Tourism

Duhallow is an area rich in culture and heritage. We focus on a range of outdoor pursuits and outdoor activities promoting ‘ eco tourism ’ enthusiasts to visit the region.

The Mount Hillary Eco Pods which were funded by LEADER were developed by Katrin and Walter Alhert to help address Duhallow ’ s Accommodation Shortage

Michael Nicholas, a regular visitor to Duhallow from Spain about to release a wild brown trout in the Dallow river Tom Ankettell (Duhallow Angling Centre of Excellence) Cian Hayes Dublin and Mike Kelleher (Youth Ffficer Kanturk Trout Anglers) enjoying a day on the river.

Kerry Over 50s club spent a very enjoyable afternoon in Duhallow where they also dined in DCFS adjacent to the Pitch & Putt course.

Walking in Duhallow

IRD Duhallow administers the Walks Scheme for the Duhallow Blackwater Way Walk, which stretches 50 miles from Bweeng, Co. Cork to Clonkeen Church, Co. Kerry South of the Paps Mountains. Through this, funding is provided for 26 local private landowners to maintain and upgrade their sections along the route. IRD Duhallow continues to support walking tourism in the region through the promotion and development of the National Trails Office accredited walks including Mt. Hilary, Mullaghareirk, the Source of the Blackwater and Claragh. The Walks Scheme for the Duhallow Blackwater Way leverages significant support from Rural Social Scheme (RSS) participants to maintain the quality of the trail. The Outdoor Recreation and Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) is focused on developing rural Ireland’ s unique natural amenities and support the adventure tourism sector in rural communities. Last year we successfully applied for small scale works and upgrades to the Kiskeam River Walk and the Slugadal, Rathmore.

We have recently been awarded funding for a Rural Recreation Officer (RRO), who act as a unique resource locally for providing best practice in trail maintenance, management, marketing and the development of a broad range of rural recreation and activity tourism products. The new RRO will also animate and assist with trail marketing in line with the National Countryside Recreational Strategy and promote the leave no trace policy. Significant efforts have been made to develop promotional materials including leaflets, website information panels to ensure details of the trails is readily available to prospective trail users including grades of trails, terrain, distance etc. The RRO will also be responsible for the development of a LEADER funded trail walking app.

Angling Centre Of Excellence

The Duhallow Angling Centre of Excellence has seen varying trends the past two years due to the onset of the COVID which has disrupted the world in a way not experienced since the last world war. The angling centre since its foundation in 2012 had gained a reputation as an angling destination for international anglers seeking waters with the ultimate prize, namely wild native brown trout.

Unfortunately, worldwide travel restrictions has prevented many visiting anglers from visiting the Duhallow region, some of whom had made it an annual pilgrimage. As travel restrictions have eased we are now receiving enquiries for 2022 from many anglers who are seeking to make a return. We look forward to welcoming them again to our rivers and streams.

The other trend which occurred the past two years has been the increase in local people taking up angling for the first time. Local angling clubs have reported a major increase in new members and family memberships in particular. A study carried out by the Duhallow Angling Centre of Excellence shows that due to the lockdown and local travel restrictions most of the people taking up angling and joining clubs was due entirely to COVID. Having vibrant angling clubs available coupled with beautiful clean rivers flowing through well managed town parks made angling the ideal activity for all the family. As soon as restrictions were lifted the angling centre in conjunction with the local angling clubs arranged weekly coaching and information sessions which were well attended. They say its an ill wind that doesn ’t blow some good.

The angling centre will be well represented in the upcoming 2022 international fly fishing c h a m p i o n s h i p s . Kasperous Martinkus will compete in the world youth fly fishing championships in Italy. Kasperous becomes the fifth graduate of the angling centre to qualify for an Irish team since its foundation in 2012 an achievement we are very proud of. Best of luck also to Michael Twohig (World masters) and Steven Higgins (European championships)

Newmarket Pitch and Putt

Newmarket Pitch and Putt’ s unique 18-hole course was designed by Michael O’Leary of Sol Golf Ballydesmond and was funded by the LEADER programme. The club were honoured to host the Men ’ s National Match Play qualifiers in May.

Encouraging young people to partake in sport, the head coach from the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland visited our course this year to coach the boy ’ s national school from Newmarket and the National School children from Boherbue. Staff of IRD Duhallow have also started a competition for beginners with 42 of the team participating during lunch time.

An aerial view of the state of the art pitch and putt course which was developed on the grounds of the James O’Keeffe Institute.