Republic of Ireland...Wild Camping ?

Yorkshirelass

Guest
Just found this site....................so HI FOLKS !
Am booked on ferry in May and land Dublin then turn left..........to follow coastline [as far as is possible] and maybe N. Ireland aswell. Any ideas for wild camping en route please? Will need to stick fairly close to coastline due to increasing cost of fuel !! Plus, is there such a thing as a cheap campsite/facility to shower any where ?

Any info/ideas will be very welcome :)
 
Yorkshirelass said:
Just found this site....................so HI FOLKS !
Am booked on ferry in May and land Dublin then turn left..........to follow coastline [as far as is possible] and maybe N. Ireland aswell. Any ideas for wild camping en route please? Will need to stick fairly close to coastline due to increasing cost of fuel !! Plus, is there such a thing as a cheap campsite/facility to shower any where ?

Any info/ideas will be very welcome :)
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What ferry are you going on, Im pricing up at the moment they are so expensive.
 
Can't help with sites, but can offer one piece of advice - do the ring of Kerry anti-clockwise. Thats the way the coaches do it so you will travel with them and not meet them head on. We toured there last year and were very glad we did ; the scenery is stunning and the people so friendly and helpful. Enjoy your trip!!
 
The only way we know of to keep the ferry costs down is to use the Tesco reward vouchers. £10 of vouchers is worth £40 of the cost. This info is a bit late for you but it is worth doing. We love Ireland and are new to motorhoming and so this will be our first trip. Sites are very expensive so we will try wild camping for the first time.Happy hols to you!
 
i found the cheapest irish sea crossing was p&o liverpool to dublin,not the quickest at eight hours but two meals are in the price
 
yeah and I just booked the same P&O one for only £59 one way: the cheapest ferry there is. For the other routes,all bujt Holyhead are near enough ten hours. All are expensive compared to the Dover end of the Channel- but not so expensive when compared to the rest of the Channell and the North Sea. But remember Irish Ferries; Stena,P&O and Norfolk Lines have a monopoly and operate what is suspiciously like a cartel.
As to where -well don't wild about Dublin- dangerous unless you know where.Possibilities are at ferry terminals tho' and maybe along the quays downstream.
Lots of places along coast ok b ut keep wqell away from anything like a hossing estate or areas where people congregate late night-avpoid discos, late bars etc likethe plague. Small ports may be ok-like harbours but be careful of being treated like Travellers or mistaken for same-there is a long history of hatred here.Northern Ireland is fairly ok but the same rules hold good- suss out the lie of the land and if in doubt, seek elsewhere.Height barriers proliferate alas. Mostly ignore signs-we do! ask in the pub or tousist offices- even the Gardai station! Enjoy my country.
 
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Yorkshirelass said:
Just found this site....................so HI FOLKS !
Am booked on ferry in May and land Dublin then turn left..........to follow coastline [as far as is possible] and maybe N. Ireland aswell. Any ideas for wild camping en route please? Will need to stick fairly close to coastline due to increasing cost of fuel !! Plus, is there such a thing as a cheap campsite/facility to shower any where ?

Any info/ideas will be very welcome :)
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we have used the p & o dublin - liverpool & found it very good. it is mainly a truckers route the grub is excellant with free tea & coffee during the trip.
on night crossing you must have a cabin , extra cost.
for wild camping the hook light house in co wexford. between tramore & bonmahon after dunabrattin (local name boatstrand) there are 2 laybys overlooking the sea, ok for overnight.
further up the coast is helvic head also ok.
if you go to west cork the beara penninsula is worth doing again wild camping spots where you can get away from it all.
hope this is of some help.
if you want to go inland for a bit graiguenamanagh in co kilkenny is a good spot in car park by the river.there are always boats ie barges tied up there, a few yards to town & pubs . hope some of this helps.
enjoy your trip
please leave the country as you find it if not better.
tony
 
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Camping in SE Ireland

Hi. Brilliant location and very safe a few miles from New Ross, Co. Wexford. St. Mullins. Co. Carlow, on the banks of the river Barrow, plenty space, used by loads of campers. Mick
 
