The Magical Secrets of Ireland
In Ireland cliches come to life -- a green landscape brushed with rain, a wild coastline bordering a windblown sea, the sound of an Irish fiddle in a cozy village pub warmed by a turf fire. Literary, poetic, gifted in the art of conversation, the Irish extend their love of language even to the names of counties and towns, which roll off the tongue like music: Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick & Kilkenny. For a taste of Irish culture, from the Abbey Theatre to traditional music, proceed directly to Dublin. Most visitors then turn to the west coast, where cliff-lined seascapes from Donegal to Dingle fulfill idealized visions of the Emerald Isle.

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ISLANDS contributing editor Ramin Ganeshram recently explored Ireland in a coast-to-coast eating tour for the feature article "Land o' Plenty" in the February 2009 issue. She discovered the culinary renaissance happening in the small towns, pubs, inns and farms that give Ireland its character. Read the full story.

Fly direct to Dublin (DUB) from multiple U.S. airports, including New York (JFK), Orlando (MCO) and Chicago (ORD), on Aer Lingus. aerlingus.com

Eat your way across Ireland. Try the Ballymaloe House restaurant for lunch, where local ingredients meet true, creative ingenuity, ballymaloe.ie. Dine in elegant country comfort at BrookLodge's Strawberry Tree in Macreddin Village, where you can feast free- for-all style for up to 40 people at the Big Table, brooklodge.com. Try fine smoked salmon, trout, mackerel and cheese at the Burren Smokehouse, burrensmokehouse.ie. In Northern Ireland, try the yogurt at the Clandeboye Estate, made in the on-site artisanal dairy, clandeboye.co.uk. For dessert, satisfy your sweet tooth in County Kerry with homemade ice cream at Murphys Ice Cream. murphysicecream.ie

Stay in a waterside retreat in one of the Bayview Hotel Bally- cotton's 35 luxurious rooms, perched on the cliffs of east Cork, thebayviewhotel.com. In County Wexford, the Dunbrody Country House Hotel is an 1830s Georgian manor with gourmet foods and a spa with relaxing treatments, dunbrodyhouse.com. In Northern Ireland, the Grange Lodge in Dungannon marries Victorian beauty with country coziness, grangelodgecountryhouse.com. In County Cork, Ireland's gourmet-food country, at Ballymaloe House, the centuries-old manor house on 400 acres. ballymaloe.ie

Shop for Aran sweaters -- in plaited cable, honeycomb, trinity or other authentic stitches -- either prêt à porter or made to order, in Galway (which is just a boat ride away from the Aran Islands) at Ó'Máille. omaille.com

Take a class at Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery School and learn traditional Irish cooking techniques as well as lost skills like churning butter. What's the best part? Enjoy the fruits of your labor at the private, students-only restaurant. cookingisfun.ie

Sample the freshest fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, eggs, cheese, coffee, pastries and much more at Cork's English Market, trading since 1788, corkenglishmarket.ie. Try Giana Ferguson's Gubbeen cheese, an earthy soft cheese that helped shape Ireland's artisanal food movement. gubbeen.com

Drink at the wine bar above Sheridan's Cheesemongers in Galway, where barman Gerry Flynn presides over an impressive range of vino and charcuterie, providing a different take on pints and pub fare. sheridanscheesemongers.com

Learn more at discoverireland.com.