text:
County Meath

County Meath (Contae na Mí) lies north of Dublin in the East Coast and Midlands region of Ireland. Traditionally part of the province of Leinster, it's low-lying and fertile, and being so close to the city it's become densely populated. So it has bland tracts of modern suburbs, but beyond those are some of the top visitor attractions in the country.

Towns

 * the county town is modern, though crumbling turrets guard its approach roads.
 * is a modern commuter town. You might visit for Tayto Park funfair.
 * in the Boyne valley has a neo-gothic castle.
 * has a well-preserved Norman castle and several other historic sites.
 * has the remains of the abbey that for 800 years housed the Book of Kells.
 * is near the tombs of Loughcrew Cairns, as fine as those at Brú na Bóinne but without the tourist hordes.
 * is mostly in County Louth with just a few suburbs in Meath, but it's a good base for visiting the Boyne battlefield and Brú na Bóinne prehistoric site.

Other destinations

 * is a remarkable complex of Neolithic chamber tombs, standing stones and henges.
 * is the focus of another complex: the oldest parts are Neolithic but its heyday was in the Iron Age and early Christian era.

Understand
This area is low-lying and the bedrock is limestone, so it's well-drained and fertile, with easy transport overland and to the coast. "Meath" means "middle" and it's been central to life in Ireland since prehistoric times. The earliest human traces are from 9500 BC but the first flowering of culture was from 3400 BC, when Brú na Bóinne and other ritual complexes were established. So these were already ancient when the Celts arrived from 500 BC and laid their own structures, rituals and legends upon these foundations.

Celtic territories coalesced into several kingdoms, some 7 to 13 in early medieval times. The Kingdom of Meath, larger than the present county, was important through the area's natural advantages. Its kings were inaugurated at the Hill of Tara, to lord it over their vassals and petty kingdoms, and to proclaim the fiction that they were "High Kings of Ireland". They employed media managers and propagandists to that end - their bards and scribes. Only they'd better not make that claim within the hearing of the King of Connacht, or of Tyrone, or of Munster, or there'd be another set-to concerning the precise number of kingdoms in Ireland. Brian Boru and Rory O'Connor were among those with more extensive but never complete sovereignty.

The Normans arrived in the 12th century, commencing a nation-wide land grab. They were later repulsed from much of Ireland but maintained control of the east, including Meath. They fortified their holdings and re-established the monasteries, so this eastern "Pale" has a rich heritage of castles and abbeys. The eastern kings became their subjects, and Meath was absorbed into Leinster, which covered from Dublin to Wexford. The Normans defined shires or counties, but this had little effect until the Tudors resumed the land-grab and crushed the last Irish kingdoms. Thus in practice the first High King of Ireland was James VI of Scotland (1556-1625), who came also to rule England and Ireland.

Leinster and the city of Dublin were thereafter pre-eminent, and Meath stood on their northern approaches, so it remained a site of conflict. Oliver Cromwell marched though in 1649, having massacred Drogheda to send a chilling message to Royalist opposition. In 1690 the Battle of the Boyne was fought here between King William III and the deposed King James II. But Meath was less affected by later turmoils, such as the 1798 rebellion or the Great Famine, and quietly grew as the agricultural and industrial hinterland of Dublin. Railways and later the motorways turned it into a commuter belt for the city. County Meath became densely populated (195,044 in 2016) in a series of small towns, but with no big city itself. Inevitably this development has erased natural habitats and antiquities, but plenty remains once you escape the vicinity of the M2 and M3.

Get in
is north of the city with direct buses into the county. Bus routes radiate from Dublin to Ashbourne, Navan and Kells, to Trim, and to Slane. As this is commuter land, they are more frequent on weekday mornings heading into the city, then late afternoon heading back out, but the service is 24 hours to Ashbourne and Kells. For Oldcastle change buses at Kells.

A cross-county bus plies between Drogheda, Slane, Navan and Trim.

The top tourist sights are poorly served by public transport but have day-excursions from Dublin. So if you don't have a car (and in the city you actively don't want one) then consider joining a trip, which will probably visit the Boyne battlefield, Brú na Bóinne, Hill of Tara and Trim Castle. Bus Éireann is one reliable operator.

By road from Dublin follow M3.

The county lacks a railway service, though Drogheda has trains from Belfast, Newry and Dundalk heading for Dublin Connolly. Reinstating trains to Navan is long-promised but long-stalled.

Get around
You need wheels for anywhere that's not on the transport corridors described above. The distances are not great so a bike would do, but the roads are busy and ratty this close to the city.

