Wild Beauty

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Watercolour illustration: a flat coast road on one side, a steep mountain track on the other
Coastal vs Mountain Racing
Two different sports that happen to share a start gun Read more...
Watercolour illustration: an all-women race start line filling a Dublin street in June
Women's Running in Ireland
From a single Dublin Sunday to a nationwide movement Read more...
A solitary runner on an Irish coastal road at first light
Running the Wild Atlantic Way
How a driving route became a running circuit Read more...
Watercolour illustration: a city marathon field crossing a stone bridge in autumn light
A Short History of the Irish Marathon
From a handful of enthusiasts to a sold-out calendar Read more...
Watercolour illustration: runners on a narrow East Cork coastal road in March
The Story of the Ballycotton 10
A legend of the road, retired after forty years Read more...
Watercolour illustration: runners leaning into a headwind on an exposed Irish coast road
Race-Day Weather on an Island
Why the forecast is the least reliable part of the plan Read more...
Watercolour illustration: runners queueing at portaloos before an Irish race
What to Expect at an Irish Race Start Line
The rituals that repeat from Donegal to Cork Read more...
Watercolour illustration: a village road race passing a GAA clubhouse
The GAA Club Road Race Tradition
Where Irish road racing actually lives Read more...
Watercolour illustration: a trail runner crossing boggy ground on an Irish hillside
Choosing Your First Trail Race
What's different about racing off the road Read more...
Watercolour illustration: a runner with a headtorch on a dark Irish country road
Training Through an Irish Winter
Dark, wet, and — with the right kit — entirely runnable Read more...
Watercolour illustration: charity runners in bright shirts at a Dublin start line
Charity Running in Ireland
Why so many Irish races exist to raise money for something else Read more...
Watercolour illustration: runners at an Irish parkrun start line on a Saturday morning
The Rise of Irish Parkrun Culture
How a free Saturday 5k became a national habit Read more...
Painting of the Cliffs of Moher in early morning light, County Clare
Clare to Connemara: The Cliffs, Inis Mór and the Sky Road
Three paintings from west of the Shannon — the Cliffs of Moher before the coaches arrive, Dún Aonghasa on Inis Mór, and the Sky Road above Clifden. Read more...
Painting of Moll's Gap and the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, Ring of Kerry
Painting Kerry: Slea Head, the Conor Pass and Moll's Gap
Four Kerry paintings from The Painter's Road — the Skelligs from Bray Head, Moll's Gap, the Conor Pass and the beehive huts at Slea Head. Read more...
Painting of Kinsale harbour at evening, County Cork
Kinsale to Dursey: Where The Painter's Road Begins
Five paintings from the first two hundred miles of the Wild Atlantic Way — Kinsale, Charles Fort, the Old Head, Mizen Head and the Dursey cable car. Read more...
Painting of the Sky Road above Clifden, Connemara
Twelve New Prints from The Painter's Road
Twelve paintings from The Painter's Road are now available as fine art prints — from Charles Fort in Kinsale to the Sky Road above Clifden. Read more...
Painting of the Old Head of Kinsale lighthouse, County Cork
Swimming Safely in an Irish Summer: Rips, Jellyfish and Water Quality
The four things worth understanding before you swim in Ireland this summer — rip currents, flags, jellyfish and water quality after heavy rain. Read more...
Painting of the Skellig Islands seen from Bray Head, Valentia Island
How to Make Sea Swimming a Habit (Not Just a July Thing)
Every Irish beach is full in July and half empty by September. Here is what actually makes sea swimming stick — and why the best water of the year comes... Read more...
Kilkee Bay at sunset, County Clare
The Best Time of Day to Swim in Ireland
Tide, wind, light and crowds all move through the day. Here is how to read them — and how to pick the hour that suits the swim you actually want. Read more...
Evening light on the water at a West Clare beach
What Cold Water Actually Does to You (And Why Irish Swimmers Keep Coming Back)
The honest version of what cold water does to the body and mind — what the research supports, what it doesn't, and why so many Irish swimmers keep going back... Read more...
You Deserve This Summer — a guided journal for slowing down and living fully
The Art of Slowing Down: A West Clare Guide to Doing Less
West Clare has no fast lane — and that's the point. A gentle manifesto for slower days: sea swims, long walks, good books, and the permission to do absolutely nothing. Read more...
Atlantic light over the limestone coast of County Clare, Ireland
Walking the Burren: Ireland's Strangest, Loveliest Landscape
Grey limestone to the horizon, orchids in the cracks, and the sea at the end of every road — how to walk the Burren properly, from Black Head to Fanore. Read more...
Dún Briste sea stack — Ireland's wild Atlantic swimming coastline
Ireland's 10 Most Beautiful Swimming Beaches
From Keem Bay's white sand to the pink crescent of Dog's Bay — ten Irish swimming beaches worth driving across the country for, with links to full guides and live... Read more...
Kilkee Bay at sunset — sea swimming on Ireland's West Clare coast
Sea Swimming in Ireland: A Beginner's Guide to Getting In
Cold water, warm heads: how to start sea swimming in Ireland safely — where to go, when to get in, what to bring, and why you'll never want to stop. Read more...
South by the Sea — Book One of The Painter's Road, an illustrated Wild Atlantic Way memoir
Painting the Wild Atlantic Way: One Campervan, Fifteen Headlands, Three Books
With a thirty-year-old campervan, a box of paints and the sketchbook his wife left behind, Jim Brennan sets out to paint all fifteen Signature Discovery Points of the Wild Atlantic... Read more...
You Deserve This Escape — an Irish novel set on the west Clare coast
12 Novels Set on Ireland's Wild Atlantic Coast: Meet the Women of Kilcarra
Looking for warm, hopeful Irish fiction? The You Deserve This series is twelve standalone novels set in one village on the West Clare coast — here's where to start. Read more...
Kilkee Bay at sunset — the horseshoe bay and cliffs of west Clare, Ireland
Things to Do in Kilkee: The Wild Atlantic Way's Quiet Masterpiece
The perfect horseshoe bay, the cliff walk, the Pollock Holes and George's Head — a local's guide to Kilkee, West Clare's most underrated seaside town. Read more...
Light breaking through cloud over the Atlantic at Loop Head, County Clare
Walking Loop Head: A Slow Guide to Clare's Wildest Peninsula
How to walk Loop Head properly — the lighthouse loop, the Bridges of Ross, and the quiet clifftop paths most visitors to County Clare never find. Read more...