Anyone on a tour of Ireland, who is interested in prehistory, should stop at Lough Gur. This is a horseshoe shaped lake in the eastern part of Limerick. It is close to the Tipperary border. Extensive excavations here have uncovered the earliest forms of houses yet discovered in...
This castle is situated near the village of Quin. It is on the Northwest side of the village. The castle was built in 1550 and restored in 1975. It is worth seeing on any tours of Ireland, as it also has something interesting in its grounds. Within the grounds...
These are three small islands 30 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean off the West coast of Ireland. The islands are known as Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer. The first inhabitants of these islands are thought to have arrived during the late Bronze age. There is plenty of evidence...
Clare Island, set in Clew Bay, is dominated by two hills, and a square 15th century castle commands the headland and harbour. In the 16th century the island was the stronghold of Grace O’Malley, pirate queen and patriot, who held sway over the western coast....
The earliest known human settlement of Ireland occurred in the Mesolithic 8000BC, when tribes from Europe crossed to Ireland by boat from Scotland, or possibly across a land-bridge from Britain or the Isle of Man, to the east coast of Ireland. Hunter-gatherer habitation sites and...
In a quiet pine glade on Shantemon Hill, five great boulders stand in a row on the emerald grass. Named after the legendary Irish giant-slayer Finn MacCool, or MacCumhaill, the stones are thought to have been erected during the Bronze Age (between 1750 and 500BC),...
On top of a hill, in a labyrinth of lanes, stand some 300 stones. All about 3ft high and seemingly scattered at random, their origin and significance are a mystery. Many explanations have been put forward – Bronze Age rituals, druidical ceremonies, even medieval follies...