door, and why we send groups to the far north of Ireland to play it.
7 min read
- 09
How To Book A Round At Narin & Portnoo Links
Narin & Portnoo prices by category rather than by a single visitor rate, which means the number you pay depends on what you are, Golf Ireland affiliated, a member's guest, or an international visitor without a Golf Ireland card. Here is the published table, the caddie and hire rates, and how we would plan the day.
8 min read
- 10
How To Book A Tee Time At Mount Juliet Estate
Mount Juliet does not publish a standalone visitor green fee. It sells golf through stay and play packages, with corporate and society rates starting from 90 euro, buggies at 60 euro and club hire at 90 euro. Here is how to book it honestly, and what to ask for before you pay.
6 min read
- 11
How To Book A Tee Time At The K Club
The K Club publishes its 2026 green fees by season and by hotel status, its caddie and hire rates in full, and a thirty-day cancellation window that turns into full forfeiture inside forty-eight hours. From April 2027, Palmer North adds a mandatory caddie for groups of two or more.
6 min read
- 12
How To Book A Round At Fota Island Resort
Fota Island publishes a group rate of from 95 euro per person and little else. No individual visitor fee, no caddie list, no stated handicap limit. Here is what we know, what we tell groups to ask for, and how we plan around a published price that only applies to one kind of booking.
6 min read
- 13
How To Book A Tee Time At Enniscrone Golf Club
Enniscrone's 2026 green fee is 290 euro in summer and 185 euro in winter. Booking runs through BRS, with half the fee charged at the time of booking, the balance due thirty days out, and a refund available only if you cancel at least twenty days before you play.
6 min read
- 14
How To Book A Tee Time At Druids Glen Golf Resort
Druids Glen Golf Resort does not publish green fees, caddie rates or handicap limits online. Visitor tee times run through the resort's own BRS Golf tee sheet, and that is where the current numbers live, not on this page and not on ours.
5 min read
- 15
How To Book A Tee Time At Trump Doonbeg
Doonbeg prices its course by calendar band rather than a flat visitor rate, from 250 euro in the shoulder months up to 525 euro on a June to September weekend. Booking runs through the resort itself rather than a third party tee sheet. Here is what Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Ireland has published, and what to confirm before you pay.
4 min read
- 16
How To Book A Tee Time At County Sligo Golf Club
Rosses Point prices its two courses simply and runs its visitor tee sheet through BRS Golf, but it does not publish a deposit policy, a cancellation window, or a handicap limit the way some of its peers do. Here is exactly what the club prints, what it leaves to a phone call, and how we sequence the booking around a Sligo and Mayo week.
8 min read
- 17
How To Book A Tee Time At Carne Golf Links
Carne runs its visitor booking through its own BRS Golf tee sheet, split between the Hackett course and the newer Wild Atlantic Dunes routing, with full payment taken online at the time of booking. The club does not publish a green fee table on its site or on the booking page itself, so this guide tells you what is actually published and what you need to confirm directly.
5 min read
- 18
How To Book A Tee Time At Ballyliffin Golf Club
Ballyliffin's 2026 standard visitor rates are 330 euro for Glashedy Links, 300 euro for the Old Links, and 550 euro for a two round special covering both courses in a single day. Full payment is due at booking, the refund scale shrinks fast as play day approaches, and the club's own tee sheet runs through BRS rather than an email back and forth.
8 min read
- 19
How To Play Trump Doonbeg: Nine Out, Nine Back, And The Atlantic On Sixteen Of Them
Doonbeg is a par 72 links on the Clare coast, laid out through the dunes in a single loop, with the Atlantic in view on sixteen of its eighteen holes. Here is what the course asks of a visiting American, which tees to play, and how to fit it beside Lahinch.
7 min read
- 20
How To Play Carne's Wild Atlantic Dunes: The Newer Routing Through The Big Sandhills
Wild Atlantic Dunes is the Carne routing that ranks among the world's hundred greatest courses. It shares nine holes with the Hackett card and sends the middle of the round deep into the tallest dunes on the property. Here is how to play it, and how to fit it beside the Hackett eighteen.
