Catholic saint? Pagan goddess? Mythical brewer? A break in Kildare sheds light on a woman now honoured with her own bank holiday on 1 February “She really believed that if she brewed a lake of beer, it would solve the problems of the world …” When publican and brewer Judith Boyle, whose family has been in pubs and beer for five generations, utters these words in her namesake bar in the commuter town of Kildare (a 30-minute train ride from Dublin), you’d be forgiven for thinking that she was talking about an ale-making relative. But in fact she’s referring to St Brigid, a woman who – I was lear ..read more

Soon after a painful separation, this traveller had to overcome fears of solitude – but the mountains, seas and bars she found helped her let go Voices outside the van woke me in the night. I lay still, my mind racing. There had been no one around when I parked at the end of a single track next to a wild beach. Campervanning alone as a woman was going to bring challenges, I knew, and sleeping in remote spots was high on the list of them. Eventually an engine started, they drove off and there was silence. The next morning’s reward was a sunrise of shifting colours over a deserted beach in Coun ..read more

This corner of Ireland has been bucking the trend of rural decline for decades, and continues to draw in creative types in search of a more sustainable way of life One summer, many years ago when I was 17, I met a Dutch girl in a pub who was backpacking around Ireland. She said she was staying in hostels and was off to Doolin in County Clare the next day. Somehow, I hadn’t realised it was that easy to strike out and see the world. The next morning I took the bus to Doolin and began a lifelong love of independent travel and the open road. I never saw the Dutch girl again despite a full search o ..read more

We asked 23 Guardian travel writers to share their best experiences of 2023, from elegant spas and an art deco cinema to a new ‘megalith’ and a futuristic hotel There are many places where you expect to see jaw-dropping architecture, but the quiet Brittany countryside isn’t one of them. As we walked toward Hotel l’Essenciel (not a typo, ciel means sky) with its 36 rooms, or “nests” suspended around its central structure, with the flying-saucer shaped restaurant La Table des Pères at its foot, I had to wonder if I’d stepped into a parallel universe or on to another planet ..read more

This handsome city on the west coast has atmospheric waterside pubs, medieval architecture, and a passion for sport and the performing arts A fresh Atlantic breeze blows up the estuary and rustles through a thicket of young lime trees by the Treaty Stone, the rock that witnessed the end of the Williamite war in the autumn of 1691. Just ahead, a seven-arch limestone bridge spans the Shannon River as far as the thick barrel towers of King John’s Castle. To the right, Limerick City’s quays and avenues bustle with new bars, hotels and restaurants. It’s a scene that contrasts starkly with the damp ..read more

We all become our parents, but my wife would prefer that it didn’t happen this holiday My wife is smiling. We’re on the final stretch to my dad’s house on our midterm break in Derry and I can’t resist pointing out places of interest. ‘That’s where the Tillie & Henderson factory used to be,’ I say. I’m just about to tell her that it was mentioned in Das Kapital, but she says it first, while rolling her eyes. She’s been coming here with me for 15 years and I have a habit of repeating myself. Worse, since the first 10 years of these visits involved my dad driving us around and telling these e ..read more

In a country where historic buildings appear around almost every corner, these lesser-known treasures offer brilliant visits without the crowds The Rock of Cashel, a medieval stronghold that once served as the seat of Ireland’s kings, is undeniably magnificent. Perched high on an outcrop overlooking lush Tipperary farmland, its round towers, high crosses and 13th-century Gothic cathedral attract a steady stream of visitors. But it’s not the only Irish castle or abbey to draw large crowds. Even off season, there are long queues for internationally recognised sites such as Bunratty, Clonmacnoise ..read more

The wild west coast from Cork up to Donegal has captivated writers from Yeats to Synge and Charlotte Brontë – as well as a host of lesser-known talent ‘Go to the Aran Islands. Live there as if you were one of the people themselves; express a life that has never found expression,” was, according to the poet WB Yeats, how he persuaded the playwright John Millington Synge to discover his muse – the desolate beauty of the Aran archipelago. Whatever was the true genesis for Synge’s Atlantic coast hiatus, his times on Inishmaan culminated in the critically acclaimed Playboy of the Western World (190 ..read more

With surfing, e-biking, kayaking, hiking and history, we join an all-action family break around County Cork’s spectacular bays, headlands and beaches At first, there is some fussing from my 10- and 12-year-old sons. “Will the water be too cold?”, “I don’t want to wear a wetsuit”, “Are there even any decent waves?”… But once their young surf instructor, Josh Mahony, appears with two boards under his arms and the kind of shoulders that suggest he could paddle south to Spain and back in his lunch break, there is only silence as they follow him into the waves. Some hours later, having caught many ..read more

After filming ended, Luke Mee took the set where Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson drank and rebuilt it as a working pub – complete with donkey The setting is instantly familiar. There’s a small donkey who likes to mingle with the locals, a low-raftered pub and a wild Achill Island coastal setting visible through a small sash window. However, the real-life version of JJ Devine’s pub from The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s surprise Hollywood success from 2022, differs from its onscreen portrayal in a number of ways. The bar is located on a vast plain of lush fields in a remote village ..read more