Balla is a village on the Castlebar-Claremorris road. A broken round tower and a medieval alter in a shamefully neglected graveyard mark the site of the monastery founded in the 7th century, by St Cronan, alias Mo-Chua. To the west of the graveyard are Tobar...
Leaving the Causeway, turn inland to Bushmills, noted for the “Old Bushmills” Whiskey Distillery. This had a license to distil whiskey dated 1608, although it was distilled for some centuries earlier. The town also has a salmon research station. From here the B17 leads directly...
Killaloe is a river-side town beautifully situated at the southern end of Lough Derg and surrounded by the Arra Mountains, Slieve Bernagh and Glenmagalliagh. It is also the terminus of the Shannon cruiser which runs from Carrick-on-Shannon. A long narrow bridge of 13 arches spans...
Aran Island, also known as Aranmore with its lighthouse (originally of 1798, but replaced in 1865) on its north-west point, is visible for 25 miles. There is a regular ferry between Burtonport and Leabgarrow on the island, which, like the smaller islets of Inishcoo and...
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...