7 min read
- 21
How To Plan Three Days Around Waterville
The three day shape we book for American golfers coming in for a round at Waterville. Where to sleep, which second course to add, and the day off that turns a long drive into the best part of the trip.
7 min read
- 22
How To Plan Three Days Around Tralee
The three day shape we book around a round at Barrow. A base in or above Tralee town, a morning tee time before the peninsula wind turns, the Dingle afternoon, and Ballybunion half an hour north.
7 min read
- 23
Where To Eat Around Waterville
A village of one street at the end of the Ring of Kerry, which means the list is short, the seafood is the reason, and the reservation matters more than it should for somewhere this small.
8 min read
- 24
Where To Eat Around Tralee
Tralee is a working county town rather than a dining destination, and that is the opportunity. The best tables are out on the bay at Fenit and along the Castlegregory coast, not in the centre.
8 min read
- 25
How To Book A Tee Time At Waterville Golf Links
The club publishes its numbers plainly, which makes Waterville one of the easier marquee rounds in Ireland to budget and one of the least forgiving to change your mind about. A 400 euro weekday fee, a 425 euro weekend fee, full payment taken at the point of booking, and no refunds.
7 min read
- 26
How To Book A Tee Time At Tralee Golf Club
Tralee publishes more of its terms than almost any club in Ireland, and the terms are strict. A 450 euro high-season fee, a fifty per cent non-refundable deposit, a balance due ninety days before play whatever happens, and handicap limits checked at the desk.
7 min read
- 27
Three Days Around Kinsale: The Trip That Makes A €550 Round Make Sense
Old Head is one round. Kinsale is the reason to stay three nights. The harbour walk, Charles Fort, the second golf day, and how to shape a trip so the expensive morning has something around it.
8 min read
- 28
How To Play Old Head Of Kinsale: The Card, The Tees, And The Three Holes That Decide Your Score
Old Head is a clifftop course on a promontory two miles into the Atlantic, and the scorecard is only half the story. Which of the six tees to play, where the round is actually won, and the holes that take a good card apart.
8 min read
- 29
Where To Eat In Kinsale: Three Dinners, One Lunch, And The Michelin Star Worth Planning Around
Kinsale calls itself the gourmet capital of Ireland and for once the slogan holds. The three dinners we book, the harbour lunch, the pub at the end of the walk, and how far ahead an American visitor needs to reserve.
9 min read
- 30
Old Head Green Fees And How To Book: The 2027 Rates, The Season, And The Clifftop Suites
Old Head publishes €550 for eighteen holes in high season, which makes it the most expensive round in Irish golf. The full 2027 rate card, the season dates, the caddie fees, the suites, and how to actually get a time.
8 min read
- 31
Three Days Around Rosapenna: How To Shape A Donegal Golf Trip
Three links, one hotel, and the far north of Ireland. How to sequence St Patrick's, Sandy Hills and the Old Tom Morris Links, where the airports really are, and what to do with the third afternoon.
7 min read
- 32
How To Play St Patrick's Links: Tom Doak's Donegal Links, Hole By Hole
One eighteen on ground big enough for thirty six. The card, the walk, the wind off Sheephaven Bay, and what a visiting American should know before the first tee at Ireland's most talked about new links.
7 min read
- 33
Eating At Rosapenna: The Vardon Room, The Coach House Bar, And The Wednesday Problem
At Rosapenna the hotel is the dining room, and the hours matter more than the menu. What to book, when the kitchen is open, and the one night of the week to plan around.
7 min read
- 34
How To Book St Patrick's Links: 2027 Green Fees, Dates And The Resort Guest Rate
The 2027 season dates, the €380 green fee and the €50 reason to stay at the hotel, the Three Links Ticket, caddies, and what Americans get wrong about booking the most wanted new tee time in Ireland.
