{"id":206631,"date":"2025-12-23T10:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/206631\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T10:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T10:16:09","slug":"second-best-some-lesser-known-top-destinations-in-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/206631\/","title":{"rendered":"Second best? Some lesser-known top destinations in Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of Ireland’s best-known destinations have serious competition from the second in line. <\/p>\n

Deanna O’Connor shares some of Ireland’s best-kept secrets.<\/p>\n

Captivating cliffs\u00a0<\/p>\n

The best known: The Cliffs of Moher, County Clare<\/p>\n

The best-kept secret: The Cliffs of Sliabh Liag, County Donegal<\/p>\n

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The best-kept secret: The Cliffs of Sliabh Liag, County Donegal.<\/p>\n

The Cliffs of Moher <\/a>are one of Ireland\u2019s best-known tourist attractions, and undoubtedly, they are stunning. However, the lesser-known sea cliffs on the side of Sliabh Liag (or Slieve League in English) mountain in County Donegal <\/a>are almost three times higher. The stunning scenery on the walk towards them offers views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Sligo Mountains, Donegal Bay, and across to County Leitrim. From the top of Sliabh Liag, the cliffs rise to 609 meters (1,998 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean, with waves crashing below.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the views, you can skip the walk and drive directly to the Cliffs Centre, where you\u2019ll find lots of information on history and culture, a well-stocked craft shop, and if you\u2019re lucky, you might even catch a traditional music session.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To get the most out of walking in the area, it\u2019s advisable to book a local guide who will have lots of fascinating anecdotes to share. Experience in mountain and hill walking is advised for those who venture out to reach the top of Sliabh Liag along One Man\u2019s Pass and the Pilgrim\u2019s Path.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ancient pathway is thought to have been a place of pilgrimage even before Christianity reached Irish shores, and there are still remains of the early Christian monastic site high on the slopes of Sliabh Liag. It is thought to be associated with an ancient legend of two boatloads of Egyptian Coptic monks who set sail and were never heard from again until a professor from Iceland came across an old illustrated manuscript that described a voyage and the place the monks had left. A delegation from Iceland in 1948 toured Teelin, Sliabh Liag, and the surrounding areas and confirmed that it matched the manuscript\u2019s description\u2014the adventurous monks had sailed from Teelin around 400 AD.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another fascinating reminder of Ireland\u2019s history is the word Eire spelled out in stone on the ground. During World War II<\/a>, although Ireland was neutral, it allowed a free fly zone for Allied aircraft, and the stone wording was placed around headlands across County Donegal as a navigation aid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Majestic mountains<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s Highest Peaks: Carrauntoohil (1,038.6 m\/3,407 ft) \u00a0and Knocknapeasta (988 m\/3,241 ft) in the McGillycuddy\u2019s Reeks range, County Kerry<\/p>\n

Third place: Mount Brandon (952 m\/3,123 ft), Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry<\/p>\n

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Third place: Mount Brandon (952 m\/3,123 ft), Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry.<\/p>\n

Climbing Ireland\u2019s highest peak, Carrauntoohil, is very achievable during the summer for anyone with a decent level of fitness and a good pair of hiking boots. It\u2019s advisable to book a guided ascent with a reputable guide such as Piaras Kelly, who runs Kerry Climbing. Piaras is also a member of the mountain rescue team and knows the mountains like the back of his hand, taking more experienced mountaineers out on ice climbs during the winter months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next highest peak outside of the McGillycuddy\u2019s Reeks range is Mount Brandon, still within County Kerry, on the neighboring peninsula, near the popular tourist destination of Dingle<\/a> town. There are a number of different approaches of varying difficulty and length, so depending on which angle you tackle it from, it can be anything from a four to six-hour journey. You can book a guided ascent, leaving from Cloghane on the north side of the Dingle Peninsula, but it is pretty simple, direct, and less challenging to tackle from the Dingle side if you want to take it on without a local guide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The summit of the mountain has long been known as a place of pilgrimage, and in Pagan times the harvest festival of Lughnasa was celebrated here. The mountain is now named after St Brendan the Navigator<\/a>, who is said to have spent time here before setting out on his legendary voyage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The path up the mountain from Ballybrack, just a few miles outside of Dingle town, is marked out by 14 stations of the cross, providing welcome natural resting points to break up the walk. They are numbered, too, which helps to track progress.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As always, in Ireland’s outdoors, you need to be prepared for the weather to change for the worse. A local tip is to start off early in the morning, as the cloud tends to come down on the mountain in the afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hike is a rewarding one, with the strenuous effort rewarded by stunning 360-degree views, including the Blasket Islands. On a good day, the views have been said to extend as far as the Aran Islands<\/a>, off the coast of Galway to the north, and all the way south to the Iveragh mountains, out into Cork. If you want to add to your walk, you could also take in the ancient Cos\u00e1in na Naomh path, which leads from the beach at the village of Ventry, (where pilgrim boats once landed), to start their journey towards Mt Brandon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information see www.kerryclimbing.ie<\/a> or www.gokerry.ie<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Second city\u00a0<\/p>\n

Capital city: Dublin, pop approx 1.4 million<\/p>\n

Second city: Cork, pop approx 210,000\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Second city: Cork, pop approx 210,000.<\/p>\n

Any resident of Cork will tell you, in the distinctive sing-song accent, that they consider it the real capital of Ireland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cork people\u2019s pride in their city is excellent. With a booming science, pharma, and technology cluster around the city, it has brought an influx of vibrant young professionals to the area, along with shops, restaurants, and a social life to match.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boutiques like Olori (131 Oliver Plunkett Street) house the chicest of international design alongside Irish designers like Roisin Linnane. It adds to the city\u2019s reputation for style, built by stalwart favorite Samui (17 Drawbridge Street), which has long been a favorite of fans of brands such as Goat, Yves Salomon and Dries van Noten.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cork\u2019s reputation for food is unmatched, with the infamous Ballymaloe<\/a> Cookery School and restaurant, one of the cornerstones in the Irish food scene, just a 20-minute drive from the city center. In the city center, the Japanese haute cuisine of Ichigo Ichie (No5 Sheares Street Tel: +353 21 427 9997) is a must-visit for foodies. Chef Miyazaki\u2019s original restaurant\/takeaway, Miyazaki (1A Evergreen Street. Tel: +353 21431 2716) provides a more budget-friendly option, and the lemon ramen is the stuff of legend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not forgetting the English Market on Princes St<\/a>, which is worth a stroll around to soak up the atmosphere, even if you aren\u2019t shopping for provisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For music fans, a great time to visit is during the citywide Sounds from a Safe Harbour Festival (soundsfromasafeharbour.com).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local actor Cillian Murphy curated the last installment of the biennial festival, and a variety of free and ticketed concerts took place in venues across the city ranging from the LE James Joyce, (an Irish naval ship), to Crawford Art Gallery to the atmospheric St Luke\u2019s Church.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of Ireland’s best-known destinations have serious competition from the second in line. Deanna O’Connor shares some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,2674,2673,2672,43],"class_list":["post-206631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-entertainment","tag-irish-news","tag-irishcentral","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}