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Author Nicola Brady shares a chapter from her new book, Great Irish Road Trips, which is an essential guide to discovering Ireland’s most unforgettable journeys – from iconic coastal drives to hidden gems off the beaten track.
Here, she outlines the best trip northwards from Leinster, towards the Cooley Peninsula, taking in sights like the Omeath Greenway, the ancient Hill of Faughart and stopping for the best seafood in The Glyde Inn…
THIS LESSER-TRODDEN CORNER of the country is an excellent spot for a chilled-out drive, where you won’t be covering a huge amount of ground but will stop at lovely spots along the way.
Bring a bike with you to cycle the Omeath Greenway; pause for a walk on the beach, and explore the ancient Hill of Faughart. But whatever you do, be sure to factor in a seafood feast at The Glyde Inn, right on the water’s edge with the Cooley Peninsula in the background.
You could also start this route in Dublin, weaving up the north county coast through Rush, Lusk and Skerries. However, that’s one of those few routes that’s almost better by train, the railway line passing right alongside the shore (and even over the water itself, between Malahide and Donabate). So it’s probably better to head up the M1, and you’ll be in Drogheda in less than an hour.
Need to know:
- **Duration:** 1 day
- **Distance:** 148km/92 miles
- **When to go:** Winter, when the roads are quiet
- **Start at:** Drogheda
- **Finish at:** Drogheda
Quick view:
Day 1: Start off in Drogheda before driving up the Louth coast through Clogherhead and Blackrock, then circumnavigate the Cooley Peninsula before driving back down to Drogheda.
Before you set off from Drogheda, take some time to explore the museums that are right in the middle of town. The Millmount Museum is set inside a giant Martello tower, standing on top of a 3,000-year-old mound, which some believe to hold the burial remains of the warrior poet Amergin.
Here, you’ll find plenty of wartime memorabilia, like muskets used in the Sieges of Drogheda and bayonets from the Battle of the Boyne. There’s also a scale model of the Battle of Waterloo, because the Duke of Wellington (who was born in Dublin) has family ties in Drogheda.
Over in the former governor’s house, the Drogheda Museum Millmount has loads of quirky displays about the local area. There’s a room dedicated to eighteenth-century guild and trade banners, spaces replicating traditional homesteads and glass cabinets filled with vintage telephones, retro call cards and a Morse code machine. Elsewhere in the courtyard, there are artists’ studios where you can buy locally made pieces like knitwear, paintings and silk scarves.
In the town itself, you can stroll around Highlanes Municipal Art Gallery, where there’s a rotating series of contemporary art exhibits. The space itself is beautiful, too, with stained-glass windows and an excellent café. Drogheda was once a walled city, and just down the road, you can see one of the few parts that’s still intact, the thirteenth-century tower of St Laurence’s Gate. There’s a little street food spot just around the corner, too.
Back in the middle of town, St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church is well worth a visit – it’s an impressive building, yes, but it’s also the home of the preserved head of Oliver Plunkett. His head was thrown into a fire after he was hung, drawn and quartered in 1681, and later retrieved by his friends – you can still see the burn marks when you peek into the shrine.
Once you’re ready to hit the road (and that sight may well make you want to leave town), head out on the R166 towards Termonfeckin, driving to Clogherhead. If you feel like stretching the legs, park up at the Clogherhead Cliff Walk just outside of the town. It’s a fairly short route, following the bumpy trail out along the shore, but you get fantastic views out over the water, with the Mourne Mountains in the distance.
Otherwise, continue up the Coast Road, which passes right alongside the water with some scenic stops along the way – drive up to Dunany Point if you want a nice vantage point. You’ll soon be in Annagassan, which was the capital of Ireland in Viking times. At The Glyde Inn, you can take a virtual reality walk back in time with their Viking VR Experience, where you’ll step into the shoes of Bjorn the Bear to see what life was like at this time.
Even if you don’t, it’s well worth a stop. At the front, The Glyde Inn is every bit the traditional pub, but at the back, it opens out to a seafood restaurant set right on the water. The chefs jump over the wall to forage for seaweed and samphire to put on the menu, and the seafood they serve up is as fresh as can be – think slippery razor clams, oysters and giant crab claws. If you’d rather have dinner here at the end of the day, simply drive back down this way instead of the route back down the M1.
Back on the road, you’ll pass through Castlebellingham and up the Dundalk Road, diverting through Blackrock to get the best sea views. You’ll bypass Dundalk and then head over the Táin Bridge to reach the Cooley Peninsula. Start off by heading straight over the roundabout to the Hill of Faughart, which was the birthplace of St Brigid – they hold a procession here every year on Brigid’s Day, and you can visit St Brigid’s Well. But it also has fantastic views out over the peninsula, and though it hasn’t been excavated, is believed to be a hillfort dating back to the Bronze or Iron Age.
Follow the road you drove up, then turn left to drive the southern stretch of the peninsula on the R173. If you didn’t eat before, Carlingford Brewing Company is a great spot for a wood-fired pizza, or you could turn off just before to head down to Castlecarragh Bay Beach. If not, continue to Grange, then turn off to drive to Templetown Beach, a sheltered bay with excellent rock pooling. With wide sands, it makes for a great walking beach, even in the winter.
Drive back up to meet the road you left, with the mountains rising in the distance, and then turn right to continue on the loop. Turn left onto the R176 and the road will take you right along the edge of Carlingford Lough, through the town of Carlingford itself. You’ll drive past the twelfth-century Carlingford Castle, with the mountain of Slieve Foye behind – some say it’s the sleeping giant Fiann Mac Cumhaill. You can visit the interior of the castle, which overlooks the harbour.
After this point, the road takes you to Omeath, but there’s an alternative option – the Carlingford Lough Greenway. If you brought the bikes with you, hop out at Carlingford and cycle the almost 7km (4.3 miles) along the coast, for gorgeous views of the water – you’ll also stop right by the Hot Box Sauna Carlingford, where you can build up a sweat with a view of the water and the Mourne Mountains.
Back in the car, drive up the R173 in the direction of Newry, but turn off at Ferry Hill to loop off the main route, zip over the border and drive up to the Flagstaff Viewpoint in Co Armagh. There, you’ll get an incredible view out over the countryside, down the mountains and over to the water. The road up is lovely, too – it’s narrow, but weaves through the forest until you reach the viewpoint, where there’s loads of parking.
From there, drive back down into the Republic, and you’ll pass by the Ravensdale Forest Recreation Area, where there are beautiful walking trails, including the short Ravensdale loop that’ll take you to the ancient standing stones. You can also take a detour here to head to the Proleek Dolmen, a megalithic tomb that seems to defy gravity.
When you meet the old roundabout you started the loop on, you can turn right on the M1 to take the quick route back to Drogheda, or follow the same route if you want dinner in The Glyde Inn.
If you’re doing the former, you can take a brief detour to head to Monasterboice High Cross and Round Tower, which was founded in the fifth century and has incredibly well-preserved crosses with historic carvings.
From there, it’s just a 10-minute drive back into Drogheda.
Nicola Brady is. Her new book, Great Irish Road Trips is out now, published by Gill Books.
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