From Castlebaldwin, just northwest of the lough, a minor road leads west to Ballymote, famous for its strong castle, flanked by six corner towers. Built in 1300 by Richard de Burgh, the ‘Red Earl’ of Ulster it became a bone of contention in the Civil...
The 5th and 6th Dukes of Devonshire re-planned the town in early 19th century, and a grid layout surrounds the spacious Grattan Square. It lies at the head of fine harbour, and is the capital of the district of The Decies. It was saved from...
Inverness, the primary city and shopping centre of the Highlands, has a great location astride the River Ness at the northern end of the Great Glen. Many come in search of monsters at nearby Loch Ness, but the picturesque River Ness is also worth a...
It’s difficult to believe that Scotland’s last executed witch perished in a vat of boiling tar in Dornoch in 1722, because today this graceful village is all happy families. On the coast, this symphony in sandstone bewitches visitors with flowers, greenery and affable locals at...
Rathmullen, a pleasant village overlooking Lough Swilly, was the scene of the ‘Flight of the Earls’ (14 September 1607), when the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnel set sail for Spain with about 100 minor nobility and followers (the final episode of the Elizabethan wars in...
Ardglass is a fishing village and small resort to the southeast of Downpatrick. It occupies the site of a Viking settlement, and its importance in medieval times is attested by the remains of five 14th- 16th century, fortified merchants’ houses: King’s Castle, Margarets Castle, Cowd...
The pretty fishing village of Portsoy has an atmospheric 17th century harbour and maze of narrow streets lined with picturesque cottages. An ornamental stone known as Portsoy marble – actually a beautifully patterned green and pale pink serpentine – was quarried near Portsoy in the...
Killadysert takes its name from a hermitage of St Murthaile’s. there are remains of a medieval parish church with dwelling-tower. To the East, on Inis Gad (Canon Island) in the Fergus estuary, are the remains of St Mary’s Priory, a house of Canons Regular of St...
North of Duns, the low-lying Lammermuir Hills, with their extensive grouse moors, rolling farmland and wooded valleys, run east to west along the border with East Lothian. The hills are popular with walkers and there are numerous trails, including a section of the Southern Upland...
There are the remains of the third largest 13th century castle in Ireland: a quadrangular court with cylindrical angle-towers, a strong rectangular gatehouse (upper storey 15th century) in the southern curtain, and a rectangular tower in the northern curtain. Towers and curtain have lost their battlements,...