Dun Laoghaire and Sandycove Travel Guide

Taking the DART south out of Dublin, you very quickly have the feeling that you're leaving the grime of the city far behind. Almost immediately, the track starts to run along the coast, past Booterstown Marsh , a designated bird sanctuary and out to DÚN LAOGHAIRE , where the Stena Line car ferries come in from Britain. At this distance, Dún Laoghaire manages to retain some of its flavour as a superior kind of Victorian resort, full of wide, tree-lined avenues, promenades and wedding-cake architecture. Its port is still the base for Irish lightships and the biggest Irish centre for yachting (call the National Sailing School for details; tel 284 4195). This aspect of its history is chronicled in the National Maritime Museum, Haigh Terrace (tel 280 0969), housed in the Mariners' church and containing, among other things, a longboat sent by the French in support of the United Irishmen, two years before the 1798 Rebellion.

A mile south of Dún Laoghaire, the Martello Tower (April-Oct Mon-Sat 10am-1pm & 2-5pm, Sun 2-6pm; £2.40/€3.04) is SANDYCOVE 's most prominent feature . James Joyce spent some time here with his friend Oliver St John Gogarty, whom he later transformed into Buck Mulligan in Ulysses . The tower itself is on the seafront and is a quick and pleasant walk from the station: opposite the station entrance take Islington Avenue down to the seafront where the tower stands next to an extraordinary bit of 1930s modern seaside building - "Geragh", a house built by Michael Scott, architect of Busáras , and some of the small number of Dublin's other modernist buildings. On the seaward side of the tower is the Forty Foot Pool - named not for its size but because the 40th Foot Regiment of the British army used to be stationed in a battery above it. For many years it was a men-only swimming hole where nude bathing was the rule; now that women are allowed, although you seldom see them, it's strictly "togs required - by order", as the notice says. The hardier swimmers use this rocky, natural swimming pool all year round, and the hardiest of them all at the traditional Christmas-morning dip. Sandycove is also good for canoeing, wind-surfing and water-skiing. For all water-sports, check out Oceantec, 10-11 Marine Terrace (tel 280 1083), a diving equipment shop that will also arrange local diving. By far the best place for food is the excellent seafood restaurant, Cavistons , on Glasthule Road (just down the hill from the station) which now has an outlet in the city centre and has long been regarded by locals as the best place in the city to enjoy the fruits of the sea.