The 5 miles of coast between Arisaig and Morar is a fretwork of rocky islets, inlets and gorgeous silver-sand beaches backed by dunes and machair, with stunning sunset views across the sea to the silhouetted peaks of Eigg and Rum. The Silver Sands of Morar,...
County Kerry, with Killarney and its lakes, contains the most celebrated, and consequently the most visited attractions in Ireland; the reputation of its landscape is amply justified but the town of Killarney is not of comparable interest. Among the mountain ranges are Carrantouhill (1038m), the...
The Isle Of Skye (an t-Eilean Sgiathanach in Gaelic) takes its name from the old Norse sky-a meaning “cloud island”, a Viking reference to the often missed-enshrouded Cuillin Hills. It’s the biggest of Scotland’s island, a 50 mile long smorgasbord of velvet moors, jagged mountains,...
Carrickmacross, a broad and pleasant market town on the extreme east of the region in County Monaghan, was famous for its lace during the mid-19th century and is still practiced by local nuns. A grant of land in the neighbourhood was made by Elizabeth I...
Quintessential Highland country such as this, marked by single-tracked roads, breath-taking emptiness and a wild, fragile beauty, is a rarity on the modern, crowded and highly urbanised island of Britain. You could get lost up here for weeks – and that still wouldn’t be enough...
Floating off Scotland’s remote northeast coast, the Orkney and Shetland Islands are captivating archipelagos forming an antithesis to modern urban grit. Life has always been different in this part of the country. Things move a bit slower and local folk appreciate a smile and a...
O’Connell Bridge, named after the founder of Irish nationalism, Dan O’Connell, the Liberator (who’s statue by Foley, appears on the extreme right), is the principal bridge across the Liffey. Once known as Carlisle Bridge it was rebuilt in 1794 and again in 1880. Stand long...
Glendalough (“glen of the two lakes”), an early monastic settlement in a cup of the Wicklow Mountains is impressively lonely and lovely in its setting. The ring of hills, once well-wooded, the bare cone of Camaderry to the right, with its rust-red bracken and scatter...
Gay sunlights o’er the hillocks creep And join for golden weather, - A scythe-sweep, and a scythe-sweep, We mow the dale together. In mountainy parts of Donegal where small pockets of corn ripen among stone and heather one may see even the sickle at work, for Donegal is...
Narrow Water Castle at the bottle-neck of the Newry Water which runs into Carlingford Lough was built after the restoration of Charles II, to protect the commercial town of Newry and its strategic hinterland of Down, Armagh, and Louth. It stands on the site of...