COOL
If you are in need of topping up some brownie points with your partner or need to rest tired limbs, then the nearby Ice House boutique hotel, www.icehousehotel.ie, offers accommodation overlooking the river Moy complete with outdoor hot tubs and spa and locally sourced food fresh to your plate. The hotel itself is another great example of Mayo’s ability for quirky reinvention, the Ice House name is derived from the building being formerly the cool store for the salmon caught by local fishermen. Now it deals in a different type of cool, mixing
Nordic design with Irish hospitality for chilling out in style.
Ballina is also a great base to explore the rugged coast of North Mayo and the famed sea stack off Downpatrick head called Dún Briste (broken fort). It can only be ventured to by water on a very calm day, but the views of layers upon layers of multi-coloured rock strata make the paddle worthwhile if you get a chance. Local legend says the stack was formed when a pagan chieftain refused to convert to Christianity and St Patrick struck the ground with his crozier, splitting a chunk of the headland off into the ocean, with the chieftain on top! While in the area a worthwhile visit is the Céide Fields Visitor Centre in nearby Ballycastle. The Céide Fields is the oldest known Stone Age field system in Europe and the remains of stonewalls, settlements and megalithic tombs have been preserved here thanks to a protective bog environment.
Throughout the county you have the sense of a rightly proud people, rich natural resources and the ancient ready to be explored afresh. Virgin shores, clean waves, pristine beaches, rivers and lakes, armed with a board and paddle, there is no limits on what adventures you can taste with Mayo! SUP
