Ireland Trip, need more ideas
 

My spouse and I are headed to Ireland, London and Paris in October.

My spouse is Irish and we are headed to Monaghan County so that he can connect with his "roots" (his last name is Monaghan, very common in Ireland, so this is a big thing)

I have the London and Paris parts of our trip all planned out, it's the Ireland bit that I am stuck with. We are flying to Dublin from Calgary on October 8th arriving on the 9th. I am unsure whether or not I should book one or 2 nights in Dublin. There seem to be a lot of mixed reviews on this site. In Dublin we are going to be renting a car and heading north to Monaghan. As I am unfamiliar with Ireland could anyone suggest any "can't miss" things on our way there? My husband is a golfer so I think that's on our list but otherwise we're wide open.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance and I look forward to your suggestions.

Jasmine

Jasmine, Although Monaghan is a fairly common surname, it is not particularly associated with County Monaghan! Has your spouse got any better fix than that on his ancestry?

What makes you unsure about Dublin? There is plenty to see and do there. Just don't burden yourselves with a hired car until you are striking out into the countryside.

If you do travel from Dublin to Monaghan, you pass near Newgrange which is one of the great do not miss sites in Ireland. If you tell me where you hope to visit, I can tell you where the golf courses are.

When you have a little more shape on your plans, come back.

Thanks for your reply.

I am well aware that the last name doesn't have much to do with the area, however for him it means a lot (his father abandoned him and his sister when they were very young) so it has more to do with other things.... than actually finding ancestry.

Our plan is to drive from Dublin to Monaghan County on October 11th and spend time in the County and areas until the 15th when we drive back to Dublin and catch a flight to London.

I have looked in many books but I still haven't found anything that jumps out at me with regards to what are some "key" things to see in the area.

I suppose I will just have to keep looking...

Again, thank you for your reply.

Monaghan is not a county with a tourism tradition. It is in the drumlin belt (google, if you don't know about drumlins) and has many small lakes. Five principal towns: Monaghan, Castleblayney, Carrickmacross, Ballybay, Clones. Good small county museum in Monaghan, and a dull cathedral. Some nice stone Buildings in Carrickmacrss. The poet Patrick Kavanagh (google, if you don't know of him) came from Inniskeen, near Carrickmacross, and there is a Kavanagh centre there. Golf courses at Carrickmacross (2), Castleblayney, Monaghan, and Clones. Castle Leslie, near Monaghan town, might interest you (google again!) Souvenir idea: Carrickmacross Lace made in -- guess where?

What sort of accommodation do you have in mind?

Newgrange is impressive, so is Hill of Tara in a different way, and Knowth. Malahide is incredible, too - so is the countryside along there. Slane Abbey was really cool - I explored it for several hours :) There is lots to do north of Dublin.