Ireland Golf Courses

One of the world's great links, 20 minutes from Dublin. The wind changes everything, every time.

DP World Tour Irish Open host in a Jacobean castle estate. The most decorated parkland in Northern Ireland, with a spa village beside the River Maine.

Faldo's back-to-back Irish Open venue. Native red deer, Lough Leane, and the MacGillycuddy's Reeks — there is nothing else quite like this in Irish golf.

Henry Longhurst's 1939 masterpiece. The par-3 18th over Lough Leane — Longhurst called it "a lovely place to die." He had a point.

Patrick Merrigan's 1992 masterpiece in Cavan's lake country. Leona Maguire's home course — ranked No.1 parkland in Ireland, built around 50 acres of water.

Ireland's most northerly championship links. Raw, demanding, and Atlantic-exposed — the journey is part of it.

Harry Colt masterpiece in Yeats Country, with Ben Bulben as a backdrop. The West of Ireland Amateur since 1923 — honest, demanding, and underrated.

Fred Hawtree parkland beneath Croagh Patrick on the shores of Clew Bay. The 15th carries 200 yards over the bay inlet — the best hole in Connacht.

Once accessible only by ferry, still feels like it. East coast duneland that rivals anything in the southwest — and almost nobody knows it.

Tom Simpson's 1938 links on the Boyne estuary near Drogheda, where Shane Lowry won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur. One of Ireland's purest links tests — and least heralded.

Portstewart's original 1894 links — 7 par threes, no par fives, rocky shore, exceptional value. The fun counterpart to the famous Strand Course next door.

James Braid links on the Ards Peninsula — "If only I had this within 50 miles of London." The most easterly 18-hole course in Ireland, with views to Scotland on clear days.

Bull Island links beside Royal Dublin — same dunes, same wind, same turf. The only UNESCO Biosphere Reserve entirely in a capital city, and Dublin's best-value links round.

Built in 1896 by a Victorian railway company — Vardon, Taylor and Braid all played the professional tournament here. Carlingford Lough views, superb greens, medieval village next door.

J.H. Taylor-designed links on a Wexford peninsula, 15 minutes from the Rosslare ferry. Ireland's sunniest county and a 30-hole complex with Henry Cotton's favourite par-4.

Dunes that rival Ballybunion, a closing stretch above the Atlantic, and a historic seaweed bath in the village. Ireland's best-kept links secret.

The rugged, natural elder sibling at Ballyliffin on the wild Inishowen peninsula - a tumbling Donegal links refined by Nick Faldo, who called it the most natural links he had seen.

A Donegal links along the golden sand of Ballymastocker Bay, revised by Pat Ruddy - one of Ireland's most beautiful and best-value links, and still gloriously uncrowded.

A member-restored Donegal links near Ardara, reworked with Gil Hanse's guidance in 2020 - one of Ireland's most improved courses, wild and dramatic at a bargain green fee.

One of nine clubs that founded Irish golf in 1891. Three-section course: parkland past a medieval friary, links, then clifftop with Rathlin Island and Scotland visible.

Cliff-top links built around a 1405 fortified warehouse — the oldest golf clubhouse in the world. Dramatic sea holes and exceptional value.

Willie Fernie-designed links at Belfast Lough's mouth. £32, Scotland visible from the 16th tee, and Grace Neill's pub (est. 1611) in town. Great value Down golf.

Founded by the Viceroy of India — his private railway station (1863) next door is the finest Victorian golf curiosity in Ulster. Quiet parkland above Belfast Lough.

Eddie Hackett parkland in the historic Kilmorey Estate — co-hosted the 1999 British Amateur with Royal County Down. Mourne Mountains backdrop, rhododendron woodland, Northern Ireland's largest fishing harbour next door.

Eddie Hackett links squeezed between two beaches beneath Knocknarea and Queen Maeve's cairn. Surf village atmosphere, Voya seaweed baths, Benbulben across the bay.

Eddie Hackett's final masterpiece, community-owned since 1985. Extraordinary duneland on one of Ireland's most remote peninsulas.

Eddie Hackett's 1995 design through a 13th-century Mayo estate. Pádraig Harrington called it "the finest championship course in the West of Ireland."

Nine-hole links on a 10,000-year-old tombolo between Brandon Bay and Tralee Bay. Golf.com's 21st best 9-hole in the world — €40, surrounded by mythology.

Victorian resort town links with clifftop holes above the Atlantic. Charlotte Brontë holidayed here; the 4th tee drives over a cliff edge. Doonbeg is 9km away.

Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock 1994 clifftop parkland on the Wicklow coast. The 6th requires a 200-yard carry over sea cliffs; the 17th drops into Dunbur Glen. Holes named after local maritime features.

Jeff Howes 2001 parkland built on the 774-acre Annaly Estate — five holes play inside the working Gowran Park Racecourse. €25 weekday, exceptional value for a course ranked in Ireland's Best 100 Golf Holes.

Founded 1894, parkland above Tramore Bay. The Metal Man landmark below tells the story of a 1816 shipwreck — 292 lost. Tramore Racecourse next door every August.

Christy O'Connor Jnr's 1996 "inland links" — built on genuine Ice Age esker ridges that drain all year. Shane Lowry's home course. The most distinctive parkland in the midlands.

Christy O'Connor Jnr design on Lough Ree — "one of the most scenic pieces of land I've ever seen." Water visible from every hole. Two European Challenge Tour events hosted here.

East Belfast parkland with a Norman motte in its name and 13 All-Ireland Senior titles to its name. Tight, tree-lined par-70 with a spectacular river-gorge par-3 at the 10th.

Roe Valley parkland steeped in O'Cahan clan history and the birthplace of Danny Boy. Sheltered, scenic resort base for Causeway Coast links golf.

Harry Vardon-redesigned clifftop links above Donegal Bay — "to give pleasure to golfers of all degrees." Christy O'Connor Sr. was club pro here before he became a legend.

The course that hosted the G8 Summit. Castle Hume is the traditional, tree-lined companion to the Faldo Course at Lough Erne — ten Ulster PGA Championships, Fermanagh lakelands.

Eddie Hackett parkland in Ireland's Salmon Capital. Jack Charlton's honorary home club — the natural base for Carne, Enniscrone, and the north Mayo links circuit.

Christy O'Connor Jr. 9-hole parkland on Lough Corrib's shore. The par-3 4th plays to an island green on the lake. The Orient Express Pullman Restaurant earned its first Michelin star in 2026.

Parkland on the historic Mote Park Estate in Roscommon town, founded 1904. Century-old Crofton estate trees, Eddie Connaughton 1991 expansion — excellent value at the heart of Connacht.

Eddie Hackett's last great heathland design above Kenmare Bay. A Bronze Age stone circle in the town, the best restaurants in Kerry, and a base for Waterville and the Skellig Ring.

John Daly's only European course design (2006), in the wooded Shournagh Valley 5 minutes from Blarney Castle. Par 70, slope 125 — accessible layout with a savage 601-yard par 5 13th.

Limerick parkland beside the University of Limerick campus. Home of the oldest continuously run scratch cup in Ireland, with seven Walker Cup winners on its honour board.

John Harris 1966 parkland 10 minutes from Shannon Airport, on the Shannon Estuary. Christy O'Connor Jnr was pro here; the 17th is the only Irish parkland hole played over a tidal estuary.

Compact par-70 parkland in the county town of Clare, built partly by volunteer member labour. Narrower and trickier than the yardage suggests — an excellent-value inland base for Lahinch, Doonbeg, and the Burren.

Parkland on the River Suir in the town where the GAA was founded in 1884. The inward nine, unchanged since 1944, is among the finest nine holes of inland golf in Ireland.

Eddie Hackett parkland in a Norse-named fishing town north of Dublin. Roseate tern colony offshore, working windmills in the village, Mournes visible on a clear day.

27-hole north Dublin parkland 20 minutes from Dublin Airport. Eddie Connaughton design (1993/95) with a dramatic island-green 18th. Three distinct 18-hole configurations.

Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock 1992 championship parkland 5 minutes from Dublin Airport. Sam Torrance called the 18th "the best finishing hole I have ever seen." Host of the Ladies Irish Open 1994 and 1995.

Mel Flanagan 2004 championship parkland near Enfield built across a 9th-century High King assembly site. Two ring forts visible on the course, 12 spring-fed water holes, and outstanding par 3s.

Christy O'Connor Jnr 2006 championship parkland beside Trim Castle. 7,270-yard layout on the Knightsbrook River, 30 minutes from Newgrange and the Hill of Tara.

Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock 1989 parkland with a 4,000-year-old megalithic dolmen on the course. At the foot of the Cooley Mountains, 5 km north of Dundalk, with the mythology of the Táin on its doorstep.

