Wednesday 7th October 2026
Dublin to Roganstown Golf Resort
A bit bleary eyed after the noisy night we jumped up and headed to breakfast in what we thought to be the cafe next door. Ended up being an upmarket Hostel and for a great €13 eat all you can buffet breakfast.
Walked the town for a little while down towards the Spire and Portal ( a camera set up in many capital cities across the world where you can wave to the locals) to find where the buses left for local township of Swords where the golf resort we will play at for the next two days is situated.
The streets were crowded with a very eclectic mix of nationalities. All seemed to have one common trait- never let a red light stop you crossing the road unless there is a tram coming.
Back to pub to store the luggage under the watchful eyes of 6-8 locals imbibing in their second and third pints at 1000am.
Headed off for a walk along the Liffey down to the Harp Bridge passing many remnants of the docklands history, including 2 blokes over 80 rowing a boat which looked as old as them using oars which looked like giant matchsticks and had no blades. An hour later we saw them coming back downstream taking advantage of the current.
Headed to the Temple Bar region, supposedly the area where Van Morrison kicked off his career, finding the actual Temple Bar. Already decorated for Xmas it was packed with a crowd enjoying the atmosphere of good drink, food and music.
Lunched on a square bench with a flock of pidgeons and starlings all awaiting a crumb to drop from the exotic pasties we grabbed to eat.
Did a little more wandering, then collected the bags and jumped on the bus headed for Swords for the princely sum of €5 for the both of us.
It headed out via the airport and picked up half of the Ryan Air flight staff who jumped off at a village aptly named Airside. Like the crowd walking the streets of Dublin they were a mixed bunch.
Jumped off at Swords a pretty lively village and manage to collar a cabbie just leaving the bank and he took us out to the resort which hosted two golf courses Swords and Roganstown. This area has 8 courses within a 10 km radius looking at the map.
A very grand place only 24 years old with the feel of a Concord Golf Club attached to a hotel. Our room looked onto a tough hole we would play tomorrow.
Checked our bookings for the next two days, did a bit of attire shopping as you do in an overseas Pro Shop and then wandered down to the adjoining 1st tees of the two courses.
Both looked challenging, but were beautifully groomed. A group of 4 aspiring Rory McIlroy’s were teeing off to be followed by a few other groups at 430 in the afternoon. Glad we were not in front of one who cracked a 200 metre drive without even a practice swing.
Wandered to the other side of the course and watched a Kids Clinic before popping out of the wind for some hydration in very posh surroundings.
Returned later to the bar come dining room for a pleasant meal in a sparsely populated room. Sat and checked weather for next 2 days and we might be getting chased by some typical Irish weather, particularly Friday with winds between 40 and 75 kph.
