Do you appreciate Ireland's natural beauty?

Arthur Beesley · 26-06-2014 09:22PM

Yes, particularly of a sunny day.

131spanner · 26-06-2014 09:23PM

Yep, everyday. It really is such a beautiful spot when you stop and look around!

26-06-2014 09:23PM

Ireland Is very beautiful everywhere from Glendalough to the ring of Kerry to west cork, Waterford, Wexford, the lakes in the midlands, the only place that I couldn't warm to was the burren to bare or something. The other thing I like is that you can go a short hop form some famous beach and find a lesser known beach or lake that is just as lovely, but less crowded for example streedagh beach in Sligo absolutely spectacular but not that well known.

Conmaicne Mara · 26-06-2014 09:24PM

Capercaille wrote: »

EU headage payments encouraged farmers to overgraze and destroy the landscape. You should know that.

I was addressing thelad95.

Dave! · 26-06-2014 09:28PM

Just the thread I was looking for!

So I lost my job there last month, and have gone abroad for a few weeks for a holiday, but I'll be back in July. I'm thinking when I get back, I might take the car and go for a drive around the country for a week or two. I've done very little travel around Ireland, most of it when I was a nipper and I can't remember much of it.

Anyone care to propose a decent route from Dublin that might take ~9 days in the car?

26-06-2014 09:38PM

Dave! wrote: »

Just the thread I was looking for!

So I lost my job there last month, and have gone abroad for a few weeks for a holiday, but I'll be back in July. I'm thinking when I get back, I might take the car and go for a drive around the country for a week or two. I've done very little travel around Ireland, most of it when I was a nipper and I can't remember much of it.

Anyone care to propose a decent route from Dublin that might take ~9 days in the car?

That a fantastic idea, I tend to like wild lonely places so maybe not what your looking for, however where you go try and find the lesser know places near by.

danniemcq · 26-06-2014 09:54PM

Dave! wrote: »

Just the thread I was looking for!

So I lost my job there last month, and have gone abroad for a few weeks for a holiday, but I'll be back in July. I'm thinking when I get back, I might take the car and go for a drive around the country for a week or two. I've done very little travel around Ireland, most of it when I was a nipper and I can't remember much of it.

Anyone care to propose a decent route from Dublin that might take ~9 days in the car?

Wild Atlantic way. All the way from Kerry to Donegal

FURET · 26-06-2014 10:06PM

ScumLord wrote: »

Ireland can be a very beautiful country, I think even in the mist and rain it has something about it you just don't get anywhere else, but this idea that Ireland is a natural and unspoilt environment is just nonsense.

It's all just farm land, everything natural has been stripped away for food production, in reality this is an island that's been completely ravaged by human industry, it's just been that way for a long time. There's very little left in the way of unspoilt beauty and underneath the nice looking scenery there's horrible abuse of it through pollution and very little consideration for what wildlife has survived humans turning up on the island.

That's why I like it in the rain, the misery of it seems fitting for the damage we're doing to the land that sustains us.

Definitely. We have practically no natural woodland, vast expanses of the country (Tipp, Laois, Offaly for example) are just bland grassland, the "mountains" are deforested and covered with man-induced peat, and the country is littered with one-offs.

For natural beauty, I think of Canada, Norway, the US, Switzerland, Maupiti and Bora Bora, Ethiopia, Venezuela. For coastline, Norway beats the utter shight out of Ireland. Compared with these places, there's nothing mindblowing about Ireland. Compared with places like the Netherlands however, then yes. England is actually nicer than Ireland in fairness, or at a minimum, just as nice.

Fat Christy · 26-06-2014 10:09PM

Far off fields are greener and all that jazz.

murpho999 · 26-06-2014 10:28PM

Lived in Holland for seven years.

Really made me appreciate what Ireland has.

Even a simple Dart journey I take every day takes me breath away as it gets to Killiney Bay. Beautiful in both directions and has a different look with different weather and light conditions.

murpho999 · 26-06-2014 10:31PM

FURET wrote: »

Definitely. We have practically no natural woodland, vast expanses of the country (Tipp, Laois, Offaly for example) are just bland grassland, the "mountains" are deforested and covered with man-induced peat, and the country is littered with one-offs.

