Leinster is Ireland's eastern golfing powerhouse, and it doesn't shout about it. While international golfers make a pilgrimage to Kerry and the Wild Atlantic coast, the province anchored by Dublin quietly hosts one of the densest concentrations of world-class golf on earth. Within 90 minutes of Dublin Airport, you can play Portmarnock, County Louth (Baltray), The Island, Royal Dublin, The K Club, Druids Glen and soon Brittas Bay… whether links or manicured, resort-style parkland, you’ll find it here.
What Leinster offers that the west doesn't is convenience. Dublin is your base: a brilliant city for food, music and Guinness, with championship golf on the doorstep. East-coast links are a bit more subtle than the west coast links, while the parkland estates of Kildare and Kilkenny offer five-star resort golf of the highest order. It's a destination you can build a serious itinerary around without the miles of cross-country driving.
The jewel of the East Coast, and the course against which all Irish links are measured. Portmarnock sits on a narrow peninsula 16km north of Dublin, founded in 1894 and almost surrounded by the Irish Sea.
It has hosted 19 Irish Opens, the 1991 Walker Cup, and may yet stage The Open Championship. Bernard Darwin's famous verdict — that no greater finish exists than Portmarnock's closing five holes — holds as true today as when it was written.
The course is relatively flat and wide, which fools visitors into underestimating it. The genius lies in the routing, the relentless crosswinds and the quality of every single hole.
🗓 Visitors: 1 April–31 October only
🚶 Walking only — no buggies for visitors
💰 Approximately £405 (€475/$530) for 18 holes with a two-course meal included
Known simply as Baltray, County Louth is the great, undersung links of the east coast — quietly ranked in Ireland's top five and beloved by those who've played it.
Located at the mouth of the River Boyne, 45 minutes north of Dublin Airport, the course was redesigned in 1938 by Tom Simpson and Molly Gourlay and has remained almost unchanged since.
The clubhouse is warm, the soup and brown bread post-round is legendary, and tee times are more accessible than you'd expect for a course of this calibre.
💰 Approximately £120 (€140/$155) in peak season
Established in 1890 and reached via a winding road alongside the Malahide estuary, The Island is one of those courses that rewards the effort made to find it.
Surrounded on three sides by water and set among some of the highest dunes on the east coast, it has a raw, natural character that is rare even by links standards.
Recent remodelling work transformed the front nine, adding variety and making fuller use of the dramatic terrain. Just 15 minutes from Dublin Airport, it's an ideal opening or closing round.
💰 Approximately £250 (€295/$325)
Founded in 1885 and designed by H.S. Colt, Royal Dublin occupies North Bull Island in Dublin Bay — a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve where 40,000 migratory birds overwinter alongside the golfers. The approach across the wooden bridge from Clontarf sets the scene immediately.
The links are flat, exposed and relentlessly honest. Multiple Irish Open host.
Accessible by tram from Dublin city centre, and with competitive green fees for a course of this calibre, Royal Dublin is one of Leinster's best-value championship experiences.
💰 Approximately £185 (€215/$240)
Ireland's most famous golf resort and host of the 2006 Ryder Cup, where Europe won by a record 18.5–9.5. The Palmer North Course was designed by Arnold Palmer and Ed Seay in 1991 and set within 550 acres of County Kildare countryside alongside the River Liffey.
Grand, immaculate and definitively resort in character, it's the course golfers visit to stand where Darren Clarke, Luke Donald and Sergio García sealed European glory.
The "Augusta of Ireland" — a phrase that earns its credibility in late spring when the Wicklow parkland explodes with colour. Four-time Irish Open host in the 1990s. Stunning conditioning and a resort package including the adjacent Druids Heath course.
A wooded deer park with a sandy, springy feel underfoot that wouldn't look out of place on a Surrey heathland. Vastly underrated, quietly excellent. Tom Simpson & Molly Gourlay’s heritage and pedigree.
A local cult classic, it’s a sneaky good 18-hole golf municipal that lies inthe same dunes as The Island…
Day 1 — Arrive & Royal Dublin Fly into Dublin, drive directly to Bull Island. Royal Dublin accepts visitors all day; the tram back to Temple Bar afterwards.
Day 2 — Portmarnock Golf Club The day the trip is built around. Book the earliest tee time available; consider the 27-hole rate (approximately £480/€580). The included two-course meal is part of the experience — don't rush it.
Day 3 — The Island Golf Club A short drive north to Donabate for raw, natural links golf in the company of the Malahide estuary. 15 minutes from the airport if an early flight beckons. Perhaps one for your first or last day if you want to switch it up.
Day 4 — County Louth (Baltray) Head north on the M1 to the Boyne estuary. Arrive early, bring a full appetite for the post-round soup and brown bread, and consider the historic town of Drogheda for dinner on the way back.