Co Waterford and Carlow

Hi A brilliant location at the Saratoga pub in Woodstown Co Waterford. A lovely country pub with good music and on the beach. Intoduce yourself to Bill and he will make you very welcome. Another very nice place Garryhill Co Carlow 3 fishing lakes if you would like fishing. There is a fee small fee €10 to stay there but it is heaven. No road noise and very relaxing.
 
safe nights ireland

hello,
my name is nelleke and I am from the netherland. on the internet I found the organization safe nights ireland.
If you become a member for 12,50 euro per year you can stay at sites near pubs, restaurants and parkingplaces for 10 euro a night
the site Safe Nights Ireland
good luck nelleke
 
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Yorkshirelass said:
Just found this site....................so HI FOLKS !
Am booked on ferry in May and land Dublin then turn left..........to follow coastline [as far as is possible] and maybe N. Ireland aswell. Any ideas for wild camping en route please? Will need to stick fairly close to coastline due to increasing cost of fuel !! Plus, is there such a thing as a cheap campsite/facility to shower any where ?

Any info/ideas will be very welcome :)
Click to expand...


Yorkshirelass: if you want to register on our site we have a usermap with Wild Camping spots in Ireland North and South, also loads of local people in all area's to advise.

motorhomecraic.com

Ally

(If this is to spammy Phil, please delete. :D)
 
When I was truck driving I used to stop at Mother Hubbards Cafes. The ones I know are Cashel, Wexford and Kilcogan. They are clean, the grub is good and they have free showers. They have plenty of parking for an overnighter but are popular in the morning so may not be good for a lay in.
 
Some very good information above, and i'm sure you'll have a great time.
However, things in Ireland are getting very expensive and places to stay are getting harder to find, imo.

Kerry County Council have embarked on a strict anti-traveller policy and the scene has changed dramatically.

Years ago, out around Dingle, there were scores of places to stay. One place, near a lighthouse to the east of the town, was alright, but, bear in mind, that, even the horseboxes for runners at Dingle races have to be guarded at night.
Everything seems to be tightening up. Officially not allowed to sleep at the racetrack ( Ballintaggart), a mate of mine was kipping somewhere nearby, when he heard a noise. There were about thirty travellers from Limerick on the scene, so he gave them thirty euro to " mind the horse". There was no trouble.

A tea-girl said she intended staying down the lane near the lighthouse and old tower, but got frightened and ended up parking on that street in Dingle near the Emlagh Hotel and coastguard station.

Btw, I don't want to be too alarmist; I'm a traveller myself - Tralee is full of us!
That's the problem, really. It's not really an urban occupation, and with the ever diminishing sites and decent places to halt, we're getting crowded into unsuitable spots, imo.
For safety, families tend to stick together, so when one moves, all move. Then KCC get reports of a "huge convoy on the road" and the hastle begins.
Personally, I like to be on my own and thus i try to befriend some farmers who let me pull into their yards ( out of sight, if possible).

There now, if that hasn't put you off, nothing will! :D
Don't be too worried! I often came across young folk camping ( in tents) right on the coastal walk near the beach. They reckoned they had a great sleep, no bother at all!

The towns are where all the noise is.

sean rua.

ps

it always rains!
 