For natural beauty, I think of Canada, Norway, the US, Switzerland, Maupiti and Bora Bora, Ethiopia, Venezuela. For coastline, Norway beats the utter shight out of Ireland. Compared with these places, there's nothing mindblowing about Ireland. Compared with places like the Netherlands however, then yes. England is actually nicer than Ireland in fairness, or at a minimum, just as nice.

Bloody hell you sound bitter.

Wicklow Mountains
Glendalough
Connemara
Donegal
Kerry
The Burren
Giant's Causeway
Numerous beaches.

Just to name a few. Don't see why you can't just admire them as well as the places you mentioned , world is a beautiful place.

Dave! · 26-06-2014 10:37PM

danniemcq wrote: »

Wild Atlantic way. All the way from Kerry to Donegal

Sounds like a plan, reckon I'll do this!

Is it worth also spending the money and going over to Skellig Michael, Aran Islands, etc., or is the coastal drive enough?

Kinda annoys me that ya have to pay into loadsa things, e.g. Doolin cave. I just want to go into a fooking cave and have a look around, 15 quid for it!

Cienciano · 26-06-2014 10:50PM

Capercaille wrote: »

Non-native conifer plantation on left, not that nice.

I agree, I was in Yosemite Park 5 years ago, the view down the valley at Half Dome and El Capitan were ruined by the non native yellow thistle that was on my left.

BeerWolf wrote: »

Prefer Canada tbh - Forests vs HILLS HILLS AND MORE HILLS any day.

Ah here. Canada ffs!
You're saying canada, almost 150 times bigger than ireland, has nicer parts? No, I just don't believe you, that's just not possible!

danniemcq · 26-06-2014 10:50PM

Dave! wrote: »

Sounds like a plan, reckon I'll do this!

Is it worth also spending the money and going over to Skellig Michael, Aran Islands, etc., or is the coastal drive enough?

Kinda annoys me that ya have to pay into loadsa things, e.g. Doolin cave. I just want to go into a fooking cave and have a look around, 15 quid for it!

For the islands it all depends on weather and if there is something going on the day or night you are in.

Double edged sword if its a big night there won't be space for you to stay on some of them, if its a quiet night though there will be space but is it worth staying in.

Also if the weather is crap you could get stuck on the islands, might not be as much an issue off Galway but other ones its a nightmare

Balmed Out · 26-06-2014 10:52PM

danniemcq wrote: »

Wild Atlantic way. All the way from Kerry to Donegal

The Wild Atlantic Way is from Kinsale in Cork.

FURET · 26-06-2014 10:57PM

murpho999 wrote: »

Bloody hell you sound bitter.

Wicklow Mountains
Glendalough
Connemara
Donegal
Kerry
The Burren
Giant's Causeway
Numerous beaches.

Just to name a few. Don't see why you can't just admire them as well as the places you mentioned , world is a beautiful place.

I'm not saying I don't admire them. I'm just saying they're not "all that" and there are very few coastal features that don't also occur elsewhere. The burren - meh. Glendalough - nice u-shaped valley, of which there are many across the world. Wicklow mountains - rounded peaty hills much like similar high hills in the other islands of this archipelago. You get nice beaches in many countries. Skelligs and much of Kerry are fantastic, fully agree with that.

But in the main, I think it's just romanticism, a bit of nationalism, and a bit of a complex for people to go on about Ireland's beauty. I think the fact that you think me "bitter" simply because I disagree with you is evidence that you're a bit emotional about ould Ireland.

Plenty of places on earth are bleak and barren, while others like Ireland and England are very nice, but rarely stunning. Glaciers emptying into Norwegian fjords however, or South Pacific high atolls, or some of the North American national parks - those are where the jaw droppers are and I think most dispassionate people would agree with that.

Irish Guitarist · 26-06-2014 11:03PM

I take walks along the Barrow track from Carlow to Kildare and I love the scenery. What pisses me off is the amount of litter strewn everywhere. You'd think when you walk seven or eight miles you'd eventually reach somewhere that scumbags haven't discarded empty Budweiser bottles or crisp packets or where someone hasn't started a fire in the grass to cook the fish they've caught but there's no end to it.

