heritage and architecture
Ireland has megalithic structures and other prehistoric remains of the highest order. The Iron Age ring fort of Dun Aengus on the Aran Islands is one of the star attractions, but there are countless other interesting and well-preserved sites.
Ireland is also blessed with some fine early Christian architecture. Skellig Michael monastery is one of the best preserved early Christian sites in Europe. A feature unique to Ireland are its round towers, dating from the 9th to 12th centuries and usually part of a monastic settlement. These thin stone towers, commonly 25–30m high with a conical roof, served as bell towers and places of storage as well as a lookout. There is a fine example at Killala in County Mayo.
Round towers such as this one at Killala are a distinctly Irish medieval form of ecclesiastical architecture (Route 2, Stage 4)
The later Christian architecture of Ireland is also impressive. Muckross Abbey, County Kerry, and Ross Errilly Friary, County Galway, remain as particularly fine monastic ruins.
A fortification to look for from an earlier period is the crannog. These lake island fortifications date from the Iron Age through to medieval times. There are particularly good examples at Kiltooris Lough (Route 1, Stage 8) and on Achill Island (Route 2, Stage 6).
Fast-forwarding to the 18th century, Ireland has more than its fair share of grand houses. Bantry House in County Cork dates from this period. There is also some fine 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture in Ireland.
At a more prosaic level, although the traditional whitewashed thatched Irish cottage is slowly succumbing to modernisation, some good examples still survive, particularly in Donegal.
Culture
Literature
Ireland has a great tradition of Gaelic literature, much of it hailing from the Atlantic coast. Good translations are, however, hard to find. You could try Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s 1949 novel Cré na Cille which has new translations as Graveyard Clay and The Dirty Dust. For poetry, try Máirtín Ó Direáin’s Tacar Danta/Selected Poems. Perhaps more accessible is the Irish contribution to literature in English. The island has produced four Nobel Laureates for literature: William Butler Yeats – who had strong ties with the Sligo area, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Another great of Irish literature with ties to the Atlantic coast is John Millington Synge whose one-act play Riders to the Sea, set in the Aran Islands, was first performed in 1904. For a more contemporary perspective, the trials and tribulations of life in Ireland since the financial downturn of 2008 have sparked a revival in novels and short stories. Writers such as Sarah Baume, Kevin Barry and their contemporaries are an effective antidote to any over-romantic view of life in Ireland.
Appendix D contains some suggestions for reading before, during and after your trip.
Gorse flowers on the hills above Lough Swilly (Route 1, Stage 4)
Gaelic sports
Gaelic football and hurling are the two most popular sports in Ireland. Both are fast and skilful games where endurance also counts. Gaelic football is a little like a cross between rugby and soccer, played on a pitch with H-shaped goals. Hurling is a stick-and-ball game played on the same pitch. The hurling stick is axe-shaped and the game far more aerial and physical than games like hockey.
Irish music
For visitors, the most common place to hear Irish traditional music is the pub. In fact some areas, such as Doolin in County Clare, seem to be building a tourist industry based almost entirely on pub music. It always pays to ask for local advice about the best venues.
Getting there
By air
The major international airports are Dublin, Shannon (near Limerick) and Belfast (Belfast International and Belfast City). Shannon is within a few kilometres of the routes in this book. Of the smaller airports, Derry/Londonderry, Cork, Knock in County Mayo, and Kerry airport offer good access to the Wild Atlantic Way. Donegal also has an airport, at Carrickfinn, near Dungloe, which currently has a handful of flights per day, mainly to Dublin.
Flying with a bike throws up no difficulties peculiar to Ireland. Most airlines will charge a special baggage fee for a bike, which will usually have to be paid at the time of booking. The bare minimum to pack a bike for flying is to take off or reverse the pedals, turn the handlebars sideways, let down the tyres, and lower the seat and handlebar stem. The bike will have to be packed, at the very least, in something to protect other baggage from the oily parts – such as an all-enclosing plastic bag. A bike-sized cardboard box (these are freely given away at most bike shops) can be used for better protection. Check ahead with the airline for packing requirements. Then arrive early, be relaxed and friendly with the check-in staff, whatever happens, and – just in case of a mishap – be insured.
Dublin airport is some 10km north of the city centre. The ride into town is along busy main roads and requires extreme care, especially if you are tired after a long flight. It is also not currently well signed for cyclists but the situation should improve. Check the Transport for Ireland journey planner for up-to-date directions (www.journeyplanner.transportforireland.ie).
By sea
Ferries can be a practical and economical way of getting to the Emerald Isle but the only ferry port with good access to the Wild Atlantic Way is Cork and that is currently only served with ferries from France. However, there are rail connections from both Dublin and Belfast (see below). The easiest way to get from Dublin Port to the heart of the city is to ride – follow the city centre signs until you reach the north shore of the Liffey where you can pick up the cycle path.
For ferry company contact details, see Appendix A.
Getting to the Wild Atlantic Way
If you arrive in Dublin there are direct rail connections to Cork, Galway, Sligo and Westport. A change of trains may be needed to reach Limerick, Tralee or Ballina in County Mayo. If arriving in Belfast there are regular rail services to Derry/Londonderry. Dublin has two main railway stations. If you are heading to Cork, Limerick, Tralee, Killarney, Galway, Westport or Ballina you will need to go to Dublin Heuston, which is a couple of kilometres west of the town centre on the south bank of the river Liffey. For services to Sligo or Belfast (with onward connections to Derry/Londonderry) go the more central Connolly Station, on the north side of the river a few hundred metres inland from the landmark Customs House.
Public transport options around the capital are limited if you have a bike with you. Only folded cycles are allowed on suburban tram system (the Luas) and on city buses. You can take a cycle on the suburban train network (DART) between 10am and 4pm on weekdays and any time at weekends.
Visas
At the time of writing, citizens of European Union countries and most Western countries do not require a visa to enter Ireland or Northern Ireland. Non-UK or non-Irish nationals do require a passport or national identity card. But all these arrangements are subject to change following the UK’s 2016 decision to leave the EU. UK citizens currently do not, strictly speaking, need a passport to enter the Republic of Ireland (Northern Ireland is part of the UK in any case),
