The City of Drumshanbo and the surrounding County Leitrim area, is a beautiful conversion of what…read moreuse to be Ireland's coal mining area. Today there are many lakes now used for water sports and the nearby Carrick on Shannon is a major Stags & Hens destination. My extended family has lived in this area for centuries and it was fun visiting, "where it all began, so to speak".

Carlingford is currently the home of President Joe Biden's Irish cousins. Great people. Just 8…read moremiles away. Carlingford is also a fine example of a medieval walled town, built at the time of the Normans in the 12th century. The Vikings had invaded Ireland in the 9th Century and historical records establish that they occupied Carlingford Lough. The name Carlingford is Scandinavian translating into 'Fjord of Carlinn'. The Normans arrived in Ireland in 1169 as allies of Irish King Dermot MacMurrough. By 1184 they had reached Carlingford. A Norman Knight, Sir John de Courcy claimed this part of Louth for himself. Sir John was a busy beggar. He arrived in Ireland in 1176 and by the time of his expulsion in 1204, he had conquered considerable territory, endowed religious establishments, built abbeys for the Benedictines (yes the monks that created champagne and benedictine), the Cistercians and he also built strongholds at Dundrum Castle in County Down and at Carrickfergus Castle in County Antrim. The very first historical reference to Carlingford dates to 1184 when Sir John gave the rights of the ferry at Carlingford to the Abbot of Downpatrick indicating that the harbour was in use as a ferry point. However, the town of Carlingford only developed after the castle known as King John's Castle was built. The castle today is a ruin, but it's still obvious what it was nearly a thousand years ago - a place of defence. As for its creator Sir John De Courcy, well he returned to Ireland, sailing across the Irish sea from the Isle of Man in July 1205 with Norse soldiers and a hundred boats. John and his army landed at Strangford and laid siege to Dundrum Castle in vain, because the defences he himself had made were too strong. King John then had John de Courcy imprisoned and he spent the rest of his life in poverty so the clerics he was so generous toward left him broke. He was subsequently released when he "crossed himself" to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. De Courcy died in obscurity just outside what is now Craigavon - I suppose anyone who dies there still departs in obscurity as the best thing about Craigavon, even a thousand years later, is still the road out of it.

As you drive into Carlingford King John's Castle sets the scene for the magnificent historical…read morevalue of this town. The views from the ledge are amazing and worth the bit of climbing to get up to it! Transports you back in time as you see all the way over to Warrenpoint and soak up the atmosphere from days gone by. Look out for the plaques dotted around to learn more!

It's really cool place to visit. The place is a Cistercian abbey on the River Boyne in Bective,…read moreCounty Meath, Ireland. The abbey was founded around 1147. Is in ruins but some areas are really well preserved. It is very quiet, the 5 times I've been there I think I've seen 10 people and That was too many haha! So it's very relaxing and inspiring. I always take my dog, so he can run all over the place. It is good that is very clean and well cared. It's great location for photographs.

The Loughcrew Cairns, also known as the Loughcrew Passage Tombs, are prehistoric burial and ritual…read moregrounds 5,200 years old (4000-2500 BC). These were constructed by the Neolithic or Stone Age people. A cairn is a man-made pile or stack of stones, often serving as a burial monument. This complex comprises 32 recorded cairns scattered over four hills. The cairns were rediscovered in 1863 by Eugene Conwell, who happened upon them during a picnic. Incredible.

Really love the easy drive from Sligo to this waterfall. Very easy to walk off the road and to see…read moreit the goats everywhere make it so charmed also easy to get an Uber from Sligo to here. And a cute café makes it easy trip. The café makes it nice for a coffee and snack . If just going here I'll plan only an hour to see the sites not much else to do unless you walk to the devil's chimney then plan three hours for everything.

I'd thought, wrongly, that this waterfall was in county Sligo; nope, wrong again matey, the sign…read moresays it's inside county Leitrim and only just. It's a beautiful place and designed for walks and picnics. It has toilets and you can potter around the lake area to the coffee bar, but you'll need a fair level of fitness to go to the top of the waterfall as it's quite steep. The water is so clean with a peaty hue given Ireland has wonderful peat bogs - an incredible eco system of its own. Now it ain't the falls of Angel, it ain't Niagara nor Dunn's River; this waterfall reaches 50ft high and is situated at Glencar Lough, and it inspired perhaps Ireland's greatest poet William Butler Yeats who put it much better than me in his poem 'The Stolen Child' 'Where the wandering water gushes From the hills above Glen-Car, In pools among the rushes That scarce could bathe a star' Glad we went, once. Paradise Ireland style.

The Marble Arch Caves are a series of natural limestone caves located near the village of…read moreFlorencecourt in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Very interesting - visit equals about 70 minutes We have visited caves all over the US and Marble Arch Caves are worth a visit Recommend

We enjoyed our tour of the caves. The water was too high to take the boats so this was only a…read morewalking tour. We heard that the high water is a fairly common occurrence in these caves. The tour itself was very interesting. You walk down 150 steps an then tour the cave on crushed stone walkways. There is nothing really rigorous about this tour except the 150 steps down and 150 steps up at the end. The views are beautiful although not as spectacular as the views in other caves.

Beautiful area with nice views and a lot to experience. Very peaceful and and a good feeling of…read moreIrish culture

If you want to get to the heart and soul of Ireland, you must visit this place - about five miles…read moreeast of Ballymore on the way to Mulingar. In many ways, it is the twin of the more famous Hill of Tara. Its main feature is the most unusual, Cat's Stone, which gets its name because it's believed that it resembles a cat, and if you study it closely, it does! I wonder did Ripley's 'Stranger than fiction' ever visit it? The Hill was believed by the ancient Druids, to be the very navel of Ireland - the geographical centre - where the five provinces met! Look out on a fair day and see many of Ireland's counties unfurl themselves before your eyes like phantoms from out of the mystical mists and relax and see the smooth plains of Ireland's midlands - smooth and uplifting, as if some bountiful cream was rubbed on the serene face of Ireland's goddess, Eriu! Hidden Ireland......