Did a 5 week circuit of Ireland last year, Dublin to Dublin.
Not sure how much was due to Covid, but it had changed enormously since my previous visit some 25 years earlier. Murphys (who also own Kilkenny) is now owned by Heineken so doubt they'll fuck that up soon, Beamish is brewed by Heineken (allegedly independently) so that'll be fucked too, Guinness is owned by Diageo so don't hold yer breath there either. Heineken also tried selling their own stout 'Island's Edge' which to be fair was not a bad drink, but they fucked it up and have now discontinued it. On the bright side there are lots of independent stouts appearing, such as Porterhouse, so the big multi nationals fucker upperers may not have it all their own way going forwards, especially if they can keep the price down.
We visited most of the main cities, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Donegal and with the exception of Limerick were all ace and well worth a visit. Some proper pubs still.
One of the main problems is finding proper pubs now a days - many have been taken over, closed or replaced with fucking Gastro pubs who think Lasagne and chips is a quality traditional Irish repast. It's not.
Cork is still ace and also has Jamesons' Distillery. Not for the Jamesons mind, but for the Midletons. These whiskeys are absolute nectar, but are now fucking exortionate if you can even lay your hands on it. I've a bottle of 2017 Very Rare which I bough for under 100 sovs 5 years ago and it seems to sell for 4 figures these days. I copped for a bottle of Barry Crockett in Sligo (the only one I found) for 270 euros and its already around four figures. Too expensive to drink.
We found the smaller towns and cities were generally more 'trad', cheaper and friendlier. Cobh, which despite its new found obsession with the Titanic and constant flow of cruise ships still has ace boozers once you get up into the town itself. Cracking wee places likes Kinsale, Baltimore, Kenmare, Killarney, Dingle, Tralee, Ballyvaughn, Westport (Mayo and absolutely gorgeous - I can see why Mol harps on about Mayo so much), Ballina, up to Donegal, round the Fanad and Inishowen peninsulas down thru Letterkenny and on to Derry. Post Derry there's still some cracking spots but also proddie ghettos with their obsession with flagshagging. (didn't stop in Letterkenny this time - not much to write home about as a town but it has a big student population and was Tottytown when I was last there in '95).
In between are a myriad of small villages and towns and some spectacular scenery. From Kerry, thru Clare and Galway and onto Mayo. The ring of Kerry, the Burren, the cliffs of Moher, Connemara, Achill Island, Sliabh Liag (Slieve League - highest cliffs in Ireland) and many in between are all worth a look.
We stuck to the Wild Atlantic Way pretty much the whole way round and its fabulous. There's still another trip to be done, but I'm not sure I'll ever get round to doing it again.
Some ace food in amongst the gastro bar bollix - Bacon n cabbage (if you can find it), Killary Mussels (the most tender and sweetest I've ever had), fresh Atlantic lobster all washed down with a glass of stout. Can't beat it.
I love Ireland - always have.
