Mac Senior and Mammy Mac are looking to head to a hotel in North Dublin in somewhere like Malahide, Howth or Portmarnock (or any Fingal coastal town apart from Balbriggan) for a weekend. Are there any hotels you’d recommend as being excellent or any you’d suggest staying away from? Also any restaurant recommendations in the area would be much appreciated.
Lots of decent restaurants in Malahide and Howth, not in Portmarnock. Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links is decent though - expensive place but they always have deals on particularly if the Macs are golfing types.
portmarnock for hotels,malahide for pubs & restaurants is the general rule of thumb.
the best restuarants in malahide would be bon appetit,cruzzos,kajal or jaipur(pakistani & indian places). bon appetit would be best so they should book early if they are staying. if they didnt want to get taixs the grand hotel is the only hotel in malahide which id say is somwhere between average & good .
Mac, tell them to book The Grand Hotel in Malahide; venue for Wexford’s banquet after the All Ireland Final in 1996. 
Surely the last people to ask about hotels are the people who are actually from the place in question. I would be a very bad person to ask about hotels in Dublin because I’ve never stayed in one - well not for very long. In, out, do what you have to do.
Cheers lads, how much would a taxi from Malahide to Portmarnock cost? They’re fairly close aren’t they?
A tenner at most. They’re only a couple of miles apart but because of minimum fares etc it adds up a small bit. Get a fixed price one for between 5 and 10.
It’s a lovely walk too though and they might meet NCC out pushing a pram.
Is Malahide Castle open to the public for one to enjoy a stroll? The other massive park in Malahide is a great amenity for the locality.
its a nice walk on a sunny day to be honest but if your parents do decide to walk tell them not to be fooled in thinking they are in malahide when they reach high rock- high rock is the outer boundary of malahide, but its still a bit of a walk until they get to the village
mullach ide is very quiet on this thread.
it certainly is bandage, in fact it has everything there, golf,cricket,football,bogball,stick hurling & french boules for the sports enthusiasts . the fry railway museum for rail enthusiasts,the playground for young families & paedophiles & the world famous botanical gardens. rocko was in the castle recently so he may be able to give you more details on prices of tours etc
Would there be much else in Portmarnock apart from the hotel? Neither of them have any real tolerance for golf. That hotel seems to have some good deals alright.
The only thing Malahide Castle is missing is an aviation museum to celebrate Fingal’s rich aviation history.
I do recommend a stop at the Southern Cross monument at the top of the Velvet Strand in North Portmarnock.
High Rock is still Portmarnock alright. In fact Robswall was Portmarnock until very recently and remains Portmarnock for many of us.
There’s a lovely beach. Apart from that nothing. The hotel is at the beach so you have that and it’s a nice view and everything but the village is as shabby and sparse as Malahide’s is pristine and plentiful. It’s a nice hotel though. If they go when there’s an Ireland match on they’ll be celeb spotting all day.
little known fact that portmarnock was founded by the same mongs that founded kilmarnock in deepest darkest hunshire- to this day portmarnock folk & killie folk see themselves as brothers across the sea
Rocko / NCC - would there be anything in Skerries or Rush / Lusk or are they just a waste of time?
they would all have their selling points but south fingal would have a lot more selling points - tourists in general would stay in south fingal.
skerries are fuckin goats anyway
Malahide and Howth seem to be the main attractions alright. Cheers for the info.
I was just about to give Skerries some credit.
Rush and Lusk are kips… ruined by new housing estates, not that they were great before. When Larryduff lived down south he spent some time in Donabate so he might recommend there but I don’t think you should look beyond the golden peninsulas of Sutton/Howth and Portmarnock/Malahide
The Skerries Goat Legend
When St. Patrick was expelled from Wicklow by the pagan natives, he sailed northward and landed on a small island off Skerries. In his honour it became known as St. Patrick’s Island. When the saint arrived on the island he was accompanied by a goat which provided milk. From this island St. Patrick would come to the mainland to convert the people. While the saint was ashore on a missionary trip the people of Skerries visited the island and stole his goat. They killed, cooked and feasted on it.
When St. Patrick came back to the island he found his goat missing. This made him very angry and in two giant strides he reached the mainland. The first step took him to the back of Colt Island, the second to Red Island where he confronted the people of Skerries. They tried to deny having seen his goat but found they could only bleat. When they told the saint the truth about his goat their voices returned.
To this day St. Patrick’s footprint, where he stepped on to the south side of Red Island, can be seen in the rocks at the bathing area while the nickname Skerries Goat is given to the people of the town to remind them of this deed.
The Indian on Townyard Lane is quite good as well NCC, have you eaten there?
Skerries is ok’ish, Rush and Lusk are kips as stated previously, Donabate and Portrane have nice beaches but that’s about it.
Newbridge House in Donabate and Ardgillan Castle outside Skerries are quite similar to Malahide Castle but are nice public parks etc.
I guess beaches wouldn’t really be attractions to Wexicans anyway.