I love nature and it doesn't take a great deal to impress me. I'd just love to go somewhere that hasn't been ruined by scumbags.

Balmed Out · 26-06-2014 11:06PM

FURET wrote: »

Plenty of places on earth are bleak and barren, while others like Ireland and England are very nice, but rarely stunning. Glaciers emptying into Norwegian fjords however, or South Pacific high atolls, or some of the North American national parks - those are where the jaw droppers are and I think most dispassionate people would agree with that.

I think what people are saying is that for the size of the Country Ireland is very beautiful and indeed very diverse. If I travel in any direction from clonakilty I get quite a different type of scenery be it around clonakilty itself, baltimore, the mizen, kilmurry, lee valley, kinsale etc. All areas with great beauty and all very different from eachother.
Is there a spot in Ireland as beautiful as those table top mountains of Venezuela, the drakensburg of south Africa or the Norwegian glaziers. Probably not but do any of those countries have as much and varied beauty spots in such a small area as Ireland does?

I love travelling and seeing those sights but in most countries there's a whole lot of dull between each one.

27-06-2014 09:10AM

I think one thing people forget is how easy and accessible the countryside is in Ireland, I was hill walking above Glencullen cant think of the name of the hill now, anyway I sat down for lunch, deer where looking over at me complete beauty and silence all around you feel a million miles away form civilisation, yet when I stood up you could look down on Dublin.

danniemcq · 27-06-2014 10:03AM

Balmed Out wrote: »

The Wild Atlantic Way is from Kinsale in Cork.

yeah but who wants to go to cork....

nah just kidding, thanks for the correction i wasn't 100% sure

ScumLord · 27-06-2014 02:04PM

danniemcq wrote: »

Wild Atlantic way. All the way from Kerry to Donegal

I'd like to try that gumball style.

FURET wrote: »

For natural beauty, I think of Canada, Norway, the US, Switzerland, Maupiti and Bora Bora, Ethiopia, Venezuela. For coastline, Norway beats the utter shight out of Ireland. Compared with these places, there's nothing mindblowing about Ireland. Compared with places like the Netherlands however, then yes. England is actually nicer than Ireland in fairness, or at a minimum, just as nice.

Ireland is unique in that it is a totally humanised landscape. I like England, it is certainly beautiful in it's own right, I like that they separate urban from rural and have proper town planning, they actually have a countryside. They have many of the same problems we do as well though, many of their species are going extinct just like ours are, they just have a bigger amount of land which hides their mistakes.

Ireland and England though similar are different though, you know you're on a bigger landmass in the UK, there's something more intimate about Ireland, there's no vast expanses like you get in other countries.

jacksie66 · 27-06-2014 02:09PM

This post has been deleted.

neil_hosey · 27-06-2014 03:50PM

Ireland has some amazing places..Every county has.

Cycled around the beara peninsula last year, was the best holiday Ive ever had..

also this beach is the finest ive ever seen, and its in ireland!.. apologies for the árse.

http://oi61.tinypic.com/29zapu0.jpg

Dave! · 27-06-2014 07:43PM

neil_hosey wrote: »

Ireland has some amazing places..Every county has.

Cycled around the beara peninsula last year, was the best holiday Ive ever had..

also this beach is the finest ive ever seen, and its in ireland!.. apologies for the árse.

http://oi61.tinypic.com/29zapu0.jpg

Where is that?

The beach, not the arse!

thegreatgonzo · 27-06-2014 08:02PM

jiltloop wrote: »

. Do some hill walking around Killarney, go see the Skellig Islands, the Burren, the West coast....... etc etc there's incredible beauty in Ireland.

QUOTE]

I think Skellig Mhichil is the loveliest place in Ireland I've ever been. Those Puffins!

Daveysil15 · 27-06-2014 08:08PM

I drove up to Glendalough recently when the weather was good. I hadn't been up there in years and had forgotten how stunning it is. I picked up a couple of German hitch hikers on the way home and they commented on how beautiful the place is.

I've started getting into landscape photography lately so am planning on making more trips to other parts of the country to take some photos. There are some lovely images in the photography forum of various locations around the country. It has only just dawned on me how little of this country I've actually seen.

Do you appreciate Ireland's natural beauty?

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