Daisy

Location

Castlegregory is a renowned Irish seaside destination overlooked by Beenoskee and Stradbally Mountain. Castlegregory has something for everyone, families will love the long sandy beach at Brandon Bay, the Maharees need no introduction to surfers and the village itself has great nightlife with friendly lively pubs. Ferriters and Bolands are known for traditional music while Fitzgeralds has DJs most nights in the summer and weekends throughout the year. Castlegregory also has a supermarket, chemist, laundrette, The Beach Box (gift & toy shop), hairdressers, furniture shop, and is home to a surfboard shaper. Just outside the village there is a workshop for windsurf sail repairs. There are some excellent restaurants in the village serving fresh fish, quality Irish meat and vegetarian dishes and even Chinese food. Check out the Stay YNA App for our top tips

Castlegregory is a gateway to the sandy peninsula called the Maharees, a unique warren of sand dunes that connects every aquatic environment you could wish for – from the sheltered waters of Tralee Bay to the wild seas of Brandon Bay that are open to the North Atlantic and often receive long rolling swells, which can provide excellent surf given suitable wind and tide conditions making the area is a mecca for watersports, there’s great surfing, kitesurfing and windsurfing, it hosts many competitions throughout the season. In contrast the other side of the spit, the blue flag beach at Sandy Bay offers activities for kids with snorkelling, dinghy sailing, kayaking, jet-skiing, a sea trampoline, pedal boats, etc. and is less than a 5 minute drive from the village.

At the end of the spit lie the Seven Hogs islands which are littered with dive sites that have featured in National Geographic. A 5 star PADI certified Waterworld dive centre is located at the fishing harbour at Scraggane Bay. The dive centre has it’s own restaurant, Islands Seafood, famous for its fresh seafood and organic vegetable dishes complete with breath taking scenery. Waterworld and Jamie Knox Surf schools are found at Dumps beach just past Sandy Bay on the left. On the right of the spit you will find O’Conners Stables, here you can rent horses to trek through the sand dunes or gallop along the endless 13 km beach of Brandon Bay.

The Maharees peninsula is a very special place, you feel like you are on an island and it almost is, at one point only a small bridge connects it with the mainland. It is dotted with campgrounds and caravan parks and has the atmospheric Green Room Pub in Kilshannig and the famous Spillanes Bar in Fahamore which has epic seafood & steaks and has always been a popular spot for visiting surfers.

A nine hole links golf course and clubhouse is also located nearby, to the west of the village on the shores of Lough Gill, a freshwater lake. This stunning lake is just 3 mins walk from the centre of the village and is an important wildlife spot with wildfowl, whooper swans and the main breeding ground of the rare Natterjack toad. Just 10 minutes drive from the village into the woods of Glentenassig you are rewarded with the most spectacular lakes in the mountain. Curan lake has a wooden boardwalk all the way round that takes about an hour of a leisurely walk. The perfect place for a picnic.

View our travel guide for Cloghane