Going for Golf

Dublin - Ireland’s fairway city

Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links

So, where to next? Still in north County Dublin and not far from the Island and St Anne’s is Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links. It may be just eight miles from the centre of Dublin but this is a bastion of old-world charm that seems far removed from urban hustle and bustle. The links course here, pock-marked with dramatic dunes and hazy brown gorse, was originally a nine-hole golf course that was part of the Jameson family estate (of Irish Whiskey fame). Like a small drop of that sweet drink, the course has matured wonderfully, especially since it was revamped as a Bernhard Langer design in 1995. Measuring 6,350 metres, it is a grand sweep of elevated greens, dog-legs and challenging approaches, all buffeted by a brick sea wind.

Another treat nearby is the hotel, originally called St Marnock’s House, and its gardens, one of which has a plaque unveiled by King Edward VII on his last visit to the estate in 1907. A sense of history abounds here: Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of the wireless, was a son of Annie Jameson, while Scot Jim Mollison, husband of pioneering aviator Amy Johnson, took off from Portmarnock Beach, on August 18, 1932, for the first solo east-to-west crossing of the Atlantic. Visit, and breathe it in.