Golf travel
Golf in Ireland
Ireland's south-west and west coasts hold one of the greatest runs of natural links on earth — Ballybunion, Lahinch, Waterville and more — strung along the Wild Atlantic Way.
Best May–Sep for daylight; Apr & Oct quieter; wind and rain possible any month
Ireland is a links pilgrimage to rival Scotland — and for many golfers it's *the* trip: towering dunes, firm running turf and famously warm welcomes strung along the Atlantic coast. The south-west (Kerry and Clare) holds the densest concentration of world-ranked links — Ballybunion, Lahinch, Waterville, Tralee, Doonbeg and Old Head — most played as a road trip along the Wild Atlantic Way.
Our guides run from the south-west links that anchor any Kerry–Clare tour (Ballybunion, Lahinch and Waterville, the remote Ring of Kerry masterpiece Payne Stewart loved) up to the north's mighty Royal County Down and Royal Portrush, and across to Portmarnock, the great championship links on Dublin's doorstep.
Destinations
County Kerry
Ballybunion golf guide: playing one of the world's great links
Tom Watson's beloved Old Course, on the towering dunes of the Kerry coast. How to play it, when to go, how visitors book, and how to fit it into a south-west Ireland tour.
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County Clare
Lahinch golf guide: 'the St Andrews of Ireland'
Old Tom Morris and Alister MacKenzie's classic Clare links, home of the quirky Klondyke and Dell holes. How to play it, when to go, and how visitors book.
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Northern Ireland
Royal County Down: playing the world's greatest links
Often ranked the #1 links on earth, at the foot of the Mountains of Mourne. How visitors play it, when to go, and how to build a Northern Ireland links tour.
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Northern Ireland
Royal Portrush golf guide: the Dunluce Links & the Open
Harry Colt's Open Championship links on the Antrim coast — home of Calamity Corner. How visitors play it, when to go, and how to pair it on a Causeway Coast tour.
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County Dublin
Portmarnock golf guide: Dublin's great championship links
The revered links on a peninsula north of Dublin — a long-time Irish Open host now under R&A consideration for a future Open. How visitors play it, when to go, and the Dublin links cluster.
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County Limerick
Adare Manor golf guide: Ireland's 2027 Ryder Cup resort
The Tom Fazio-rebuilt parkland at JP McManus's five-star Limerick resort — host of the 2027 Ryder Cup. The course, stay-to-play access, when to go, and the south-west Ireland trip around it.
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County Cork
Old Head golf guide: clifftop golf on a Kinsale headland
A one-of-a-kind course on a headland jutting two miles into the Atlantic, with nine holes on cliff tops 300 feet above the ocean. The course, how to play (and stay), the season and getting there.
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