Paris, Venice, the Taj Mahal in Agra; some places just evoke a sense of romance. As a destination for lovers, however, Ireland doesn’t have quite the same allure. The “island of saints and scholars” doesn’t exactly get the blood pumping.
Reading the folklore and history associated with places across the country, however, there are tales of passionate, heart-stopping, illicit, unrequited and sometimes doomed love to be discovered.
Look at the legend of Diarmuid and Gráinne, for example, or the love stories of couples such as Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas; Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford; Michael Collins and Kitty Kiernan; and William Butler Yeats and the woman he immortalised in his poems, Maud Gonne – all of whom have stories that live on.
The tales of great Irish loves, mythical and real, are imprinted in our minds and on our landscapes. With the right person, anywhere can be romantic. Here are five homes currently for sale that are sure to capture the imagination of romantics everywhere.
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Castlegrange, Ardtermon Strand, Ballinfull, Co Sligo
€795,000, Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty
There are few Irish love stories more fantastical than Tóraíocht Dhiarmada agus Ghráinne; the hunt for the beautiful Irish princess and her forbidden beau.
Fionn mac Cumhaill wanted Gráinne as his third wife but she fell for his best friend, Diarmuid, and the pair eloped. All across Ireland, there are caves, trees and nooks where legend has it that Diarmuid and Gráinne lay together and hid.
Sadly, though, it didn’t end well for the star-crossed lovers. On the heath of Benbulben in Co Sligo, with Fionn and his men closing in, Diarmuid was killed by a boar and died in Gráinne’s arms; she subsequently died of a broken heart.
A short drive from where Diarmuid came to his tragic end, around where Benbulben forest walk lies today, you’ll find Castlegrange Cottage. This three-bedroom house backs on to Ardtermon strand, a name meaning a place of safety or sanctuary. The house has been in the same family since the early 17th century. The livingroom has a wood-burning stove, but new owners will probably flip things around entirely to make the most of the awe-inspiring sea views to the rear.
The house comes with seven grazing paddocks. All are directly bound by the high shoreline of Ardtermon strand and have both mountain views and mesmerising vistas of Drumcliff Bay. Sligo town and Drumcliffe, the burial place of William Butler Yeats, are a short drive away. For lovers on the run, Knock and Shannon airports are in easy reach.
3 The Square, Beggars Bush, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4
€575,000, Sherry Fitzgerald
Not all lovers want to escape to the country: some will want to escape to the city. What’s more romantic than a city pied-à-terre, especially for those ready to downsize from a family home? With opportunities to discover art, theatre and some of the best restaurants in the country, a place of your own in town could be just the thing to spice up your relationship.
Number 3 the Square, Beggars Bush, is a beautifully presented two-bed apartment in the former Beggars Bush Barracks, just off Haddington Road. High ceilings and big sash windows give a sense of light and space to the generous living/diningroom, which has an ornate fireplace for those cosy nights in. There is an enclosed communal garden to the rear and a designated car parking space, too.
The real advantage of this place is the location. Upgrade your date nights by sampling the capital’s Michelin-star dining options, the National Concert Hall, National Gallery and pubs, all within walking distance. On top of that, why not catch a rugby game or a world-class gig at the Aviva Stadium, just a 10-minute walk from your front door.
Then there’s the Grand Canal a stone’s throw away. You can walk in the footsteps of the love-struck poet Patrick Kavanagh towards Raglan Road, the route that inspired a poem about his doomed infatuation with a young medical student from Dingle, Hilda Moriarty, in the 1940s.
Reeneragh, Waterville, Co Kerry
€425,000, Kerry Property Sales
There is nothing like a sunset in the west of Ireland. For a window seat as that dripping ball of orange slips into the Atlantic, you can’t beat south Kerry. Reeneragh is a picturesque two-bedroom house with uninterrupted ocean views out to Derrynane Bay, Kenmare Bay and Scariff and Deenish islands.