Day 5 from 2027 — Brittas Bay - From 2027, this day should be spent at Kyle Phillips new design.
Option 1 - Day 5 — Drive South & Druids Glen Relocate to County Wicklow. Check in at Druids Glen Resort, play the afternoon round in the Wicklow hills.
Option 2 - Day 5 — The K Club & Departure Drive west through Kildare for a Palmer South round before a late flight. The River Liffey setting is beautiful; walk the estate grounds before heading to Dublin Airport (40 minutes via the M4).
Dublin Airport is one of Europe's best-connected hubs, with direct flights from across the UK, Europe, and North America (New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto and beyond). Ryanair and Aer Lingus operate frequent UK routes; transatlantic golfers fly direct with Aer Lingus, United, American and Delta.
Ferry option: Irish Ferries and Stena Line run Holyhead–Dublin Port crossings (approximately 3h 20m on the fast ferry), which are ideal for UK-based golfers carrying clubs who want to avoid airline bag fees.
By car: Belfast to Dublin is around 90 minutes on the M1, making a combined Ulster–Leinster itinerary entirely realistic.
A hire car is essential. All major international companies operate from Dublin Airport.
The M50 ring road and M1, M2, and M4 motorways give fast access to courses across the province.
GPS is reliable throughout; allow extra time on first visits to courses with complex approach roads — The Island in Donabate being the prime example.
Best months: May, June and September — good weather, long days, manageable visitor numbers and slightly lower green fees than peak summer.
Peak season: July and August — longest days and firmest links conditions, but highest prices and most advanced planning required.
Shoulder season: April and October — excellent value, variable weather, and a genuine chance of near-empty courses on weekday mornings.
Leinster's east-coast climate is noticeably milder than the Atlantic coast — lower rainfall, less ferocious wind, more sunshine.
Summer temperatures range from around 15–20°C (59–68°F).
Pack a light waterproof jacket and a mid-layer regardless of the forecast.
Golf resorts: The K Club (Kildare), Druids Glen (Wicklow), Killeen Castle (Meath) and Carton House (Kildare) all offer full resort packages combining accommodation with golf on-site.
Dublin city centre: Most flexible base for the coastal links cluster.
Coastal villages: Malahide is ideally placed for the north Dublin links — 15 minutes from Portmarnock and The Island, with excellent restaurants and a harbour. Skerries is quieter and better positioned for Baltray day trips.
South Wicklow: Powerscourt Hotel near Enniskerry for Wicklow parkland golf, or the market town of Kilkenny as a base for Mount Juliet.
Fine dining: Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud near St Stephen's Green holds two Michelin stars — Ireland's most decorated table. Greenhouse, Chapter One and Aimsir round out Dublin's destination dining. Book well in advance for weekend evenings.
Authentic pubs: Mulligan's on Poolbeg Street and Kehoe's on South Anne Street are among Dublin's most genuine — order a Guinness and settle in. Temple Bar is for everyone; these places are for golfers who mean it.
Near the courses: The post-round clubhouse lunch at County Louth (Baltray) is part of the experience — traditional Irish cooking served with genuine warmth. The two-course meal is included in Portmarnock's green fee. In Malahide, the waterfront restaurants make excellent use of fresh Irish Sea produce.
⚠️ The European Club — 2025/26 Update: Pat Ruddy's European Club in County Wicklow — long one of Ireland's finest links — was sold in 2025 and immediately closed for a comprehensive redesign by Kyle Phillips. It is expected to reopen in 2027 as Brittas Bay Club. Do not include it in a 2026 itinerary.
🦶 Portmarnock - Be prepared to walk… No buggies for visitors, ever. The terrain is more or less flat, and walking is the point.
🏌️ Don't overlook Baltray: It's the most underestimated great links in Ireland. More accessible than Portmarnock, more authentic than the resorts, and the one course that serious golfers who've done the research tend to name as their best day.
🛬 Last-morning golf: The Island or Corballis is 15 minutes from Dublin Airport. If there's a late afternoon flight, a final morning round with the bags in the car is one of the more civilised ways to end a Leinster trip.
Glendalough — Sixth-century monastic settlement in a glacial Wicklow valley. One of Ireland's most atmospheric sites. Unmissable on any South Wicklow golf trip.
The Boyne Valley — Newgrange (5,000 years old, predates Stonehenge) and the Hill of Tara, 40 minutes north of Dublin. Combine with a Baltray round for the most culturally satisfying day in Leinster.
Trinity College & the Book of Kells — The Long Room library is among the world's most beautiful spaces. Free to walk the squares; the Book of Kells exhibition requires a ticket.
Guinness Storehouse — The rooftop Gravity Bar with panoramic Dublin views justifies every overused superlative applied to it. Allow two to three hours.
The Wicklow Mountains — The Military Road through Glencree and Glenmacnass is a genuinely spectacular drive. Best done slowly, with a stop at Sally Gap.
