Graiguenamanagh (pronounced Graig-na- manna) means ‘dwelling of the monks’. The monks in question were sensible enough to place their abbey in the lee of 1703ft Brandon Hill, in the wooded valley where the Rivers Barrow and Black Water meet. This is the valley whose peace...
Three generations of our family (8 of us) went on the trip of a lifetime ...
Looking north across the Boyne, Slane is a pretty sight. The main road sweeps down beside a ruined church to a long, narrow bridge, and beyond that, on a hillside, rises the well-planned 18th-century village. The octagonal focal point where the roads meet at its...
A village in the vale of the River Suck, Clonfert became known for the monastery founded on this site by Brendan the Navigator in AD 563. Clonfert monastery was a famous centre of learning, but was destroyed five times between its foundation and the 12th...
Rebels on their way back from the Battle of Carlow were ambushed in Hacketstown, and the bloody lighting between rebels and yeomanry continued until 250 rebels lay dead. Today, Hacketstown is a more peaceful place as a centre for walking in the Wicklow Mountains. The...
This prosperous market town straddles a tree-lined stretch of the River Blackwater on the main Cork - Dublin road. But crumbling barracks ruins mark Fermoy as a former British garrison. lt owes its origins to a farsighted Scots merchant, John Anderson, who bought the land...
Tobermory, the island’s main town, is a picturesque little fishing port and yachting centre with brightly painted houses arranged around 2 sheltered harbours, with a grid-patterned upper town as the setting for the children’s TV programme Balamory, the town swarms in summer with toddlers towing...
With splendid views of the rugged Comeragh Mountains only a few miles to the south, Clonmel, whose Irish name means ‘honey meadow’, is one of Ireland’s most charming towns. It is Tipperary’s county town, with an intimate atmosphere within the remains of its old walls....
My husband and I have just returned from the most wonderful tour of Ireland ! Ireland Luxury Tours planned a trip for our anniversary and it was magical. We stayed at castles , we saw stunning coastline and scenery , and we ate like kings. They could not...
In a quiet pine glade on Shantemon Hill, five great boulders stand in a row on the emerald grass. Named after the legendary Irish giant-slayer Finn MacCool, or MacCumhaill, the stones are thought to have been erected during the Bronze Age (between 1750 and 500BC),...