An Insider’s Ireland

Ireland is rediscovering its roots and getting back to basics — while maintaining a modern sheen. The Emerald Isle still offers up its legendary charm, majestic scenery, and toe-tapping traditional music. But what’s old is new again, and thanks to current twists on the tried-and-true, there’s never been a better time to visit Ireland. Here are eight great reasons to visit now.

1. Your castle/lighthouse/coach house awaits.
During the 1990s, scores of cash-flush Irish lovingly restored all manner of ancient structures, from crumbling famine cottages to 18th-century coach houses. Many of the renovated digs were enjoyed privately until newly frugal times prompted owners to rent them out. The bottom line: The country is chockablock with fabulous places you can lay claim to for a week or weekend, whether you fancy small or sprawling, modest or majestic.

Dreaming of ocean views? Your wish is easily fulfilled on this island nation, where cows and sheep outnumber people along the stunning, undeveloped coastline. Topping the list: the luxurious lighthouse in the southern village of Crookhaven — complete with floor-to-ceiling windows revealing the Atlantic’s hypnotic blue waves. If you yearn to turn back time, there are more than a few 200-year-old cottages — including a thatched-roof charmer known as McHale’s House on a working farm in County Mayo. Or, channel your inner princess at one of the refurbished castles reigning over the countryside. At the baronial mansion known as Castle Oliver, 12 staircases and more than 100 rooms beckon wannabe royalty.

2. You’re really, really welcome.
Long promoted as the “land of a thousand welcomes,” Ireland wants you — and is proving it with newly reasonable rates. The average tab for a hotel room is $110, making the country the least expensive destination for accommodation in Western Europe. Prices at restaurants have shrunk noticeably, too. Officials even trimmed the value-added tax on tourism products like that Waterford crystal vase you’re sure to eye. Visiting this welcoming land hasn’t been so wallet-friendly in years.

The friendliness of the people never ebbed. Locals have always generously shared their gift of gab and Irish wit. In Dublin, they’re making sure visitors get a dose of it: The new City of a Thousand Welcomes program dispatches Dubliners to take visitors out for a cup of tea or a pint. It’s a real Irish welcome — and a great way to kick off your trip.

3. The taste of Ireland has never been this good.
No knock on bacon and cabbage, but Ireland has finally beaten its rap as a country where you drink well and eat badly. Menus now boast dishes of the “new Irish traditional” cuisine — using fresh, local vegetables, meat, and seafood, cooked simply yet incorporating international influences. There have never been more opportunities to experience the new flavors — starting with Dublin’s latest standout, Restaurant FortyOne, housed in the swank private club Residence. The club has opened its restaurant to nonmembers — a true Irish treat, thanks to head chef Graham Neville’s world-class credentials.

Passionate foodies, though, will make a beeline to Kinsale in southern Cork County. The medieval harbor town, known as the gourmet capital of Ireland, offers some 60 places to eat, from pubs to seafood bars to outdoor cafes overlooking the yacht-speckled water. The farmers’ market serves up an aromatic array of just-caught shellfish, free-range Irish Angus beef, and artisanal cheeses from nearby farms. Or detour to Cork City for a cornucopia of butchers, spice shops, and fishmongers at the English Market — in operation since 1788!

If seeing all this bounty inspires you, try your hand at one of the many cooking schools that have sprouted up in the most idyllic surroundings — from islands reachable only by ferry to thatched-roof cottages. Ballymaloe Cookery School, on renowned chef Darina Allen’s 100-acre organic farm, offers more than 30 courses lasting from a few hours to 12 weeks. One recent class was titled “How To Cure a Pig in a Day.”

