When people working in Dublin want to flee from big city life they settle in quiet commuter towns like Naas. Out in rural County Kildare you’re 35 kilometres from the capital and can de-stress on country activities like horse riding, golf and visits to grand old estates. Naas is on the 18th-century Grand Canal, which …
Near the very centre of Ireland, Tullamore is a town divided by the Grand Canal, which first linked the Midlands with Dublin back in 1798. A decade earlier, this place was the scene of the world’s first aviation disaster, when a hot air balloon crash causing a fire that burnt down up to 130 houses. …
The seaport of Sligo in the northwest of Ireland is somewhere that will always be associated with the poet W. B. Yeats. His mother was from the town, and Yeats himself was a regular visitor in his childhood. It’s no mystery why Sligo is often called “Yeats Country” as so many local places appear in …
The town of Athlone is at an ancient crossing point on the Shannon River, near the very centre of Ireland. When the idea of a federal Irish Republic was floated by the political party Sinn Féin in the 1970s, Athlone was mooted as the capital of a united federal Ireland because of its central position. …
In Ireland’s “Ancient East”, Wexford is a town founded by the Vikings at the start of the 9th century. It’s just the place to connect with Ireland’s distant past, at the Irish National Heritage Park, an outdoor museum recounting the country’s history up to the 12th-century Norman invasion. Culture lovers may know Wexford for the …
A market town in Ireland’s Ancient East, Dundalk is minutes from the border with Northern Ireland and halfway between Belfast and Dublin. The big local landmark is Roche Castle, a ruined Norman stronghold on a cinematic misty outcrop. In a matter of minutes you can get to other Medieval monuments, Neolithic stones and exhilarating sweeps …
The town of Ennis in County Clare is sure to spark your imagination if you’re into history. Strewn across the landscape are the decaying ruins of Medieval abbeys, friaries and castles accessible to the public and ready to be investigated. Most of these have been disintegrating slowly since the 16th century, but Ennis Friary in …
Kerry’s County town, Tralee is at the base of the majestic Dingle Peninsula in the southwest of Ireland. Tralee has a few attractions to keep you absorbed a day or two. At the immersive Kerry County Museum kids can travel back to Medieval times, while Siamsa Tíre has Ireland’s National Folk Theatre, where you can …
The County Town of Carlow is in a corner of Ireland that has been inhabited since before recorded history, as the awesome Brownshill Dolmen testifies. This Neolithic portal tomb on the edge of town is topped with a humungous granite capstone, claimed to be the heaviest in Europe. You can make outings to noble estates …
Welcome to the Emerald Isle! A land of rolling greenery, craggy mountains, mysterious Celtic ruins, crumbling castles, leprechaun-dotted forests, shanty pubs set to the ditties of Gaelic folk, rowdy beer bars and salt-sprayed coastlines, Ireland really is a wonder to behold. Here, we take a look at 15 of the top spots that every traveler …