Holiday Cottages In Ulster

Ulster is Ireland's northern province, and the cottages here sit in the part that lies within the Republic. There are around 210 self-catering properties on selfcatering.co.uk, almost all of them in Donegal along the Wild Atlantic Way, with a handful in the lake country of Cavan. Of those, 111 take dogs and 26 have a hot tub.

Counties of Ulster

Ulster is the northern province, three of whose nine counties lie in the Republic of Ireland. The cottages on selfcatering.co.uk are in the two of these where self-catering is offered, and the great majority are in Donegal.

• Donegal: by far the largest base here, a wild north-western county with the cliffs of Slieve League, the beaches of the Wild Atlantic Way and the mountains of Glenveagh
• the smaller market of Cavan, an inland county of drumlins and hundreds of lakes near the source of the River Shannon

Donegal holds almost all of the province's cottages on the site, so most visitors base themselves on its Atlantic coast.

Donegal's coast and the Cavan lakes

Most of this part of Ulster is Donegal, which carries the northern stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way. The county is a run of headlands, sea loughs and some of the finest beaches in Ireland, from Fanad Head and the sands of Portsalon to the surf strands around Bundoran. The sea cliffs at Slieve League are among the highest in Europe, and inland rise the quartzite Derryveagh Mountains and Mount Errigal above Glenveagh National Park. Away to the south-east, Cavan is a gentler country of small hills and lakes, with the Shannon Pot, the traditional source of Ireland's longest river, in its uplands.

Things to do in Ulster

Donegal is the heart of a self-catering trip here. Drive the headlands of the Wild Atlantic Way, walk out along the cliffs of Slieve League, and explore the castle, gardens and red deer herd of Glenveagh National Park below Errigal. The Inishowen peninsula leads to Malin Head, the most northerly point on the island, and the surf town of Bundoran draws boards to the Atlantic swell. The county also has strong Irish-speaking districts in the Gaeltacht of the north-west. In Cavan, the lakes are the draw for coarse anglers and boaters, with walking and cycling in the Cuilcagh uplands and the Burren Forest.

When to visit Ulster

Summer, from June to August, brings the warmest weather and the long northern evenings, which make the most of Donegal's beaches and headlands, though it is also the busiest time. Late spring and September are good for walking Slieve League and the Glenveagh hills with fewer people and better cottage rates. This far north and west the Atlantic weather can turn quickly in any season, so come prepared for wind and rain. Winter suits a cottage with a fire, and prices fall well below the summer peak.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Ulster

This is excellent dog-walking country, with miles of empty Donegal strand and open hill, and 111 of the cottages here take dogs, a high share of the total. A good number, 26 in all, come with a hot tub, welcome after a blustery day on the coast. Almost all of both are in Donegal, since that is where nearly all the province's self-catering lies. There is no provincial filter for dogs or hot tubs, so it is best to compare them on the county pages.

Getting to Ulster

Donegal Airport at Carrickfinn serves the north-west of the county, and the City of Derry Airport across the border is close to the north of Donegal, with Ireland West Airport Knock within reach of the south. By road the N15 and N56 link the county to Sligo and Letterkenny, and the M3 and N3 run from Dublin to Cavan in under two hours. Ferries from Britain dock at Dublin, a drive to the south-east. There is no rail service in Donegal, so a car is all but essential for the coast.

Useful links

• Discover Ireland
• Failte Ireland
• Glenveagh National Park
• Wild Atlantic Way

Ulster is the northernmost of the four traditional provinces of Ireland, and the only one split by the international border. It has nine counties in all: six of them, Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone, lie in Northern Ireland, while three, Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, lie within the Republic. The self-catering on this part of the site falls in the Republic, where Donegal and Cavan offer cottages.

Donegal is the great prize of the Republic's Ulster, a large and remote county in the far north-west. It is a land of headlands and sea loughs, of mountains such as Errigal and the Derryveagh range, and of a coast that carries the northern reaches of the Wild Atlantic Way. The sea cliffs at Slieve League are among the highest in Europe, and the beaches of Fanad, Inishowen and the south-west are some of the finest in the country. The Inishowen peninsula reaches up to Malin Head, the most northerly point on the island of Ireland.

Inland and to the south-east, Cavan and Monaghan form part of the drumlin belt, a country of countless small rounded hills and the lakes that lie between them. The Shannon Pot, traditional source of Ireland's longest river, rises in the Cavan uplands. The province has a deep history, from the Gaelic lords of Tyrconnell to the plantations of the seventeenth century, and the Republic's three counties retain strong Irish-speaking communities, particularly in the Donegal Gaeltacht of the north-west.