The strongest coastal fort ever built in Ireland Charles Fort is a classic example of a late 17th-century star-shaped fort. It is one of the largest British military installations ever to be built in [...]
Amazing World Heritage Site & Luke Skywalkers Kerry getaway Skellig Michael Island is one of Ireland's 3 World Heritage Sites. It is located can be found 13 km off the Kerry coastline. It [...]
One of Ulster's great ancient tombs This impressive site is located on a hilltop 700 feet above sea level and is known as 'Cnoc mBaine', 'The Hill of Queen Baine', 'The Hill of [...]
One of 'Ireland's 'Big 4' passage tomb cemeteries Carrowkeel sits on a desolate hilltop 1000 feet above sea level and dates back to c.3400BC. It is just one of 14 cairns forming part [...]
One of the last of the 'Great Houses' to be built in Ireland Sir Gilbert de Nugent, who was originally from the Nogent-le-Rotrou area in France, came to Ireland as part of the Norman [...]
Europe's oldest Neolithic cemetery This site is one of the most significant ancient cemeteries in all of Europe. There may have been over 100 monuments on this site but only 30 have survived [...]
The Norman castle of the Nugents The DeNugent family were from Nogent in France and supported William the Conqueror in 1066 when he invaded England. They were seen thereafter as 'loyal King's men'. Their [...]
The Castle of the Curlews Ballinafad Castle was built in 1590 and is also known as 'The Castle of The Curlews'. It has had a turbulent history due to its strategic (or dodgy) [...]
A true cliff-hanger The Mussenden Temple was built in 1785 and forms part of the estate of Frederick Augustus Hervey, Bishop of Derry. The Herveys were the Earls of Bristol and one of [...]
Deathly cries in the night This foreboding-looking building is Athcarne Castle. It was built for William Bathe in 1590. The Bathe family produced a number of well-known legal and political personalities around the [...]
Keep it secret This little building is locally known as 'O'Doherty's Keep'. It resembles a 15th-century fortified tower house but recent excavations revealed that it may possibly be a corner tower of an [...]
The House of Tua Taghadoe derives its name from 'Teach Tua', meaning 'House of Tua'. St Tua was an abbot of Clane Monastery and established a monastery here. The tower dates to the [...]
One of the longest-inhabited buildings in Ireland Leixlip is located on the confluence of the River Liffey and the River Rye. This was the ancient border between the Kingdoms of Leinster and Brega [...]
37 owners (so far) including Eric Clapton Barberstown Castle was built around c.1500 on the site of an earlier 13th-century Norman castle built by Nicholas Barby. Over the next 800 years, records show [...]
The last hermit in Ireland This little church is known as The Anchorite Cell Chapel and is part of the Fore Abbey complex. The original monastery here was founded by St Feichin in 630 [...]
Dublin's most famous statue The Molly Malone Statue was designed by Jeanne Rynhart and based on a popular song of a 17th-century fictional character to celebrate Dublin's first millennium in 1988. It tells [...]
1 of the 3 great passage tombs of The Boyne Valley Dowth, meaning the dark place is one of the 3 great passage tombs of The Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. It [...]
Ruhe in Frieden During World War 2, although Ireland was neutral, members of the German Luftwaffe were killed over our air space due to foul weather, damage in action or simply running out [...]
A stunning abbey with a dark past Burishoole Friary is situated in a beautiful inlet on Clew Bay. It was founded in 1469 by Sir Richard de Burgo of Turlough for the Dominican [...]
In Waterford, timing is everything During the mid-19th century, Waterford was Ireland's busiest and most important industrial port. It traded to 400 international ports and also had Ireland's largest shipbuilding yard. As the city [...]
Waterford's number one tourist attraction The stunning Medieval Museum of Waterford was built in 2013 and is Ireland’s only purpose-built medieval museum. It is also the only building on the island to incorporate two [...]
Headquarters for a global trading network of 400 ports Waterford is Ireland's oldest city established by the Vikings in 914AD. By medieval times international trade routes were firmly established and the city became cosmopolitan, [...]
A perfect replica of a 10th-century cross The Dromodonnell Stone Cross in Castlewellan is a modern replica of a 10th-century cross that once stood in the Drumgooland graveyard until the late 1700s. It [...]
Ireland's earliest Gothic arch & Game of Thrones location Inch Abbey was established as a Cistercian house by John de Courcy and his wife Affreca in 1180 as an act of repentance for [...]
