Southern Ireland

[DonB]

We are thinking about touring southern Ireland in September this year. If we do we will be arriving by ferry in Dublin approx 7-8 in the evening. We then wish to turn south. Does anybody know of a safe place to park up for the night within a short distance of the port? Something like an aire, a CL or a campsite? As I am not a good sailor and may not be able to drive far! Or if you have any other useful tips or information about southern Ireland we would be very grateful.

[Stuart]

Camac Valley to the west of Dublin is the only decent site.

It is about 30-50 minutes drive through Dublin, dependoiing on town traffic. Coming off the Irish ferry boat at 6ish takes about an hour.

 

The site is just off the main dual carriagewway to Waterford / Cork / Limerick at Clondalkin.

 

Details are at www.camacvalley.com

 

Rgds

 

Stuart

[onecal]

Donald, if you PM me with details of your travel , areas you may want to visit, etc I should be able to help out,,,there is a SAFENIGHTS scheme up and running at the moment, anyone who wants info I will gladly pass on,

Regards,

Brendan

[emjay]

I don't think there are any Aires in Dublin. I would agree with what Bakersboy said in earlier post.. ie suggesting Camac Valley. I have not stayed there personally but it seems to be well rated. It is also reasonably close to the port and you will be well positioned to get an early start following day for your trip down south. Check out its website http://www.camacvalley.com/

 

You may already know about the following links but just in case you don't check these out:

 

http://www.camping-ireland.ie/index.html (general info on camping in Ireland)

 

http://www.camping-ireland.ie/parks.html ( interactive map to differnt counties in Ireland, click on a county to find campsites in that county)

 

http://www.discoverireland.ie/Search-Results/List.aspx?Search=1&CategoryID=161&LocationID=879 ( listing of 97 campsites through out Rep of Ireland) The discover ireland gives lots of info about attractions, things to see, festivals etc - so well worth checking it out.

 

Best wishes and hope you have a great holiday.

 

 

[Madmaggott]

Does anyone know if it is ok to wild camp in Ireland?  Someone told me that it is strictly off limits, is this true?

By the time we have paid for the ferry crossings (£350) and sites at, from those I have looked at, between 20-30 euros per night we could have a fortnight all inclusive in the sun!!

I would like to visit Ireland but think the cost might prove to be prohibitive.

 

[DonB]

Thanks everybody for the information, we are following it all up.

[emjay]

I am not a legal expert but I am 99.99% sure that wildcamping is not lawful in Rep of Ireland.

 

However lots of people (including me) do wild camp. Generally while in Ireland I have not camped on private property. For example I have never camped in shopping centre / supermarket car parks. That is not to say you would not get away with it either by asking for permission or arriving late and leaving early. That is different to what I have done whilst in France where I have overnighted in supermarket car parks. In Ireland be wary of some private carparks that have time limits of between 2 and 4 hours and there may be a contract clamping company only to eager to make a few Euro on you if you overstay your time limit.

 

Whilst in Ireland I use quiet areas - parking areas or lay-byes informal parking areas beside beaches or on the edge of small towns and villages.

 

Use a bit of sense. Sometimes we arrive park up latish. If there is a shop close by we might go in and buy something small more to just let them see who we are. The police are unlikely to say anything to you unless you are causing an obstruction or unless someone reports you. If they do arrive the worst they are likely to do is to ask you move.

 

One thing you will find is there are quite lot of height barriers blocking most motorhorhomes. These are erected probably more to keep gypsies away rather than aimed at motorhomers on holiday