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Golf guide • Ireland • Leinster

Golf in Dublin: three great links on the edge of the Irish capital

Dublin is one of the few capitals where you can play great links less than 40 minutes from the centre: Royal Dublin on North Bull Island, and Portmarnock and The Island on the dunes of the north coast. The K Club's Palmer North, venue of the 2006 Ryder Cup, adds a parkland course about 45 minutes to the west, and the city offers a two-star table, neighbourhood favourites, theatres and pubs. The best season runs from April to September.

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Few capitals have golf like this on their doorstep: north of Dublin Bay, a string of sandy peninsulas carries three great links, less than 40 minutes from the Georgian squares of the centre. Fairways mown tight between the marram, firm greens, and a wind off the Irish Sea that shifts from one day to the next: this is genuine seaside golf, played in the morning before heading back into town for lunch.

Royal Dublin, founded in 1885, occupies North Bull Island, a nature reserve at the head of the bay. Further north, Portmarnock and The Island occupy two peninsulas that their first golfers reached by rowing boat. Inland, the K Club, in County Kildare, offers something else entirely: a championship course in the grounds of an 1832 house on the banks of the Liffey.

Four to six nights allow three or four courses without hurry and leave time for the city: Trinity College and the Book of Kells, the Abbey Theatre, the pubs south of the river and the Howth cliff path. To the south, Druids Glen, in County Wicklow, about 45 minutes from the centre, rounds out the trip for those who want a second parkland course.

The courses

Parkland fairway lined with tall oaks in autumn colours, a river and a small stone bridge in the foreground

Portmarnock Golf Club

  • Architect: W. C. Pickeman
  • Opened 1894
  • 27 holes
  • Par 72

Two insurance men, W. C. Pickeman and George Ross, rowed out to the Portmarnock peninsula one Christmas Eve to survey its dunes, then signed the lease on the land in October 1894. Today twenty-seven holes combine in three loops of nine, and the par-72 championship course has hosted the Irish Open many times, the Canada Cup in 1960 and the Walker Cup in 1991. Open to every wind off the Irish Sea, it is a straightforward, demanding links, suited to good players who like to walk.

Signature hole. The 15th, a par 3 added to the layout in 1927, has become one of the most famous holes on the course.

Official website

Royal Dublin Golf Club

  • Architect: Harry Colt (1920); Martin Hawtree (2006)
  • Opened 1889
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

Founded in 1885 and first based in the Phoenix Park, the club moved to North Bull Island in 1889 and received its royal title in 1891. Harry Colt redesigned the course in 1920, after its military occupation during the Great War, and Martin Hawtree brought it up to championship standard in 2006, redesigning three holes and reworking every green. A par 72 with almost no trees or water: the wind off the bay does most of the work. Christy O'Connor Senior, who joined the club as professional in 1959, remained attached to it for 57 years. A true links less than twenty minutes from the centre.

Signature hole. At the 18th, the approach must find a green guarded by bunkers, with the lagoon and Dublin Bay as a backdrop.

Official website

The Island Golf Club

  • Opened 1890
  • 18 holes

Founded in 1890 on a Donabate peninsula bounded by water on three sides, The Island could be reached only by boat from Malahide until 1973, when a clubhouse served by road opened. The present layout, conceived by Fred Hawtree and built with Eddie Hackett, was refined by Martin Hawtree and then, in 2019-2020, by Mackenzie & Ebert on the front nine. Its dunes are among the highest on the east coast, and several fairways thread between them. A more intimate links than Portmarnock, and one that connoisseurs readily put on their list.

Signature hole. The 18th, Boulia Field, asks for a straight drive into a valley before an approach to a raised green, the deepest on the course.

Official website

The K Club Palmer North

  • Architect: Arnold Palmer
  • Opened 1991
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

Opened in 1991 on the Straffan House estate in County Kildare, Arnold Palmer's course unfolds through wooded parkland crossed by the Liffey. A par 72 of more than 7,300 yards from the back tees, it hosted the 2006 Ryder Cup, the first played in Ireland, eleven European Opens and the Irish Open, notably in 2016 and 2023. After the links of the coast, this is a different game altogether, parkland and championship golf. The club advises against it for beginners: it calls for a good standard of play.

Official website

Where to stay

The Merrion

Four restored Georgian townhouses facing Government Buildings on Upper Merrion Street, plus a contemporary wing around two private gardens: The Merrion also holds a private collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Irish art, from Jack B. Yeats to Louis le Brocquy. Ask for a Main House room on the garden side and book the Art Tea, whose pastries are inspired by the paintings. Royal Dublin is about twenty minutes away.