Living on the edge Athy lies on the border of the medieval pale and has been a strategic location for thousands of years. It takes its name from a 2nd-century chieftain called 'Ae', [...]
A cathedral full of medieval relics Christchurch is located on a site of a wooden church built in 1038 by Sitric Silkbeard, the first Norse King of Dublin. This was replaced by a [...]
The former 'Floozy in the Jacuzzi' The Anna Livia Sculpture was designed by the sculptor Éamonn O' Doherty and commissioned by businessman Michael Smurfit, in memory of his father for the 1988 Dublin's [...]
Ireland's 1st obelisk Stillorgan Obelisk was erected in 1727 and is believed to be the 1st obelisk to be built in Ireland. This location was originally on the grounds of Stillorgan Park House [...]
One of Ireland's great pre-Christian Royal Temples Navan Fort was named ‘Emain Macha’ which translates to mean 'Macha's twins' after the children of the goddess Macha who reputedly founded this fort. This was [...]
Once one of the grandest houses in Ulster Armagh was the ancient territory of the Ulaid - The tribe that gave Ulster its name. The north of Ireland was ruled from the nearby [...]
A unique wedge tomb surrounded by standing stones The Clogherny Wedge Tomb is situated in a sparse and exposed glaciated valley near the village of Plumbridge in County Tyrone. The tomb has a [...]
Spectacular location for a unique Norman castle Dundrum Castle was built by John de Courcy in 1172 on a spectacular vantage point overlooking Dundrum Bay and the mighty Mourne Mountains. De Courcy was [...]
One of the best-preserved Benedictine abbeys in Ireland The original church here was founded by St. Féichín in 630 AD. This small monastic site quickly grew in size and importance and received mentions in [...]
One of Ireland's most unique crosses This cross was erected circa 1675 as a memorial to Sir Luke Bathe and his wife, Dame Cecilia Dowdall, who lived in the nearby Athcarne Castle. This [...]
Beware of The Pooka Pucks Castle is one of a number of fortified castles built around the mid-1400s to defend the perimeter of Dublin. Other castles along the pale in this area include [...]
One of Ireland's finest examples of a fortified tower-house Narrow Water Castle is located just outside the town of Warrenpoint on the banks of Carlingford Lough. It is regarded as one of the [...]
O'Boyle's secret ringfort Doon Fort is an ancient ring fort hidden away in Doon Lough near the coastal village of Portnoo. It dates from the 5th century and was probably built as a [...]
Donegal's dazzler The Kilclooney Dolmen is located in southwest Donegal and is one of Ireland's most elegant. It is also one of the largest and heaviest examples in Europe weighing in at over [...]
One of the few 17th-century mansions to survive in Ireland The beautiful Beaulieu House is located 3 miles from the town of Drogheda on the north side of the River Boyne. This is [...]
Ireland's only moated castle Drimnagh is the only moated castle in Ireland and was once the seat of the de Bernival family. The de Bernival or Barnwalls were granted these lands in 1215 [...]
Once one of Dublin's finest residences Monkstown Castle has been owned and occupied by some of the most prominent people and establishments in Irish History. This was once the the centre of a [...]
Contains the oldest piece of Waterford Crystal This beautiful building is Waterford's Bishop's Palace. It was built in 1741 to the designs of the famous architect Richard Cassells. Cassells was responsible for designing some [...]
A castle once converted into tenements Slade Castle was built by the Laffin family in the late 1400s in a charming little fishing port. The Laffins were among the first wave of Anglo-Norman [...]
The largest Norman castle in Ireland Soon after the Norman Invasion of Ireland, Hugh De Lacy was granted vast tracts of land in Meath by King Henry II. This was to curb and [...]
Ireland's only triple-walled wedge tomb The Kilmashogue Wedge Tomb dates to c.2000 BC and would have originally been much larger and covered by a cairn of stones. The tomb had a main chamber [...]
The official start of the Wicklow Way Marlay Park was originally an Anglo-Norman farm on the border of Dublin. The original house here was built by Thomas Taylor and was known as 'The [...]
Site of the original hops used for Guinness The Cashel Palace Hotel was built in 1732 by Archbishop Theophilus Bolton and was designed by the famous architect Sir Edward Lovett Pearce. The hotel [...]
The Great Liberator The O'Connell Statue was commissioned in 1880 to commemorate Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847). It is located on O'Connell Street, the street also named after him. O'Connell was born in Kerry and [...]