From The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

O’Connell’s, Skryne Hill, County Meath

If you think the exterior of this pub looks familiar, it’s because Guinness liked its stunning location (high above the sea on Skryne Hill) so much that they used the pub in one of their adverts. Lush green hills tumble out towards Dublin, and the noise of the waves masks the chatter around the bar.

Regulars don’t come to O’Connell’s for the view though, or the interior design: the only furniture in its two rooms is a line of rickety wooden benches along the wall, a few stools at the bar and a battered old pool table. But Mrs O’s (as it’s known in these parts) has one of the warmest welcomes in the country.

My hols: Ewan McGregor

The film star tells Julia Buckley about biking, bungee jumps and being strip-searched

• My hols: Ricky Gervais

The best pubs in England and Wales

Alastair Sawday reveals the award winning pubs from his latest guide, from organic bolt holes to pubs with rooms

• 10 best winter warming British pubs

BACKGROUND

• Dublin's best hotels

• A lost weekend in Donegal

• Irish greens with envy

• The weekenders' guide to Antrim

Related Internet Links

• Read more on travel around Ireland

Smiley soaks turn their heads to the door and greet every newcomer, while the elegant old landlady shuffles around the pub solicitously until she’s sure that everyone’s happy.

The only evidence that you haven’t been transported back to an older, friendlier time is the dates on the newspapers (although there’s still a few yellowing cuttings decorating the place – mostly concerning sports and the ancient Hill of Tara burial site down the road).

As the evening draws in and the stout and whiskey take hold, the banter among the locals and the landlady reaches an almighty crescendo (Mrs O shells out so many free pints to help the atmosphere along that it’s a wonder she keeps a roof over her head).

Her favourite nights, she says, are when the fiddles and bodhráns (shallow one-sided drums) take over the corner by the grate fireplace – and everyone joins in a singsong.

O’Connell’s, Skryne Hill, County Meath (00 353 46 902 5122).

The Bulman, Kinsale, County Cork

Why does a pub need its own pier? Well how else are they going to source their famous claw-cluttered trays of crustaceans?

And the exquisite seafood isn’t the only reason to moor up at The Bulman: after an afternoon spent boating around a yacht-filled harbour, where baby-blue skies blend into bottle-green briny, this solitary little watering-hole on the edge of the shore is a welcome stop-off point.

Times recommends

• Oasis of the Seas: the Times review
• The 20 best new year party places to stay
• Green Spaces 2009: are you the winning writer?