Rosapenna Golf Resort

Old Tom Morris Links — the founding course of Ireland’s first great golf resort

The historic course encircles the hotel and unfolds between Mulroy Bay, Sheephaven Bay, and the initial coastal dunes of Downings. The terrain is less monumental than that of St Patrick's, but more directly linked to the resort's historical landscape.

Old Tom Morris journeyed to Rosapenna in the early 1890s at the invitation of the estate owner. The course and hotel opened in 1893, giving birth to one of the first resorts created specifically to welcome travelling golfers. Harry Vardon and then Harry Colt later made modifications to the layout.

The design combines relatively open holes, simple greens, and tighter sequences within the dunes. Successive interventions have given the course a hybrid character, where 19th-century architecture meets several 20th-century adaptations.

The course offers an accessible start before moving into more pronounced dune valleys. Views towards Muckish Mountain and Mulroy Bay accompany several holes on the back nine.

The experience is inseparable from Rosapenna’s hotel and the opportunity to compare three very different generations of links in one destination.

Course opened with the hotel in 1893; initial design by Old Tom Morris; subsequent modifications associated with Harry Vardon and Harry Colt; foundational element of the Rosapenna resort.