7 min read
- 35
Playing Ireland As A Single Golfer
The quiet art of getting on Ireland's great courses as a party of one. Which clubs welcome the single, which times to ask for, how the pairing actually works, and why the solo round is often the best round of the trip.
7 min read
- 36
What A Four Day Golf Trip To Ireland Actually Costs
The real, line-item number for four days of serious Irish golf: green fees, caddies, hotels, the car, the dinners, and the pints. Written for Americans who want the true figure before they start the group chat.
8 min read
- 37
Caddie, Buggy, Or Trolley: How To Get Around An Irish Links
The decision every American golfer gets wrong before the first tee in Ireland: who or what carries the bag. Where buggies are not allowed at all, where a trolley is the smart call, and where the caddie is the whole point.
7 min read
- 38
Three Days Around Portmarnock: How To Shape The Dublin Round
Portmarnock is not a stay-and-play. It is a city round with a peninsula at one end and a Georgian hotel at the other. Three nights in Dublin, one round on the Old course, one round to the south of the city, and a Sunday that behaves like a European weekend.
8 min read
- 39
Where To Eat Around Portmarnock: The Dublin Rooms We Book First
Portmarnock is a city round with dinner in town. The eating problem is not the peninsula, it is which of the four or five rooms inside two blocks of St Stephen's Green you should book for the night of the round, and which pub takes the first pint before it.
7 min read
- 40
Portmarnock Green Fees 2027, Tee Times And The Visitor Season
The club has published its 2027 numbers. 530 euro for eighteen Championship holes with lunch, a visitor season that runs April to September only, and four days of the week where visitors simply do not play. Here is the sequence that gets an American fourball on the sheet.
9 min read
- 41
How Much To Tip A Caddie In Ireland
A quiet guide to what a good Irish caddie is actually worth, and how to hand it over without a speech. Written for American visitors who do not want to underpay and do not want to look uncertain doing it.
10 min read
- 42
Shipping Your Golf Clubs To Ireland
When shipping your clubs to Ireland genuinely improves the trip, when checked baggage on Aer Lingus is still the honest answer, and how to arrive at the first tee at Ballybunion feeling rested rather than logistical.
7 min read
- 43
Renting Golf Clubs In Ireland
The honest case for arriving in Ireland without your own clubs. Where the good rental sets actually live, what to budget, when to reserve, and why, for most first trips, renting is the calmer decision rather than the compromised one.
9 min read
- 44
Which Irish Courses Require A Handicap
How American groups planning an Irish golf trip should think about handicap requirements: which clubs typically ask, how to plan around a mixed-handicap fourball, and how to avoid the one conversation nobody wants to have at check-in.
7 min read
- 45
The Real Dress Code At Irish Golf Clubs
How Irish members' clubs actually dress, why the conventions exist, and how to walk into any clubhouse in the country feeling quietly at home rather than quietly out of place.
9 min read
- 46
How To Book A Tee Time At Ballybunion Golf Club
The Tom Watson round, the Old Course visitor calendar, the Cashen decision, and how a small town in North Kerry sells the most-requested tee time in the country without pretending to be a resort. What Americans need to know before they open the Ballybunion booking page.
9 min read
- 47
How To Book A Tee Time At Lahinch Golf Club
The village course, the online sheet, the euro deposit, and the published 2026 numbers: a 450 euro Old Course green fee, a compulsory caddie in every visiting group, and no buggies at all. What Americans should know before they open the Lahinch booking page.
9 min read
- 48
Three Days At Adare Manor: The Stay Before Or After Ryder Cup Week
A deliberate three-day estate stay for golfers and non-golfers - designed for dates outside Adare Manor's full September 2027 blackout.
7 min read
- 49
How To Play Adare Manor: A Ryder Cup Course Without The Guesswork
A verified golfer's read on Tom Fazio's 7,509-yard parkland: what the estate publishes, what the design asks, and what not to pretend we know before the 2027 Ryder Cup.
