Stranded in Ireland

Go Ireland:When the sun shines where are the best places to swim and stay along our coast? ALANNA GALLAGHER finds out

Donegal

The county is littered with gorgeous sandy beaches and numerous on-the-beach accommodation options. For a family holiday in beach heaven try the village of Dunfanaghy where you can stay at Arnolds Hotel and blow the cobwebs out of your hair with a gallop across Killahoey Strand or take it slow with an amble round McSwynes Gun coastal loop walk, an immersion in the raw beauty of Horn Head and Sheephaven Bay.

If country houses are more your style the lawns at Rathmullan House roll onto the beach. And if you’d like to get away from it all – perhaps with a large group – why not stay at Cuan na Rí resort, a holiday village half way between Carrigart and Creeslough. These holiday homes have access onto 2km of gently sloping sandy beach at the Inner Beach and also to Tra Mor beach, one of the county’s best beaches. You’ll probably have it all to yourself.

Cost:two nights B&B and one dinner in Arnolds Hotel (see arnoldshotel.com or tel 074- 9136208) costs €156pps. This includes a free packed lunch and walking guide for McSwynes Gun coastal walk. Two nights B&B and one dinner at Rathmullan House is from €245pps (tel 074- 9158188, rathmullanhouse.com). Two nights self-catering at Cuan na Rí (cuannari.com or tel 087-2213768) costs from €450, seven nights €750.

Sligo

The recently opened Strandhill Lodge and Suites is beside the county’s surfing magnet of Strandhill. The setting is spectacular with most of its 18 rooms offering balconies from which to drink in the seascape below while Queen Maeve’s tomb atop Knocknarea helps frame the scenic vista.

Strandhill is a vibrant village but the lodge and suites is better suited to couples or groups than families. There is no bar or restaurant on site but the Venue next door is an old-fashioned pub that has pints of plain and live music on weekends.

Next morning explore the megalithic sites of the Carrowmore tombs. Afterwards, you can detox in the village’s seaweed baths and just drink in the fresh air with long beach walks.

Cost: B&B in a deluxe double room with balcony at Strandhill Lodge and Suites costs €129 per night (strandhilllodgeandsuites.com or tel 071-9122122).

Mayo

The Lodges at Mulranny Park Hotel offer views over one of Ireland’s finest expanses of beach and across Clew Bay. The holiday homes have use of the hotel’s facilities, its leisure centre, pool and hot tub should the weather turn.

Set on the edge of Mulranny village it is a short walk to Daly’s pub where the Guinness is superb.

A short drive to the townland of Currane will let you walk in the Devil’s Footprints, said to have been made when he was driven across the bay from Croagh Patrick by Saint Patrick. You can climb the mountain too, if you’re tempted with a large crowd gathering on Reek Sunday, the last Sunday in July.

Cost: three nights in Mulranny Park Hotel at a railway lodge sleeping six is from €650. Seven nights in a woodland lodge sleeping six costs up to €982 in high season. Tel: 098-36000 or see mulrannyparkhotel.ie.

West Cork

Barleycove Blue Flag beach is one of Ireland’s best-known stretches of sand and Barley Cove Beach Holiday Apartments are perfect for the reluctant self-caterer, an idea that fast loses its appeal if you get stuck on kitchen duty.

The beauty of this accommodation is that you’re adjacent to the Barleycove Beach Hotel where all manner of pub grub and in-house dining from seafood platters to steaks and chips is available all day. It’s also a great place to gather for an evening aperitif or an after dinner digestive. Each of these contemporary properties has an open fire – a warming treat on cool evenings.

Cost: the apartments are available on a seven-day basis only in high season. A three-bed unit is available at €525 for the first week in July. The apartments are available through Dream Ireland (see dreamireland.com or tel 064-6641170). Electricity at Barley Cove Beach Holiday Apartments is payable to the manager when collecting your keys and is charged at €5 per day for May-August and €7 per day for the rest of the year.

Galway

Sunnybank Cottage is one of three beautifully decorated properties operated by Connemara Rentals within 100 metres of the water and only a two-minute walk to Clifden Bay and harbour. The beach is about 1km from the house.

Seaside Cottage, overlooking Streamstown Bay, on Connemara’s Sky Road, is a sister property and just metres from a shore that’s great for walks. It sleeps up to nine. Omey Strand is just three miles away and when the tide is out you can walk out to Omey Island.

Cost:Sunnybank Cottage sleeps six and costs €950 per week. Seaside Cottage sleeps up to nine and costs €1,250 per week and has availability over the August bank holiday weekend for a five-night stay (July 30th to August 4th) at €950. Tel: 095-21437 or connemararentals.com.

Clare

Burke’s Armada Hotel in Co. Clare overlooks Spanish Point Beach and much of the spectacular Clare coastline. The hotel is minutes from this large stretch of white sand that is popular with walkers, families and surfers. Steve Staunton, Jack Charleton and Bernard Dunne are all fans of the place.

There is a playroom for children aged four to 12 where staff offer face-painting and colouring and there are Wii and Playstation facilities for older kids. It is open from 4.30pm to 6.30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays only and reopens from 7pm to 10pm.

For couples the hotel’s tranquillity suites are set far from the madding crowds and offer floor-to-ceiling windows where you can enjoy the views from the comfort of your bed.

Cost:mid-week at Burke's Armada Hotel two nights B&B plus one dinner costs €129 pps. With this offer two children under 12 get to stay and dine for free if they share their parents' room. B&B in a tranquillity suites costs €280 per night. Tel: 065-707 9000 or see burkesarmadahotel.com.

Wexford

Kelly’s Resort Hotel and Spa on Rosslare Strand offers five miles of sandy beach accessed from the premises. Take long, decompressing walks or even go for an invigorating morning dip followed by a long thaw in the hotel’s outdoor Canadian hot tub, which opens at 8am.

The resort is renowned for its family-friendly welcome, so much so that there is no family availability until September 11th unless you fancy your chances and go on its waiting list.

But there is also a couple’s retreat side to the business – with accommodation out of sight and sound of the kids. The children are always organised into activities and not evident around the place, says reservations manager Eileen Doyle.

There are Espa and Clarins treatments in the spa, two pools and 18 holes of golf to enjoy.

Cost:two nights B&B for two people at Kelly's Resort Hotel and Spa with two dinners costs €612. Tel: 053-9132114, or kellys.ie.

Kerry

Grace Cottage, outside Dingle in Co Kerry, is a renovated cottage that offers compelling views as well as across-the-road access to Beenbawn Beach, a golden sandy stretch at the mouth of Dingle harbour.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom property sleeps eight. You can take a cliff walk into Dingle village, an excursion over fences and fields which takes 20 to 30 minutes to complete, or you can walk along the so-called back road – a route that gives you gorgeous views overlooking Dingle’s harbour. This will take you 35 to 40 minutes – enough time to work up a thirst that you can then slake in John Benny’s pub.

Cost:a week in the house costs €2,584. Tel: 00-1-9543 081048 or see homesandvillas international.com.