Parkland bounded on three sides by Lough Ree, at Hodson Bay on the River Shannon. Founded 1892, redesigned four times. Pádraig Harrington won the Scratch Cup here in 1994. Clonmacnoise is 25 minutes away.

James Braid 1937 masterpiece beside the Belvedere Estate — designed in a day for £21. The Scratch Trophy has attracted Rory, Harrington, McGinley and Clarke since 1963. O'Connor Snr called the 2nd "the best inland par-3 in Ireland."

Open Championship host, Harry Colt masterpiece, Causeway Coast cliffs. One of the greatest rounds you will ever play.

Ranked the greatest golf course in the world. Mourne Mountains, Dundrum Bay, purple heather — and golf that matches everything around it.

The world's first purpose-built golf resort (1893) — three championship links on Sheephaven Bay, including Old Tom Morris's original, Pat Ruddy's Sandy Hills, and Tom Doak's world-top-100 St Patrick's.

MacKenzie's masterpiece on the Clare coast. The Dell, the Klondyke, the goats — and golf that rewards every return visit.

Greg Norman links in a natural Atlantic dune amphitheatre. Now Trump International — exceptional golf regardless of the branding.

The links that defines Irish golf. Watson called it the finest in the world. Raw, dramatic, and unforgettable.

Spectacular Ring of Kerry links — far less crowded than it deserves. The Chaplin and Payne Stewart connections only add to the feeling this place is unlike anywhere else.

A 220-acre Atlantic headland with 300-foot cliffs, holes directly over the sea, and the most dramatic setting in golf. Expensive and worth it once.

Tom Fazio's ground-up 2018 rebuild of the Adare Manor estate course — host of the 2027 Ryder Cup. A par-72 parkland on the River Maigue, open to resort guests only, with the highest green fee in Ireland.

Arnold Palmer's first European design (1984) on the Barrow peninsula — "God designed the back nine." A dramatic Atlantic links of dunes, cliffs and a clifftop par-3 called Shipwreck.

Arnold Palmer's parkland on the River Liffey at Straffan — host of the 2006 Ryder Cup, the first held in Ireland. A par-72 resort course where the Liffey decides the closing holes.

The world-renowned Wicklow links Pat Ruddy built as The European Club, now renamed the Brittas Bay Club and being reimagined by Kingsbarns architect Kyle Phillips. Closed for redevelopment, reopening spring 2027.

Three-time Irish Open host on a real Cork Harbour island. 54 holes, 20 minutes from Cork Airport, Fota Wildlife Park next door.

A Ben Sayers / Harry Colt links between the Bann estuary and the Atlantic, beneath Mussenden Temple. The quiet, great-value alternative on the Causeway Coast, with a fearsome par-3 4th.

Eddie Hackett's big, raw championship links on a wooded peninsula in Donegal Bay — 7,450 yards, par 73, the Bluestacks behind. One of the most undervalued links in Ireland.

An Alister MacKenzie parkland (1920s) on an island in Cork Harbour, founded 1888. Famous for its holes through a disused limestone quarry on Lough Mahon — pure MacKenzie, and excellent value.

A UNESCO biosphere island 25 minutes from Dublin Airport. Colt design, two Seve Irish Open wins, and a closing hole that demands your full attention.

Jack Nicklaus's parkland on the Mount Juliet Estate in Kilkenny — five-time Irish Open host and twice a WGC venue. Widely rated the finest parkland course in Ireland.

Pat Ruddy and Tom Craddock's "Augusta of Europe" in the Wicklow hills — four-time Irish Open host (1996–99) and European Golf Course of the Year 2000. A par-71 championship parkland.

A Fairmont resort on the FitzGeralds' Georgian estate near Maynooth, with two championship courses — Mark O'Meara's parkland and Colin Montgomerie's links-style inland course, host of the 2005 and 2006 Irish Open.

A dramatic north-coast links between Portrush and Castlerock, with a front nine that plunges through giant dunes. Host of the 2017 Irish Open, won by Jon Rahm.

Eddie Hackett's rocky Atlantic links below the Twelve Bens. Three miles from where Alcock and Brown landed in 1919. Utterly unlike anywhere else.

One of Ireland's ten oldest clubs (1889), a natural links at the head of Dingle Bay with the MacGillycuddy's Reeks behind. Renovated by Martin Hawtree, and home to the rare Natterjack toad.

Des Smyth's championship links beside Baltray at Termonfeckin — 7,100 yards through the dunes, the Mournes across the sea. The great-value second round on the Louth coast.