:king:Cead Mile Failte 100,000 welcomes . Ye will indeed be most welome in my country but (and you've got som,e good advice already) be warned away from anything like housing estates and check carefully locally for advice. remember too that unfortunately too many people equate motorhomers with travellers ( who have been treated as second class or even no class citizens for too long) and alas, there is a sizeable section of travellers that is bad-like as in very bad.Sch is the reputation of these that thjey do a great disservbice to their own and others too and especially motorhomers. I stress Travellers are not all are bad ...many are among them are friends and among the nicest people i know but the bad ones are there as are the bad in the rest of society and too often us motorhomers are classed with them which its one reason you may encounter dislike.
Unfortunately even small town can be dangerous and it doesn't have to be because of travellers. Depends on disco nights late uncontrolled drinking which can happen anywhere but is really the curse of the bigger towns and cities, Ireland sadly, is nowadays much cursed with purely destructive, riotous folk, mostly young, mostly rotten sick drunk and determined on vandalism and worse.And the East Coast is where it's worst of all, but beware bigger towns and cities- Limerick, Galway and Cork in particularfind asafe secure car park if visiting them.
Sorry to paint such a glum dire picture but we do have a lawless, badly policed or perhaps under policed country where the State and it's judiciary are either powerless or unwillig to curb lawlessness and/or treat offenders as harshly as to creat a worthwhile deterrent5.and currently although this is unlikely to affect ye, an average of a murder story a week sometimes even more than that, uncurtailed violenceand seemingly unchecked and unlimited attacks on the aged in their homes this problem i worse in Nothern Ireland) epecially on the isolated elderly! SA to the rate of theft breaks ins and burglary... horrendous.
That said there are many many places where you will be safe the trick is to find them,-to know where they are and only experience will show as you go along. I find the South hand South East, and South Coast best a bit dustant but not so very far really if you go there direct from Dublin.
The Westand North West is pretty well ok too especially if you stay away from galway and its immediate environs. Similarly, Northern Ireland is pretty ok especially if you stay clear of Belfast and the pubs are more than warming and helpful.
Yes i know it's an alarming pcture i paint but you and other [otentail do need to know the score. Know too that in the main, you WILL be welcomed and befriended.
Ireland has produced like so many other countries, a sizeable section of the population that thinks nothing of breaking and and every law known to civilization..theft violence, drunkness all fuelled by a drug culture allied to deprivation and unemployment.
So if you are still coming after all that great and like most you'll probably be ok and get a warm welome from decent folk warmer largely than in most other countries.
It's so sad about the bad lot but there they are and here we are and to be honest I've been wild camping for 50+ years yes 50 much of here in Ireland lots of it in other european countries and only in Ireland have i been molested, attacked, threatened and even injured.
last bit of advice: head straight in Northern Ireland and the country in between.....especially along the Erne Shannon canal./ It will be as safe as anywhere, really welcoming and well worth visiting and its a paradise in its own right. :welcome:
 
i had to join this forum to reply to the above post...

Sorry defitzi but you are talking utter drivel.

It is people like you putting visitors off traveling to Ireland.

I have camped, caravaned and motorhomed across Ireland for many years without incident..

The above post by defitzi is the ranting moan of someone deluded...
 
:eek:
:D

In my opinion, and in my experience, the friendliest people in all Ireland are those from Donegal. They put my own to shame.

Alright, they mightn't speak for three weeks, but when they start, they don't stop!
I like them a lot.

sean rua.
 
We spent last September touring Ireland and, apart from the abysmal weather, it was wonderful. We got the overpriced ferry over from Cairnryan to Larne and spent a couple of days in Belfast before heading off around the coast and returning via an equally overpriced ferry from Dublin to Holyhead. We found wildcamping spots quite easily from beaches to town car parks and everything in between, with no problems at all. If in doubt, just ask anyone - the Irish are the friendliest (and funniest) people on earth, and generous to a fault. We spent two nights on a site in Clifden to shelter from the hurricane, we used our ACSI card (available from Vicarious Books, and worth it's weight in gold for out of season touring). We also spent a night in a site in Galway as it was late in the day and it was too busy to just park up. Loved Galway, well worth a visit. Stock up as food is expensive, but enjoy the Guiness and Smithwicks, we did. Above all, relax and enjoy, I guarantee you will return.
 
Irish ferries have sent me some blurb saying they are offering good deals for mid-week sailings to Dublin.
 
I used to do a fair bit of wilding in Ireland. We used to go over in May for the fishing. Generally around the Lough Derg and river Shannon area. We never had any bother and just parked up at Marinas, pubs (well they always had to be a pub nearby) or by the lake or riverside. Nobody batted an eyelid and we were always made welcome. I did however get shot once whilst fishing on the banks of the Shannon. Some idiot in the woods shooting rabbits with a 12 bore didnt stop to think what was on the other side of the trees!
 
we do 2/3wks every year over there ,would go over more if the ferrys were affordable,living is very expensive and finding some where to dump your rubbish is an art, but wilding as never been a problem we love athlone and the central loughs we have found some nice lonely beach's on the west coast.
Never had any trouble or problems
 
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