7 min read
- 50
Where To Eat At Adare Manor: The Verified Estate Dining Plan
The Oak Room, Carriage House and Ōku - with published 2026 opening windows, current menu pricing and no invented village restaurant.
7 min read
- 51
How To Plan Three Days Around Royal Portrush
The definitive three day itinerary we book for American golfers coming in for a round at Royal Portrush. Where to sleep, where to eat, how to build the round into the day, and how to spend the third morning across the Giant's Causeway, the Antrim coast, or the road south to the Mournes without wasting it.
10 min read
- 52
How To Play Royal Portrush: The Dunluce Links, Calamity, And What The 2019 Open Actually Revealed
The Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush is the round most visiting Americans now try to build a Northern Ireland trip around, and the round they most consistently underclub. Here is what the course actually asks, and what we now do differently after many rounds on it.
10 min read
- 53
Where To Eat Near Royal Portrush After A Round
Portrush and Bushmills have a golf-course problem when it comes to dinner. Here is what we actually book around a Royal Portrush trip, in what order, and why.
10 min read
- 54
Royal Portrush Green Fees, Tee Times And The Visitor Timetable
420 pounds on the Dunluce, 200 on the Valley, payable in full on booking and not refundable. Then the timetable, which has no Wednesday at all. What Americans need to know before they open the Portrush booking page.
9 min read
- 55
How To Plan Three Days Around Lahinch
The definitive three day itinerary we book for American golfers coming in for a round at Lahinch. Where to sleep, where to eat, how to build the round into the day, and how to spend the third morning across the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren without wasting it.
10 min read
- 56
Ryder Cup 2027 At Adare Manor: Tickets, Hotels, Transport And Golf
The page to read before paying: official ticket routes, the September hotel blackout, no on-site parking, 2026 playing costs and every important detail still not published.
7 min read
- 57
How To Plan Three Days Around Ballybunion
The definitive three day itinerary we book for American golfers coming in for a round at Ballybunion. Where to sleep, where to eat, how to build the round into the day, and how to spend the third morning without wasting it.
9 min read
- 58
How To Book Royal County Down: The 2027 Green Fees And Rules
The enquiry form, the £495 green fee, the compulsory caddie and the four-ball rule. What Americans need to know before they write to Newcastle.
7 min read
- 59
How To Play Ballybunion: The Cliffs, The Dunes, And What Tom Watson Understood
The Old course at Ballybunion is the round most American golfers travel to Ireland to play, and the round they most consistently misread on the front nine. Here is what the course actually asks, and what we now do differently after many rounds on it.
9 min read
- 60
How To Play Lahinch: The Architecture, The Blind Shots, And The Wind
The Old course at Lahinch is a puzzle of three architects, two blind par fives, and one Atlantic wind. Here is what the course actually asks of a visiting American, and what we now do differently after many rounds on it.
9 min read
- 61
How To Plan Three Days Around Royal County Down
The definitive three day itinerary we book for American golfers coming in for a round at Royal County Down. Where to arrive, what to eat, where to drink, and how to get back to Dublin or Belfast without wasting the last morning.
10 min read
- 62
Waterville, Shot By Shot: The Course At The End Of The Ring
Payne Stewart called it the finest links course he had ever played. What Waterville actually asks of you is stillness, and the round is longer than the eighteen holes.
8 min read
- 63
Tralee, Shot By Shot: The Palmer Front, The Wild Back
Arnold Palmer said he designed the front nine and God designed the back. What he meant, and what the course actually asks of you when the wind comes off Tralee Bay.
9 min read
- 64
Where To Eat Around Lahinch After A Round
Lahinch is the rare Irish golf town that doubles as a coastal food destination, once you know where the seafood is honest and where the tourist trade has taken over. Here is what we book across three nights in West Clare, and why.
9 min read
- 65
Carne, Shot By Shot: The Course At The End Of The Road
Eddie Hackett's last routing sits on the tip of the Mullet Peninsula in north Mayo, three hours from any airport. It is the wildest links in Ireland, and the reason serious golfers make the drive.
