'All eyes are on Ireland': Adare set to welcome 280,000 golf fans for Ryder Cup

Mark Lynch and Anna Coffey in front of their shop, Adare Grocer, located on the village's main street. Picture: Kirsty Lyons

The countdown has firmly begun for the Ryder Cup in Adare and the air of excitement is already palpable even if it is still almost 18 months until the first shot is played. 

The eyes of the world will be on Limerick, with 400m viewers expected to tune in, while 280,000 golf fans will attend the tournament.

According to Government officials, the economic benefits will be “in excess of €300m" to Ireland as a whole.

Ryder Cup director Tom Enright said an analysis into the economic benefits of the Open Championship held at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland last year was worth £280m.

He said the Ryder Cup is expected to be larger than that, so it offers a unique opportunity to promote Limerick, and Ireland as a country.

This comes as tourism and sports minister Patrick O'Donovan announced a further €5.7m for “key legacy projects” in Adare, which will be funded by his department.

As it stands, the minister said Ireland currently attracts almost 250,000 golf tourists each year — a figure expected to increase with the Ryder Cup.

The event licence was granted to Ryder Cup Europe by Limerick City and County Council last September, covering the necessary infrastructure to hold the tournament,  including large scale spectator areas, temporary structures, and traffic management.

Some 55,000 to 65,000 people are expected to attend each day, with about 68,000 people working at the event.

One of the key projects being further funded by Mr O’Donovan’s department is the refurbishment of the Adare Village Hall, which he called a “landmark”. 

The €3m funding dedicated to the building was warmly welcomed on Thursday night, as it was also announced the JP McManus charitable foundation donated a further €100,000 to help with the works.

Mr O'Donovan did admit some local businesses in Adare are set to be "discommoded".

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However, he noted the village is "united behind that" and there is no negativity towards it with people knowing the fact they are discommoded is for the "greater good".

Anna Coffey and Mark Lynch launched Adare Grocer during the pandemic after sending care packages to their friends. 

From there, everything “snowballed” and the married couple now have a shop located on the main road, where they offer coffee, local products, delicacies as well as novelty treats.

“We only opened last July, it was all very quick,” Ms Coffey told the Irish Examiner. 

“We always felt Adare was perfect for the kind of business we wanted to open.” 

Mr Lynch is known for his coffee, while Ms Coffey is a chocolatier who used to work at Adare Manor as a pastry chef.

“This type of business has longevity. Our son is in the school nearby, he comes down here after school every day. We meet his teachers, his friends, there’s a nice community aspect to it,” said Ms Coffey.

While the pair are not “relying” on the Ryder Cup and the tourism, it certainly will give their business a welcome boost.

Mr Lynch said: “Adare is lucky to get the Ryder Cup, but also lucky with the infrastructure and the attention on the town. 

The fact that the bypass is being built is great for Adare, the train station is being brought back to life. Any village in Ireland would be really lucky to get these things and Adare is getting all of them. We do realise how lucky we are to be here.

As the country braces to welcome Ryder Cup attendees, one in 10 hotel rooms in Ireland are already booked for the tournament.

Pery Square hotel in Limerick City is fully booked for the duration of the tournament, as well as the weeks leading up to it.

Pery Square, a boutique hotel located in the heart of Limerick city, is fully booked for the duration of the tournament, as well as the weeks leading up to it.

The owner, Patricia Roberts, told the Irish Examiner, requests for rooms have been “heating up” since last September.

“It seemed like a long, long time away, but it's here now. We’re very happy to say we have a group coming to us for a week, so we're very excited to host the same people here. 

"There’s a huge amount of requests for reservations, as you can imagine.” 

While the request for reservations is “huge”, Ms Roberts emphasised the importance of securing tickets.

“You’ve got to secure your ticket first and your bed as well, they really go hand in hand. It's best to get a bundle package. 

We're fully booked for the Ryder Cup itself, and we're also fully booked for a lot of key dates leading up to the Ryder Cup because it's not just the Ryder Cup, it's all of the setup and the planning and the preparations that have to happen in advance of the actual event,” she said.

All eyes are on Ireland because we're such a small island. There’s the lead up to the Ryder Cup, and hopefully we'll have a legacy from this.

Ms Roberts said the hotel rates are a "little bit higher" for the Ryder Cup, as they had to plan a lot in advance to offer "extra services" to guests.

“We've been as fair as we possibly can. Now that it's only 19 months away, it's a little bit easier to see that picture," she said.

The Irish Examiner previously revealed the cheapest hotel was priced at over €4,500 for a three-star hotel in Galway.

To “soak in” the Ryder Cup atmosphere at Adare Manor in Limerick, all-inclusive packages are on offer via Ryder Cup Travel Services, advertising accommodation for five nights, return transportation, as well as a four-day standard Ryder Cup ticket.

Meanwhile, local residents who rent their homes during the Ryder Cup 2027 could make up to €25,600 in a week through official channels, while properties listed on unofficial websites could triple that income.

As preparations are under way for the tournament, Ryder Cup project director Tom Enright said proper road access was “hugely critical”.

“You want to get as many people into the event as quickly as possible and to be able to get them back out where they want to go. You’re very much constricted to certain times because everybody wants to be there for the first tee, and to see the last ball hit as well.

“You’re all very familiar with the traffic chaos in Adare at peak times, so it’s great to see the Adare bypass finally being constructed. It’s expected to be completed in the spring of next year." 

Venue access

 Most of the people attending the Ryder Cup “won’t be able to drive straight in”. 

According to Mr Enright, the Government is looking to provide 25,000 parking spaces located "10 or 15 minutes" away from Adare, to allow people to park up, get on a bus, and be transported to the venue.

So far, five sites have been granted planning permission by Limerick City and County Council to be turned into park-and-ride facilities, including in Croom and Patrickswell.

Mr Enright said the National Transport Authority will be generating bus transport and hundreds of buses will be contracted, to take people from these sites to the venue. 

He said bus service will operate 24 hours a day on peak days, because people will want to get in very early in the morning to get good positions within the course to be able to see the golf.

Meanwhile, Mr O'Donovan announced several fan zones will be erected across Limerick city and county for those not able to secure tickets to the tournament.

“We do want to create a kind of a carnival atmosphere in the city and in the county around this. We’re in discussions with Limerick City and County Council and the tournament to make sure that we can have a carnival atmosphere here in the village, and in other locations.” 

The fan zones are understood to be similar to the one set up for the All-Ireland hurling final in 2022, where approximately 20,000 hurling fans gathered in TUS Gaelic Grounds to watch the final.

A series of events are expected to take place across Limerick county in September to mark “one year to go” to the Ryder Cup.