[Article originally featured on The Green Travel Guide]
Home to just over 7 million people, swathed in ancient myths, known for its storytellers, musicians and writers, famous for its Guinness, traditional music and the ‘craic’, the island of Ireland makes for the perfect slow travel experience. Island life happens at its own pace outside of the hustle of its major cities, and even there people find time to connect. This week we travel to the Wild Atlantic Way on the west coast to explore what makes this green island so perfect for regenerative travel adventures.
Get your FREE Wild Atlantic Way Green Travel Guide (24 page pdf with detailed 12 day itinerary including detailed recommendations for slow stays, local eats, community-led tourism activities, highlights, sustainable travel tips, curated reading list and more) here.
An Irish Roadtrip
It’s 10 years ago and I’m sitting in Donegal at the northern tip of Ireland, in Rathmullan House – a crumbling old Manor House big on gentle hospitality, its lush gardens opening up to dunes and golden sand beach beyond. Earlier that afternoon a helicopter had landed. No-one blinked an eye.
I’m with my father, sister and daughter, on an impromptu family road trip exploring the north of the island, connecting my daughter to her Irish roots.
It’s evening time, the restaurant is quiet, just a couple of tables busy – though it’s early enough yet. At the table next to us is George Lucas and his partner. I do a double-take. Then realise, of course. This part of the island is often used by film-makers. That’ll explain the helicopter then.
Ireland is an island rich in storytelling – whether film, stage or page. From Joyce to Yeats, Oscar Wilde to Beckett, from clear-eyed Edna O’Brien to the lyrical Seamus Heaney, Ireland has always had an enduring love of story. Playwrights like George Bernard Shaw, Brian Friel, J.M. Synge or filmmakers like Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan and Martin McDonagh have all brought the island to life on stage and screen.
Ten years ago there was a growing sense of optimism and renewal in the country. Films like Brooklyn, Room, the blockbuster series Game of Thrones, along with Vikingsand Penny Dreadful were all being filmed in Ireland bringing a media boom. The country was becoming more pluralistic.
Fast-forward to today and there’s a powerful revival underway of the Irish language, with pop-up Gaeltachts and Irish-language films and TV series coming to the fore. At the same time, this small country is still struggling with economic and demographic issues, a housing crisis has fostered discontent, and Ireland is figuring out how to carve a new identity in uncertain climate times.
But head to the Wild Atlantic Way on the west coast, and you’ll still feel like you’re stepping back in time. Travel out to the islands that dot the coastline and you’ll leave modern life even further behind.
If you can spare a week or ideally 12 days, then here’s a coastal road trip that will take you from Rathmullan House in the North along the west coast and south to West Cork, island-hopping along the way, travelling slow and immersing in Irish cultural life, dipping into the local food and traditional music scenes in a gentle exploration of a country steeped in storytelling. Download the full Wild Atlantic Way Green Travel Guide here.
To read the rest of the post and for more itinerary details visit The Green Travel Guide here.