9 min read
- 66
Where To Eat Near Slieve Donard After A Round
Newcastle, County Down has a golf-course problem when it comes to dinner. Here is what we actually book around a Royal County Down trip, in what order, and why.
9 min read
- 67
Where To Eat Around Ballybunion After A Round
Ballybunion is one of the great trips in Irish golf, and one of the least obvious towns in Ireland for dinner. Here is what we actually book around the Old Course, in what order, and why.
8 min read
- 68
Royal County Down, Shot By Shot: The Course That Reads You Back
The Championship course at Newcastle rewards a specific kind of decision-making. Most Americans arrive without it. Here is what we have learned.
9 min read
- 69
Portmarnock, Shot By Shot: The Most Honest Links In Ireland
The Old course on the Sutton peninsula is flat, blind-shot free, and the truest links test in Ireland. Here is what we have learned from returning to it as our round out of Dublin.
8 min read
Region decisions
- 01
Killary Fjord: The Ireland Lonely Planet Finally Noticed
Lonely Planet has named Killary Fjord one of its Best in Travel 2027 experiences. The recognition is deserved, but the way most people see it is not.
9 min read
- 02
The Aran Sweater: Where It Comes From, What To Buy, And Who To Trust
What the stitches actually mean, how to tell a hand-knit from a machine copy in ten seconds, the makers worth crossing the Atlantic for, and how to get yourself to the islands where it all began.
8 min read
- 03
Irish Seafood: What To Order, The Month To Order It, And Where
Ireland exports its best shellfish and eats surprisingly little of it. Here is what to order, the month to order it, the rooms that cook it properly, and what may legally travel home.
7 min read
- 04
Irish Whiskey: Where, What And How To Drink It
Which distilleries are worth a day, the bottles that actually justify the price, the pubs that pour them properly, and how to drink the stuff without embarrassing yourself.
10 min read
- 05
Where To Eat On The Wild Atlantic Way
The coast road as a sequence of meals rather than a list of restaurants. Where to stop between Kinsale and Clifden, how far apart they sit, and which ones justify the detour.
7 min read
- 06
Irish Oysters: Where, When And Which
Native flats and rock oysters, the season that actually matters, the three bays worth driving for, and how to order without hesitating.
7 min read
- 07
Galway At The Table
The city that eats better than Dublin for half the money. The tasting rooms, the market morning, the oyster bars south of the bay, and the order we would eat them in.
9 min read
- 08
Kerry vs Connemara: The Choice Most Americans Get Wrong
Two beautiful Atlantic regions, two completely different trips. Pick the wrong one and you spend the week annoyed.
8 min read
Money, timing, logistics
- 01
Eating In Ireland: What To Order, Where, And What It Costs
The dishes that are actually Irish, the rooms worth booking months ahead, the counters worth walking to, and what a week of eating here costs an American.
8 min read
- 02
Ireland In Winter: The American Traveller's Reference
What November through February actually feels like, what closes, where the season works, and why we would still come.
14 min read
- 03
Tipping, Service Charge And Restaurant Etiquette In Ireland
What to tip in Irish restaurants, what the service charge already covers, why nobody tips at the bar, and how to be generous without looking like you are apologising for something.
8 min read
- 04
How To Get A Table In Ireland's Best Restaurants
Booking windows, deposits, cancellation culture and the ninety-day plan. Everything an American visitor needs to stop losing the table before the trip has started.
8 min read
- 05
What To Actually Pack For Ireland
The version we send friends the week before they fly. Two Americans who moved to Ireland on what to leave at home and what to actually bring.
8 min read
- 06
The Concierge Letter: What To Ask For, And Who To Ask
The exact letter we coach friends to send a hotel concierge in Ireland. What to ask, when to send it, and which requests quietly mark you as a guest worth bending the rules for.
8 min read
- 07
When To Come: A Month-By-Month Honest Calendar For Affluent Travelers
What every month actually feels like in Ireland, the months we book friends, and the ones we politely talk them out of.
8 min read