The infamous Corryvreckan whirlpool is brew whipped up between the isles of Jura and Scarba, where the westward stream running through the Gulf of Corryvreckan into the Atlantic meets the eastward-running eddy over rough ground. In rough weather it is deadly, in calm weather merely...
High above the Shannon estuary, just west of Ballylongford, this 15th century castle belonged to the O’Connor clan, who ruled much of northern Kerry. The English besieged or sacked it repeatedly but the body blow was delivered in 1649 by Cromwellian forces. The ruins include...
There are three Aran Islands – Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer. They have been inhabited long before recorded history and contain many pre-Christian and Early-Christian remains. If you are on any tours of Ireland, you will need the weather to be on your side to visit these islands. Dun...
This is a castle found on the Ring of Kerry. At Ireland and Scotland Luxury Tours we find the Ring of Kerry somewhat commercialised. Therefore, our tours of Ireland rarely take us there. However, if we are on a tour, we stop at Glenbeigh. It offers one of the...
Laid out mostly between 1830 and 1860, the suburb of Ballsbridge is a very exclusive part of Dublin, attracting many wealthy residents. Many of the streets are named after military heroes. Running off Pembroke Road the elegant tree-lined streets such as Raglan Road and Wellington...
This is a popular town famous for its Silver Sands. There are boating and sailing facilities. There is also a decent golf course. But what makes it worth a visit on any tours of Scotland is Saint Fillan’s Church. This is a real gem of Scottish Ecclesiastical architecture and...
One travel writer displayed typical Scottish pride, if not ingenuity, by writing that Ailsa Craig was from a certain angle a perfect pyramid, ‘with this advantage over the pyramids of Egypt, but twice their height’. Ailsa Craig, the fairy rock, Paddy’s Milestone (so called because...
This town is in Aberdeenshire and can be easily accessed on any tours of Scotland. Huntly owes its existence to the Gordon family and has a history of linen and woollen manufacturing. The town is surrounded by pleasant hills. It’s a pleasant place to visit. But the real hidden...
This town/village is on the famed Ring of Kerry. Probably somewhere that most tours of Ireland will visit. It has an interesting and quirky history. In the early part of the 19th century Cahersiveen was so cut off from the rest of Ireland it had greater contacts with...
The oddly shaped ‘inch’ is surely the strangest of the Firth of Forth islands. Its abbey (the Abbey of the Inch of Saint Columba) was out of gratitude to a hermit who had offered him shelter during a stormy passage on the Forth. It consists...