We're finalists in the Louth Business Awards 2026

A bit of news from home. Walking Holiday Ireland has been named a finalist in two categories at this year’s Louth Business Awards — Export & Global Impact, and Visit Louth Tourism Experience.

For a two-person business run from Blackrock, just outside Dundalk, that means a lot. We started out fourteen years ago walking people around the Cooley Peninsula and the Mournes on our own doorstep. Today walkers from twenty countries come to us for the Kerry Way, the Dingle Way, Wicklow, Connemara, the Causeway Coast — and still, happily, the Cooleys. This year has been our busiest yet.

The awards are judged on what a business does for its county, and the honest answer is: it’s the people who do it. The B&B owners who leave a light on and a flask ready. The taxi drivers who know every lane. The hosts who wave you off in the morning with a packed lunch. We bring the walkers; Louth and Ireland do the rest.

So this one is shared with nearly 400 local hosts and partners across the country — and with every walker who has trusted us with their holiday and taken the time to leave a review. (There are 449 of you now, averaging 4.87 out of 5. We read every one.)

The winners are announced at the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk on 17 October. We’ll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, if you’ve been thinking about a walk in Ireland next year, the 2027 calendar is open and we’d love to hear from you.

Cliff & Louise