Opposite the small, scattered village of Sandwick is the Isle of Mousa, an RSPB reserve. The impressive double-walled Mousa Broch (13m) stands on the island - this well-preserved broch was built from local sandstone between 100 BC and AD 100 and features in two Viking...
A village in the vale of the River Suck, Clonfert became known for the monastery founded on this site by Brendan the Navigator in AD 563. Clonfert monastery was a famous centre of learning, but was destroyed five times between its foundation and the 12th...
Photogenically sited at the entrance to Loch Duich, near Dornie village, Eilean Danan Castle is one of Scotland’s most evocative castles, and must be represented in millions of photo albums. It’s on an offshore islet, magically linked to the mainland by an elegant, stone-arched bridge....
This former monastery is one of Ireland’s best-known and oldest religious sites, with the ruins of two churches, a Round Tower, a pre-Gothic sundial, a decorated grave slab and three High Crosses all packed into a cemetery. Founded in the 6th century by St Buite,...
Highland folklore is filled with tales of strange creatures living in lochs and rivers, notably the kelpie (water horse) that lures unwary travellers to their doom. The use of the term 'monster', however, is a relatively recent phenomenon whose origins lie in an article published...
Rebels on their way back from the Battle of Carlow were ambushed in Hacketstown, and the bloody lighting between rebels and yeomanry continued until 250 rebels lay dead. Today, Hacketstown is a more peaceful place as a centre for walking in the Wicklow Mountains. The...
This prosperous market town straddles a tree-lined stretch of the River Blackwater on the main Cork - Dublin road. But crumbling barracks ruins mark Fermoy as a former British garrison. lt owes its origins to a farsighted Scots merchant, John Anderson, who bought the land...
Tobermory, the island’s main town, is a picturesque little fishing port and yachting centre with brightly painted houses arranged around 2 sheltered harbours, with a grid-patterned upper town as the setting for the children’s TV programme Balamory, the town swarms in summer with toddlers towing...
A step through a gateway at the southern end of this straggling town takes visitors back 800 years in an instant, into the stillness of a 13th-century Franciscan friary, which was plundered by Robert Bruce in 1317. Later, in 1541, the friary was suppressed, Only...
Tiny, charming Melrose is a polished village. This little enclave is a complete contrast with overbearing Galashiels, whose urban sprawl laps at its western edges. Sitting at the feet of the three heather-covered Eildon Hills, Melrose has a classic market square and its most famous...