Although the Drogheda-Slane-Navan-Trim bus passes just north of the Boyne valley sights, there's no public entry from north of the river. You need to be on the south bank, and by bus that will mean travelling into Drogheda then out again on the bus for Donore.

See

 * Brú Na Bóinne Archaeological Park is a must-see, but Newgrange tomb interior can fit very few visitors.
 * Hill of Tara was where the high kings of Meath were inaugurated.
 * Castles: the best by far is at Trim.
 * Religious ruins at Trim, Bective and Slane.
 * Ancient mounds 2500 years old at Telltown, and megalithic tombs at Loughcrew near Oldcastle.
 * High Crosses in Kells, but the famous book is now in Dublin.
 * The Battle of the Boyne, fought on 1 July 1690, spelled the end of James II's campaign to keep his throne. Henceforth Britain and Ireland were ruled by the Protestant Hanoverian dynasty of King William III. The visitor centre is on the road to Slane, though it's more easily reached from Drogheda.

Do

 * What's on? Tune into LMFM on 95.5 / 95.8 FM or read Meath Chronicle weekly.
 * Fairyhouse Races are near Ashbourne.
 * Tayto Park near Ashbourne is a theme park and zoo.
 * Gaelic games: Meath GAA play football and hurling at Páirc Tailteann in Navan. There are some 60 club teams across the county.

Eat

 * Conyngham Arms Hotel in Slane gets great reviews for dining.
 * Bar meals will often be your best option.
 * In Trim, eat small children, if you heed the "Modest Proposal" of local church minister and celebrity Jonathan Swift.

Drink

 * Slane Distillery produces Irish whiskey and offers tours.
 * Brú Brewery is in Trim, no tours.
 * All the towns and villages have pubs.

Sleep

 * Trim has the best range, and plenty of other amenities.
 * Ashbourne and Navan have boxy modern business hotels.
 * This isn't an area for camping, and the caravan sites are clustered along the coast.

Go next

 * Drogheda is a historic city, and north in County Louth are ancient sites such as Monasterboice.
 * County Cavan northwest is the drumlin belt, with quiet lakes studded with islets.
 * County Dublin has interesting outlying places such as Howth and Malahide, as well as the must-see city.

title: County Meath


text:
County Monaghan

County Monaghan (Irish: Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Northwest Ireland and Lakelands.

Towns

 * is the county town and transport hub. It has the County Museum and a fine cathedral.
 * on the border has an early medieval round tower and high cross.
 * is by Lough Muckno, with coarse fishing.
 * likewise has fishing lakes and wetlands.
 * is best known for lace-making. Inishkeen nearby was the home of poet Patrick Kavanagh.

Understand
Drive southwest from Clones for one km on N54 and you leave the Republic of Ireland for County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. Continue on A3 for a couple of miles (as things have become) and you re-enter the Republic. Three km later on N54 and you're back in Northern Ireland. Another two miles of A3 then you're on N54 in County Cavan in the Republic and no further nonsense. You have just crossed the border of the European Union four times. Welcome to the strange world of the, also dubbed Coleman's Island or Colooney salient.

Drummully is a pene-exclave of the Republic, cut off from it except for 110 m along the Finn River, with no bridge but its 100 or so residents could wade across. There is no road access except via Northern Ireland. Turn the tables and from the northern viewpoint Drummully is a pene-enclave, with arms of County Fermanagh either side. The eastern arm likewise ends in a pene-exclave, with two Fermanagh farms that can only be reached via the Republic or by fording the river.

Blame it if you will on those who convened at the Synod of Ráth Breasail in 1111 AD: amongst other reforms, they laid out parish boundaries that persist to this day. These later tallied with the boundaries of land-holdings and of counties. The shires or counties of Ulster only became a reality in the 17th century when the Tudors crushed the last of the Irish kingdoms, with Monaghan one of the nine counties of Ulster. There were all sorts of oddities along the boundaries: an 1836 Act of Parliament facilitated their adjustment, but it only applied to true exclaves, not pene-exclaves. Perhaps the legislators just forgot, or more likely didn't see a problem: it was only the county boundary after all, not an international frontier.

But then in 1921 that's exactly what it became, when Ireland was partitioned. Six counties of Ulster remained in the United Kingdom as part of Northern Ireland, while Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan were among the 26 that joined the south, variously styled the Dominion, Free State and eventually the Republic of Ireland. This blighted the entire area, not just the farmland pene-exclaves. Trade and transport were hamstrung on both sides. The main road, railway and canal all wandered back and forth across this new border, which was meant to be temporary until a Border Commission tidied up the anomalies. There were also Catholic communities just north and Protestant communities just south whose loyalties lay the other side. The Commission made some obvious proposals but it was politically sabotaged and its report suppressed, only leaking out in 1969, so no change was made.

