This market town , which straddles the River Bandon , is a popular angling centre. It was established by the Earl of Cork , Richard Boyle , in 1608. Boyle , who arrived from England with only £20 , a diamond ring , a gold bracelet...
A lively West Cork town which has become the agricultural and industrial centre for the area. Skibbereen is home to a growing community of artists , craftworkers and writers , many from Continental Europe , who use the West Cork Arts Centre on Main St...
Northwest of Letterkenny is the lovely seaside resort on Lough Swilly was where Red Hugh O’Donnell was captured and taken to be imprisoned in Dublin Castle , one of the sparks which ignited a great war between the Gaelic Irish and the English Crown. It was...
Once an important ecclesiastical centre , and a Norman stronghold , but now famed as the centre of Irish house-breeding and training industry. The National Stud is on the outskirts of the own in Tully. St. Brigid founded a convent here in the 5th or 6th...
A tree-bordered green is the focal point of this busy county town. It has been a town of stature since the 16th century , receiving a royal charter from James I in 1613. A variety of wars , however , has meant that little of...
Just North of the town the remains of an Augustinian monastery , built in 1100. On one side is a round tower , capless since 1135 and missing 20ft since 1798 when a cannon mounted there backfired. On the far side of the road are the...
Ireland’s largest inhabited island is located just off the coast from Ballycastle and only 13 miles from the Mull of Kintyre , Scotland. This strategic position has meant a turbulent history , and following settlement by monks it was the site of the first Viking...
This national treasure is kept on public display in the Long Room at Trinity College. It is a beautifully illuminated Latin text of the Gospels’ account of the life of Christ , and the most ornate of the Middle Age manuscripts to have survived. The exact...
Separating the inlets of Lough Foyle and Lough Swilly , this landmass encompasses some of the country’s finest scenery. From glorious Fahan beach to Malin Head , Ireland’s most Northerly point , and South to Muff it is largely unspoilt. Its centre is dominated by...
Sited on both sides of the Garavouge River, the settlement was given in 1235 to Maurice Fitzgerald , who built a castle here and founded a Dominican friary. In a period of 50 years during the 13th century both were destroyed five times , and later...