The property is elevated and has been architecturally designed in a hexagon with natural stone. The main bedroom faces out to the sea and is split level with a bathtub from where you can soak up the sea views. The second bedroom is also a double with an en suite shower room. The sea views continue in the open-plan living/diningroom. Couples can cosy up from winter storms in the small snug, which has an open fire with natural stone surround. There’s also an Aga in the kitchen.
For romantic strolls, there are plenty of hikes along the Hogs Head peninsula, including one to the nearby stone monument of Eightercua. In Irish mythology, the four stones here mark the burial spot of Scéine, the wife of the Milesian bard-magician Amergin, who is said to have died at sea just before their group invaded Kerry.
The property comes with 4.14 acres of elevated ground that goes down to the rugged shoreline. Waterville village, with plenty of dining options, Trá na Lohar beach and Waterville golf course are just a short drive away.
Site at Island, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare
€55,000, Streets Ahead Properties
Oh, Lisdoonvarna! If there’s one place synonymous with lovers in Ireland, it’s this matchmaking mecca in north Clare.
Everyone knows the best test of a relationship is building flat-pack furniture together. But if you really want to test yourselves, build a house; and build it in the love capital of Ireland. Lisdoonvarna, between the Burren National Park and the Cliffs of Moher, was once a high-end Victorian holiday destination, where people came to bathe in or drink its curative mineral waters. In the early 20th century, local newspapers would list the who’s who of those arriving and departing on a weekly basis and many eligible singletons were introduced to suitable matches on their holidays here.
[ Oh Lisdoonvarna: ‘It was fantastic, and it can be fantastic again’Opens in new window ]
This one-acre site with good road frontage, a five-minute drive from Lisdoonvarna, gives a couple with imagination an opportunity to put down roots together. It’s important to note that building works will be subject to planning permission. Its peaceful location is a short drive from Doolin pier, where there is a daily ferry service to the Aran islands.
Plans are afoot in the town to revive Lisdoonvarna’s spa heritage. Meanwhile, its reputation for matchmaking lives on. Every September, those looking for love come to meet Ireland’s only traditional matchmaker Willie Daly. Legend has it that if you touch his “lucky book” with both hands, you’ll be married in six months. It’s offshoot, the Outing Festival, billed as “an LGBT+ weekend like no other”, takes place in nearby Dromoland this Valentine’s weekend.
The Pink House, Rossy, Keshcarrigan, Carrick-On-Shannon, Co Leitrim
€699,550, Sherry FitzGerald
Who needs a gondola in Venice when you can have your very own lake mooring and boathouse on the Shannon-Erne waterway? These are just some of the perks of the Pink House, a unique, architectural home on the shores of Lough Scur, Co Leitrim.
This large four-bed, four-bathroom home was designed by Leitrim-based Belgian architect Ghislain Luthers, who has made full use of the waterside location. The entire first floor is a bright, airy open-plan kitchen/livingroom with expansive lake and mountain views. The living area has a solid-fuel Jotul stove on a slate plinth and bookshelves with a rail and rolling ladder.
The distinctive, curved, hanging ceiling here is the work of Compagnon plasterers, French master craftsmen whose guild, Les Compagnons du Devoir, dates from the Middle Ages. There is access to a balcony from this floor with views of Lough Scur, Castle Island, Whiskey Island, Jail Island, Rusheen Island and the mouth of the Shannon-Erne canal.
Down below is a walled, sunken garden with a variety of creepers, vines and raised fruit and vegetable beds. Wisteria-covered steps lead to a lawn. The house is surrounded by 30 acres of woodland including oak, silver birch, Scots pine, spruce and alder, providing a private, tranquil, romantic location.
Those in search of a local love story will find it at Costello Memorial Chapel a 20-minutes drive away in Carrick-on-Shannon. The chapel, said to be the second smallest in the world, was erected by Edward Costello in devotion to his wife, Mary Josephine, who died in 1877. Her grave lies in a sunken space to the left of the entrance. Edward had Mass celebrated in her memory every first Friday until his own death, 14 years later, when he was buried opposite her. Their coffin inscriptions can still be read with the aid of a torch.
