The Cooley Peninsula juts northeast from Dundalk between Dundalk Bay and Carlingford Lough, rising into a compact range of granite hills that feel surprisingly remote given their proximity to two capital cities. The peninsula is about 15 km long and 8 km wide, and its circular road offers some of the best coastal and mountain scenery in northeast Ireland.
The Táin Way is a 40 km waymarked loop that crosses the mountain ridge and follows the coast through forest and farmland, taking in views of the Mourne Mountains across the lough and the Slieve Bloom Mountains to the south. Shorter sections can be walked as half-day routes from Carlingford village. The village itself — a perfectly preserved medieval settlement with Norman castle ruins, an Augustinian priory, and a main street of whitewashed pubs — makes a fine base and is about 30 minutes by car from Dundalk. Carlingford Lough Greenway connects the village with Omeath along a former railway line.