Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [489]
Ghan House ( 042-937 3682; www.ghanhouse.com; Main Rd; s/d from €85/190; restaurant 7-9.30pm Mon-Sat, 1-3.30pm Sun; ) This 18th-century Georgian house has 12 guestrooms, each tastefully decorated with period antiques and original artworks. Book one of the four rooms in the main house for plenty of character and old-world charm – the annexe just doesn’t have the same appeal and its rooms are overpriced. The restaurant is renowned for its excellent, classical food (five-course set menu from €55) and themed banquet nights. There’s also a cookery school.
McKevitt’s Village Hotel ( 042-937 3116; www.mckevittshotel.com; Market Sq; s/d €105/160; ) With 17 modern rooms all kitted out in light creams and whites, this hotel offers quality accommodation and decent rates. It’s a bit old school, but you get more for your money than at some of the pricier options around town.
Kingfisher ( 042-937 3716; www.kingfisherbistro.com; Dundalk St; lunch mains €6-16, dinner mains €16-27; 11.30am-10pm) Set in a beautifully restored grain store, the Kingfisher serves up modern Irish food with a hint of Asian influence. Go for Thai spiced pork with sticky rice and sweet Asian salad, John Dory with a lime and lemongrass risotto or more traditional oven-baked salmon or duck confit. It’s all extremely good.
Food for Thought ( 042-938 3838; Dundalk St; mains €10-12) A popular lunch stop with locals, this relaxed deli-cum-cafe serves a range of delicious down-to-earth dishes such as lasagne, pizza, sandwiches and salads in very generous portions. It’s also a great place to pick up the makings of a tasty picnic.
Bay Tree ( 042-938 3828; www.belvederehouse.ie; Newry St; mains €20-25; 6-9pm Mon-Sat & 1-3pm Sun summer, closed Mon & Tue winter) Simple, modern food made from seasonal local ingredients is on the menu at the Bay Tree, a lovely little place featuring plenty of fresh fish as well as more exotic meats such as wild boar.
Other popular spots for food:
Magee’s Bistro ( 042-937 3751; www.mageesbistro.com; Tholsel St; mains €18-24; 10am-3.30pm Tue-Fri & 7-9pm Tue-Sun) A local favourite serving honest, down-to-earth steaks, seafood, chicken and fish.
Oystercatcher Bistro ( 042-937 3922; www.theoystercatcher.com; Market Sq; mains €19-22; 6.30-9.30pm Mon-Sat, 5-8.30pm Sun) Renowned for the superb quality of its oysters, this white-tablecloth restaurant does local seafood just right.
DRINKING
PJ O’Hares ( 042-937 3106; Newry St) Behind the old-style grocery at the front is a classic, stone-floor pub with a blazing fire. There’s music most nights in summer and the owners have recently opened a restaurant (mains €13 to €20) upstairs serving excellent oysters and the likes of steak-and-Guinness pie and shellfish linguine.
GETTING THERE & AROUND
Bus Éireann ( 042-933 4075) has services to Dundalk (€6.50, 50 minutes, four to five daily Monday to Saturday).
There’s great cycling around the Cooley Peninsula; rent a bike and pick up maps of cycling routes at On Your Bike ( 087 239 7467; per day/week €20/80). Bikes can be delivered to your accommodation or the tourist office.
Return to beginning of chapter
COUNTY CAVAN
Cavan is paradise for boaters, anglers, walkers, cyclists and painters. Known as the ‘Lake Country’, there’s supposedly a lake for every day of the year; between the steely grey waters is a gentle landscape of meandering streams, bogs and drumlins. Famed for its excellent fishing, Cavan also has some spectacular paths leading through the wild Cuilcagh Mountains, which are the source of the 300km River Shannon. The county’s quiet, rural charm is best appreciated from the water, no more so than from the tranquil confines of the Shannon–Erne Waterway.
History
Magh Sleacht, a plain in northwest Cavan near the border village of Ballyconnell, was a hugely important Druidic centre in the 5th-century