Ireland : The Emerald Isle

The very first thing you will notice as you look out the plane window is just how green Ireland is. Field after field will show in forty shades of green....just like the song says. It is no wonder that this island is called the .Emerald Isle.. If you are flying into Dublin you will then notice just how bustling and thronged with people this vibrant city is. No wonder it is now considered to be one of the hot cities to visit in Europe. However, if you really want to see the .real .Ireland you must travel to the west coast. The south west is where most tourists head, to see Killarney and the Ring of Kerry, but we think the north west and in particular Donegal, may well prove far more rewarding.

 If you are thinking of visiting Ireland this year or indeed any time in the near future these Ireland cottages are in an absolute must visit location. They are perched on a cliff top in west Donegal, nestled snugly into the Donegal rockscape and commanding panoramic views of sea, mountain and off-shore islands. It is no exaggeration to say that when you crest that driveway and drink in your first delighted impressions you will wonder have you found a little bit of Heaven at the end of that magic rainbow.

It is important to remember that not all Ireland holiday cottages capture that quaint .turn the clock back. concept that is so appealing to American tourists to Ireland and which is the hallmark of these authentic Irish holiday cottages. Much of the development taking place in Ireland today, while welcome in a broad sense, fails to make that emotional connection with the traditional thatched cottage concept that is synonymous with a way of life that has indeed died away and will never be again.

As you make your way through the Irish countryside you will be amazed at the phenomenal changes that have taken place in the Emerald Isle over the last fifteen years or so. Modern new Irish cottages seem to be springing up everywhere. There are many city dwellers, and indeed many visitors to Ireland, who bemoan the fact that the beautiful scenery of the west of Ireland has been intruded upon by these often modern cottage developments.  However there are many others, particularly rural dwellers themselves, who welcome these holiday cottages in Ireland and see them as a vibrant sign of life, compared to the depressing days of mass emigration and high unemployment when new brightly painted cottages in Ireland were a rare sight indeed and were more likely to have been replaced by crumbling walls and boarded windows.

Many American visitors to Ireland make the mistake of confining themselves to the traditional and established tourist resorts such as Killarney and Connemara, which are now inclined to be somewhat over-crowded and commercialised. They would be well rewarded if they were a bit more adventurous and considered venturing further north to stay in holiday cottages in Donegal. County Donegal is in the extreme northwest of Ireland and besides being truly spectacular is also the least commercialised county in Ireland.

As in other parts of Ireland not all Donegal holiday cottages capture that special something that touches a chord in the heart of Irish Americans and offers them that satisfying emotional experience that they are looking for. In truth only a traditional thatched cottage really fills that need. Perhaps it is an echo back to the Great Famine or perhaps the memory of stories about the Old Country handed down through the generations.

Of all the cottages in Donegal it is our view that Donegal Thatched Cottages, Cruit Island, Kincasslagh, best captures that elusive emotional connection that Irish Americans are seeking. These Donegal cottages are a rare jewel that will delight the visitor and send him home satisfied that he has indeed made that emotional connection with his past ancestry.

Those who like to play a round of golf will find the course on Cruit Island truly spectacular. There is a magnificent view of sea, mountain and off-shore island from virtually every tee and green. Although it is only a 9-hole course it plays like an 18-hole course because of the variable wind conditions and the fact that the back nine tees are mostly quite different to the front nine. Check out the wonderful par-3 sixth hole and the fifteenth on the return nine. It is world class. Enjoy your holiday at Donegal Thatched Cottages.