The Westbury

On Balfe Street, a few steps from Grafton Street and St Stephen's Green, The Westbury belongs to the Doyle Collection, an Irish family-owned hotel group, and is made for exploring the city on foot. Take afternoon tea in The Gallery, beneath works by Louis le Brocquy and Sir John Lavery, then a cocktail at Sidecar. A practical base for reaching both the northern links and Kildare.

The K Club

The K Club spreads over 550 acres at Straffan, on the banks of the Liffey, around Straffan House, built in 1832 in the manner of a French château. Arnold Palmer's two courses are on the estate, along with a spa and fishing on the river. Ask for a room in Straffan House itself, which forms the east wing, rather than in the west wing added in 2015. About 45 minutes from central Dublin.

Row of red-brick Georgian houses, black doors with fanlights and iron railings, beneath the trees

Where to dine

Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud

Opened in 1981 and now within The Merrion, Patrick Guilbaud's restaurant holds two Michelin stars; chef Guillaume Lebrun cooks French food of modern restraint on superb Irish produce, in a dining room with a gilded barrel-vaulted ceiling and handmade marquetry. Save room for the rum baba, flambéed to close the meal in the grand tradition. The occasion table of the trip.

King Sitric

At the foot of Howth's East Pier, the MacManus family has been serving the harbour's fish since 1971, under the name of an eleventh-century Norse king of Dublin. The seafood bar opens daily from noon: order the oysters, the crab claws and the catch of the day. Upstairs, each room is named after an Irish lighthouse and looks out to sea. Portmarnock and Royal Dublin are about twenty minutes away.

The Winding Stair

On Lower Ormond Quay, the bookshop-café that was a Dublin landmark in the 1970s and 1980s reopened as a restaurant in 2006, with its bookshop kept on the ground floor. The kitchen cooks produce from the island's artisans: order Doyle's hand-smoked haddock, poached in milk, with white cheddar mash. Ask for a window table, facing the Liffey and the Ha'penny Bridge.

Beyond golf

Trinity College and the Book of Kells

In the heart of the city, Trinity College holds the Book of Kells, a gospel book illuminated around the year 800 and on public display since the 19th century; the pages shown change regularly. Continue on foot to Merrion Square and its Georgian houses with coloured doors, then to the National Museum and the National Gallery of Ireland, close by.

The Abbey Theatre and literary Dublin

Founded in 1904 by W. B. Yeats and Lady Gregory, the Abbey Theatre was the first state-subsidised theatre in the English-speaking world; Synge and O'Casey premiered plays there that provoked riots. It remains the national theatre and plays all year on Lower Abbey Street. Joyce, Beckett and Wilde left their traces in the streets nearby.

Howth and the cliff path

About fourteen kilometres north-east of the centre and served by the DART, the harbour at Howth is the starting point for a loop of about six kilometres along the cliffs, through heather and gorse, with the Baily lighthouse and Ireland's Eye below. Finish with a fish lunch on the harbour.

Coastal path through heather and flowering gorse above the sea, a small white lighthouse on a rocky point

When to go

From April to September the climate is mild, rarely warm, and the days are very long around June: ideal for a round in the morning and the city in the afternoon. The links drain quickly and stay playable all year, but from October to March the wind strengthens, the days shorten and Portmarnock closes to visitors. Always pack a windproof, even in summer.

Getting there

Dublin Airport (DUB) is about 30 minutes from the centre, and Portmarnock a quarter of an hour from the airport. Royal Dublin is less than twenty minutes from the centre, The Island about 35 minutes, the K Club about 45 minutes to the west. The DART is enough for Howth and the centre, but a car with driver remains the simplest option for the courses.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course near Dublin?

Portmarnock, founded in 1894, is the most renowned: it has hosted many Irish Opens and the 1991 Walker Cup. Royal Dublin and The Island are the other two great links of the north coast.

Can visitors play Portmarnock?

Yes, from April to September, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sunday afternoons. The club is closed to visitors on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and bank holidays, and from October to March.

Where was the 2006 Ryder Cup played in Ireland?

On the Palmer North course at the K Club, Straffan, County Kildare, about 45 minutes from Dublin. It was the first Ryder Cup played in Ireland.

When is the best time to play golf in Dublin?

From April to September, when the days are long and all the major clubs take visitors. The links remain playable in winter, but Portmarnock then closes to visitors.

How far are the golf courses from Dublin city centre?

Less than twenty minutes for Royal Dublin, about half an hour for Portmarnock, about 35 minutes for The Island and about 45 minutes for the K Club.

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