By pure, though indeed fortunate, historic coincidence, Ballyhannon Castle is now exceptionally well located for 21st century visitors to Irish shores. Surrounded by Ireland’s most popular tourist attractions, it is strategically and conveniently at the heart of the West Coast of Ireland (scroll down to 'Directions' for route instructions and SatNav locator).

No words can describe the beauty of the west coast of Ireland, so see for yourself in this short video of a 'whistle-stop' tour of the coastline along which Ballyhannon Castle lies:

It is beside Shannon International Airport for those travelling to Ireland from abroad, yet in a rural setting within its own territorial stone-walled perimeter surrounded by farmland, and overlooks the Shannon Estuary leading to the Atlantic Ocean.

Distances from some popular locations & attractions:

Airports:

Shannon International Airport: 15 minutes

Dublin International Airport: 2 hours 30 minutes

Kerry International Airport: 1 hour 45 minutes

Knock International Airport: 2 hours

Cork International Airport: 1 hour 30 minutes

Golf Courses:

Ballybunion Golf Club: 1 hour 30 minutes

Doonbeg Golf Club: 1 hour

Killarney Golf Club: 2 hours

Lahinch Golf Club: 40 minutes

Old Head of Kinsale: 2 hours 30 minutes

Portmarnock Golf Club: 2 hours 45 minutes

Villages, towns, & cities for our famous pubs, gourmet food, traditional Irish Music and the 'craic' (fun & social life!):

Dingle Town (in Kerry): 2 hours 30 minutes

Ennis town: 10 minutes

Galway City: 1 hour

Limerick City: 20 minutes

Newmarket-on-Fergus village: 5 minutes

Quin village: 5 minutes

Activities & adventure, arts, heritage, landscape/sightseeing & culture:

Clare is steeped in arts, culture and heritage, folklore and myths, raw natural beauty, indoor and outdoor adventure activities, legendary pubs and gourmet food, traditional Irish music and dance festivals and championships! Get a mere flavour of these in our Local Attractions page, which also include:

The Burren National Park (Magical kingdom and botanist's paradise!)

Walking & cycling trails

Walled gardens & historic homes

Genealogical centre

Heritage & interpretative centres

Visitor centres & museums, national monuments and ancient celtic burial grounds and monolithic & neolithic prehistoric tombs

Food trails, cookery schools & local farmers' markets

Spa & wellness centres

Equestrian centres and horse riding stables

The castle is at the end of a long private avenue (cul-de-sac) on the road between the Dromoland Interchange/Dromoland West roundabout and Quin Village. From the privacy and serenity of this secluded base, it is an ideal focal point from which to explore the wild natural beauty of the West of Ireland. Located between Bunratty Castle & Folk Park and the Burren National Park, Ballyhannon Castle is at the heart of traditional historic rural Ireland.

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Directions:

For route instructions, click this link - Loc8 Code Icon
QQV-97-DV9 and click 'View' or 'Send to Satnav'.

Alternatively, for a step-by-step list of driving directions log on to http://www.theaa.ie/routes/ and follow the instructions on that page (i.e. scroll down to the bottom of that page and enter your Irish departure point and click the button beside it “Find start address”. Then type in “Quin” as your destination and click the button “Find destination address”. Finally, instead of the last line of the directions which this search will give you (“At the roundabout, take the 1st exit toward Cuinche/Quin 3.8 km”), replace it with "At the roundabout, take the 1st exit toward Cuinche/Quin, and drive 1.9 km to a 90 degree right-hand bend in the road, where you take a left turn into a small roadway (signposted Castlefergus Riding School), then drive 100 metres to 2 pillars in front of you, drive straight through them and 300 metres up the fenced avenue to the very end to finish at Ballyhannon Castle, Quin, Co. Clare".

Here are our most commonly used routes to Ballyhannon Castle (though these may be out of date when you search due to regular road changes and new road construction, so we recommend that you follow the instructions above and use http://www.theaa.ie/routes/):

From Shannon International Airport

From Dublin City Centre

From Dublin Airport

From Cork International Airport

From Galway

From Limerick

About your route:

These suggested routes are designed by The AA as a guide to help you get to your destination safely and easily. They consider these to be the quickest and easiest (but not necessarily the shortest) routes, based on average off-peak driving conditions, and road infrastructure as at May 2009. Road infrastructure has changed since then with additional Motorway connections, so for their updated suggested routes as of your date of arrival at Ballyhannon Castle, log onto http://www.theaa.ie/routes/ as close a possible to your trip, and don’t forget that instead of the final line of the directions this will give you (“At the roundabout, take the 1st exit toward Cuinche/Quin 3.8 km”), replace it with "Drive 1.9 km to a 90 degree right-hand bend in the road, where you take a left turn into a small roadway (signposted Castlefergus Riding School), then drive 100 metres to 2 pillars in front of you, drive straight through them and 300 metres up the fenced avenue to the very end to finish at Ballyhannon Castle, Quin, Co. Clare"

....whatever you do, don't ask Brendan for directions!

Sat Nav is probably your best bet!