Stargazing breaks in Ireland?

Does anyone know of any hotels in rural (preferably above 300m) Ireland that are suitable for stargazing holidays or weekend breaks? Ideally it would also be a good area for photography.

I do live here so I know about the weather :roll: I'm interested in finding a place that's open all year round and is in or near a dark area where there is plenty of publicly accessible space to set up and observe without the typical intrusion of modern lighting.

I have not heard of such a dedicated place in Ireland, but there is one in Wales that escapes my memory right now.

What you need is something like a rural B&B that has known areas that you can get to at night, perhaps without the hecklement of courting couples and bored teenage drivers.

Maybe look for a farmhouse B&B in a rural location that has plenty of land to let you wander around? I used to live on the grounds of one in Tyrrellspass, Westmeath, but that farm has since been sold and is not a B&B anymore.

Seanie.

And of course somewhere dark. Get a copy of this to help you there:



Data is about 8 years old but still should give a good indication. It's the Cinzano light pollution map overlayed onto a road atlas.

If you are ordering it from amazon in the uk please go through the ILPAC shop , we get a few cent that way.

Pristine skies are still available all over Connemara.

Especially the very west...Ballyconneely....Roundstone etc.

As its a tourist area there are plenty of hotels and B&Bs.

Not to mention spectacular scenery.

See:

www.connemara-tourism.org/regions/roundstone.html

Peter

With the weather here, you might as well be looking for a snow boarding holiday in west Clare. :lol:

With the weather here, you might as well be looking for a snow boarding holiday in west Clare. :lol:

:lol: