Almost everything worth coming to Ballybunion for is stacked onto one short headland: two championship links courses, two Blue Flag beaches, and a ruined castle standing between them. If you’re here for the golf, you already know it. If you’re not, the honest itinerary is a half-day – the cliff walk, a beach, and a soak in the seaweed baths – and you’ll have seen the best of it. One thing to know before you plan: this is a seasonal town. The shops, accommodation and most of the attractions shut for winter, and out of season the place is very quiet. April to September is when it’s alive.
Beaches
The two town beaches sit either side of the castle: Ladies Beach to the north and Men’s Beach to the south. The names are a leftover from the days when bathing was segregated by sex. Both hold Blue Flag status, and the Men’s Beach is the surf side, with a long-established surf school running lessons and board hire – the waves are consistent without being intimidating, which makes it a good place to learn.
Bring layers whatever the forecast says. Even on the sunniest July day the Atlantic wind here can be biting, and locals will tell you they’ve abandoned the beach on bright afternoons because of it. Further north, the cliff-bound Nun’s Beach is the dramatic one, reached only by boat or a steep, awkward scramble – worth a look from above, not a casual swim.
The cliff walk
The Ballybunion cliff walk is shorter than its reputation suggests: about 1.5 km and roughly half an hour at a stroll, starting up by the Cliff House Hotel above Ladies Beach. The path runs right along the limestone edge with the open Atlantic on one side. The set piece is the Nine Daughters’ Hole, a deep cliff blowhole tied to a grim local legend: a chieftain said to have thrown his nine daughters in to stop them running off with Viking raiders around 800 AD.
Coastal erosion is real along this stretch. Heed the warning signs and keep back from the edge – the ground gives way.
Ballybunion Castle
The ruin on the headland is what’s left of a tower house built in the early 16th century by the Geraldine Fitzmaurice family, on the site of an earlier promontory fort. It was destroyed by Lord Kerry in 1582. The Bunyan (Bonzon) family who were tied to the castle gave the town its name – Baile an Bhuinneánaigh, the townland of An Buinneánach, linked to the Anglo-Norman surname Bunyan. It has been a protected national monument since the 1920s. Entry is free; there’s not a great deal left standing, but the position over the beaches is the point.
The golf
For a large share of visitors, the town is the golf. Ballybunion Golf Club, founded in 1893, runs two links courses laid out through some of the biggest sand dunes in Ireland – the Old Course, consistently ranked among the best in the world and long a favourite of Tom Watson, and the Cashen Course, a Robert Trent Jones design that would headline anywhere it wasn’t standing next to the Old.
Bill Clinton played here in 1998, and there’s a bronze statue of him mid-swing near the town. Green fees are steep and tee times go months ahead, so book well in advance if you want the Old Course in summer. Current opening varies by season: April, May and October until 7.30pm; June to September until 8pm; November to March, 8.30am to 5pm.
Collins’ seaweed baths
On Ladies Strand, Collins’ Seaweed Baths have been going for the best part of a century, started by local fisherman Thomas Collins. You get a private bathroom of hot seawater pumped fresh from the Atlantic that day, with seaweed for the muscles – around €20 for a 30-minute soak at the time of writing. It’s drop-in, no booking, and there’s a small café and shop attached. Half an hour is plenty; much longer in the heat and you’ll come out light-headed.
A bit of history
Two things put Ballybunion in the record books. In March 1919, the Marconi station on the cliffs made the first transatlantic voice transmission – call sign YXQ – picked up in Nova Scotia; a stone marks the spot. And from 1888 the town was linked to Listowel by the Lartigue Monorail, an oddball single-rail railway designed by the French engineer Charles Lartigue. The line is long gone, but a working replica runs as a heritage attraction in Listowel. For something current, the 500-seat Tinteán Theatre, opened in 2006, programmes drama, music, comedy and Irish dance through the year.
Practical information
- Getting there: Ballybunion lies 15 km (9 miles) west of Listowel, off the N69 between Limerick and Tralee. Buses run to Tralee, where the trains connect.
- Parking: There’s free parking near Ladies Beach and the playground, and pay-and-display in the centre. Mind the beach lots: the council car park is €2.50 for the day with direct beach access, while a private lot at the top of the beach entry charges €5 with no price posted until you’ve parked, and closes at 8pm. Use the council one.
- Nearby: Bromore Cliffs, a walking trail with big sea views and the Devil’s Castle sea stack, are about a mile north (small parking charge). Inland towards Ballyduff, Rattoo Round Tower is the only complete round tower in Kerry, about fifteen minutes’ drive. Listowel itself is worth the short hop for the Lartigue and the Kerry Writers’ Museum.
If you do one thing beyond the beach, make it the seaweed baths after a windy walk – it’s the most Ballybunion afternoon going.