Northern Islands The group of windswept islands north of mainland provides a refuge for migrating birds and a nesting group for seabirds; there are several RSPB reserves. Some of the islands are also rich in archaeological sites, but it’s the beautiful scenery, with beautiful white sand beaches...
If you’re looking for gold at the end of the rainbow, look no further than the Republic of Ireland. Whether you’re race-horse-crazy, golf-mad, or a dedicated gourmand, love wild and wonderful scenery or prefer life in the City, look no further than a vacation on...
The last time I visited Belfast, it was more a City in recovery, than the vibrant Metropolis it is today. Within hours of reaching the heart-beat of N.Ireland, it was clear that multimillion £’s of British and foreign investment in the City has put the Bzazzz...
A professor of Spanish and a professor of Gaelic met at a conference and began discussing the relative merits of their respective languages. ‘Tell me,’ said the Spanish professor, ‘do you have a Gaelic equivalent for the Spanish phrase manana, manana?’ The Hebridean professor thought...
In the middle of Lough Derg is a solitary, uninhabited, 49 acre island whose atmosphere takes visitors back to the golden age of Irish Christianity. St Caimin founded a monastery here in the 7th century. It grew to be a large establishment, the well preserved...
Kilkenny Arts Festival is Ireland's oldest multidisciplinary arts festival programming classical music, music, theatre & dance, street, literature, visual art, craft & family events to an audience of over 45,000. The Kilkenny Arts Festival is committed to the presentation of a unique, distinctive and inspiring...
Culloden Battlefield The Battle of Culloden in 1746, the last pitched battle ever fought on British soil, saw the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the end of the Jacobite dream when 1200 Highlanders were slaughtered by government forces in a 68-minute rout. The duke of...
The ruins of Caerlaverock Castle, by Glencaple on a beautiful stretch of the Solway coast, are among the loveliest in Britain. Surrounded by a moat, lawns and stands of trees, the unusual pink-stoned triangular castle looks impregnable – in fact, it fell several times. The...
This tiny island, surrounded by a salt lake and cut off from the sea by a sand bar, has been a place of pilgrimage since pre-Christian times. It was St Ibar who absorbed it into the Christian Church and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary....
Skye’s most famous historic building is Dunvegan Castle, seat of the chief of Clan MacLeod. It has played host to Samuel Johnston, Sir Walter Scott and, most famously, Flora MacDonald. The oldest parts are the 14th century keep and dungeon, but most of it dates...