4. Ireland is edgy.
In many destinations around the world, fences, guards, and guided tours protect popular natural sites. The laid-back Irish don’t worry so much, so monastic settlements, ancient forts, and gorgeous cliff-top views look very much as they have for centuries. However, a recent outcry prompted officials to consider installing safety fences along the 600 stone steps snaking skyward to the Skellig Michael monastery, which clings to a cliff 700 feet above the ocean. They decided against it; for now, the UNESCO World Heritage site remains as unspoiled as the country’s other precarious perches. Among them: Dun Aengus, the Iron Age cliff fort perched some 300 feet above the chilly waves on Inishmore Island. On the 700-foot-high Cliffs of Moher, a fence and warning signs keep some visitors back; others are bolder, peering over an outcropping known as “The Edge,” which has no guardrails.

5. You can finally get your farm on.
It used to be that Irish farms — those green, sheep-dotted fields rimmed by centuries-old stone fences — were merely a pastoral backdrop that tourists admired while whizzing past in cars or motor coaches. The closest visitors came to experiencing the country’s farming culture was when a four-legged flock clogged the road — the legendary “Irish traffic jam.” Nowadays, many family farms open their doors to visitors keen on cuddling a lamb or helping with an afternoon milking. Perhaps the most delightful is Kissane Sheep Farm, a 3,000-acre mountainside spread in County Kerry. John Kissane, whose family has been working the land for 150 years, expertly demonstrates the basics of sheepherding, which include the graceful agility and smarts of Ireland’s ubiquitous border collies. In the barn, visitors can watch sheep shearing or bottle-feed an orphan lamb. A self-guided walk offers unforgettable views.

6. The surf’s (always) up.
Ireland’s pubs have always gotten top billing, and the Guinness-is-good-for-you culture is still in full swing. But thanks to a different type of liquid refreshment, the country is enjoying a hip new reputation as one of the world’s best spots for cold-water surfing. The massive swells that gain speed and size crossing the Atlantic collide with the craggy Irish coast, creating excellent surf in the south, west, and north. Learn at one of the 40 surf schools — many in County Donegal, where the European Surfing Championships were held last fall. Those looking to boost the adventure quotient can sign up for Bundoran Surf Company’s Surf & Stay Weekends, a program of surf lessons mixed with other activities such as sea kayaking and cliff jumping. Surfers who want to hang ten on their own can wander down any number of country roads to find isolated coves or beaches at the edge of farmland. One surf publication compared the experience to surfing California in the 1950s.

7. The tried-and-true Irish sweater is showing off a modern makeover.
The classic cabled-wool fisherman’s sweater never goes out of style. But those seeking something a bit more high fashion should head to Dublin’s trendy South William Street. There the new Irish design collective Project 51 houses a host of up-and-coming artisans, including Heather Finn, whose atelier features her sophisticated cashmere-and-silk cardigans capped with gold cuffs. Lucy Downes’s ultrasoft cashmere knits, loomed by hand in Nepal, have earned a cult cachet — drawing hordes to Havana, the upscale Dublin boutique that stocks Downes and other Irish stars, including fashion’s newest darling designer Simone Rocha. Away from the capital, Edmund McNulty weaves precious yarns such as kid mohair and alpaca to create moody new styles in his County Louth studio, where he welcomes visitors. And worth the ferry ride, there’s the remote island of Inishmaan, where to-die-for sweaters are knitted and exported to tony stores such as Barneys New York.

8. Getting around just got easier.
Thanks to funds from the European Union, Ireland’s narrow, potholed byways have been transformed into newly widened, smoothly paved roads, complete with wire fencing that keeps the pavement (mostly) sheep-free. Now that motorists can enjoy Ireland’s unbeatable scenery with minimal spikes to their heart rates, hitting the road is de rigueur. Any wrong turn will lead you to the most awe-inspiring landscapes. But one off-the-charts scenic drive is the Slea Head route on the Dingle Peninsula — a dramatic mountain and seaside drive that’s one of the most photographed in Ireland. Farther south, the Healy Pass through the Caha Mountains rivals the best scenery in Europe, offering a kaleidoscope of green patchwork fields and a bird’s-eye view of brooding Glanmore Lake.

Getting there: US Airways flies year-round to Dublin from Philadelphia and Charlotte during the summer months.

Lucinda Hahn is a writer and editor who lived in Ireland for two magical years and travels back often from the U.S.