For 50 years Monaghan and Fermanagh had a "hard" but friendly border, not routinely patrolled at the Drummully crossings. From 1970 the "Troubles" made the pene-exclaves dangerous, as neither side could effectively police them; even the air-space for helicopters was balkanised. The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 defused tensions, and made movement across the border as trivial as crossing any inland county boundary. Both sides foresaw a brighter future. Then Britain left the European Union, while the Republic remained within it, and the ramifications of this are yet to be seen.

Get in
There are no railways in the county, but because it's historically part of Ulster, there are two transport corridors with regular buses. The north-south route is Dublin-Carrickmacross-Monaghan-Omagh-Strabane (for Derry) and Letterkenny. The east-west route is Cavan-Clones-Monaghan-Armagh-Belfast, with buses also to Coleraine, Ulster University and Portrush. Other buses run from Drogheda and Dundalk.

By road from Dublin follow M1 or M2 to Ardee then N2 towards Monaghan. From Belfast follow M1 then A3 through Armagh and across the border.

The county is no longer connected to the Irish navigable waterway network, but work is under way to re-build the Ulster Canal. The first stage, re-connecting Clones, might open in 2024.

Get around
The main towns are connected by bus, but for outlying sights you need wheels. A bike would do in this small, lowland county, but a car gets you out of the rain.

See

 * County Museum in Monaghan is a good introduction to the area's natural and human history.
 * Literary history: the best known local bard was Patrick Kavanagh. The centre at Iniskeen near Carrickmacross depicts his life and works.
 * Churches range from early Christian and Norman foundations (as at Clones) to modern places. The end of the Penal Laws against Catholics saw a 19th century wave of church-building, such as St Joseph's in Carrickmacross, with its fine stained-glass windows.
 * Drumlins: the county is covered in these hillocks of gravel and rubble left behind by glaciers. They stretch in a broad belt from Clew Bay in County Mayo to Strangford Lough in County Down, and where they're flooded by sea or lake they form a scattering of islets. On land as in this county they form a "basket of eggs" rolling countryside.
 * Ulster Canal courses east-west across the county, from the upper River Bann in County Tyrone through Monaghan and Clones to River Finn and Upper Lough Erne in County Cavan. It's long disused and is little more than an overgrown gully, with no footpath. It was built 1825-1842 and was 74 km long, but only 12 ft (3.7 m) wide so most freight barges couldn't use it. It lost money hand-over-fist and closed in 1931. In the late 20th century many derelict canals were restored for leisure use: reviving the Ulster Canal would mean a new construction as there'd be no point recreating the narrow original, but there was favourable precedent in the new Shannon-Erne Waterway, opened in 1994. In 2021 funding was secured to re-build the Ulster Canal's western section through Clones to Monaghan, opening perhaps in 2024.

Do

 * What's on? Listen to Northern Sound on 96.8 FM or read The Northern Standard published Thursday.
 * Check your documents if it's at all likely that you'll cross the UK border, which along several roads you might do inadvertently. The border in 2021 remains unpatrolled but it's your responsibility to make sure your personal and car documents are in order.
 * Gaelic games: Monaghan GAA play football at St Tiernach's Park in Clones. There are some 35 club GAA teams across the county.
 * Golf: most towns are within a few km of a course.
 * Festivals: see town pages for events.

Drink

 * Plenty of pubs in all the towns, and these are often the best option for meals.
 * There's a gin distillery at Derrylavan near Carrickmacross.

Sleep

 * Monaghan, Clones and Carrickmacross all have accommodation. But there's not much for campers or caravans: those flock to the "Costa Cavan" between Dundalk and Drogheda.
 * Castle Leslie is the big splurge, near the border northeast of Monaghan.

Stay safe
Usual precautions about road safety and care of valuables. The county doesn't have the sort of wild uplands where weather is a hazard.

Go next

 * South is County Meath, with the Boyne battlefield and Brú na Bóinne prehistoric complex near Drogheda. Loughcrew Cairns near Oldcastle is another remarkable prehistoric site.
 * County Cavan west is a quiet place for fishing or boating. Continue west into the cloud-wreathed scarps above Sligo.
 * Armagh across the border northeast is the ecclesiastic capital of all Ireland.
 * County Fermanagh northwest has navigable lakes and rivers overlooked by castles and stately mansions.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: County Monaghan


text:
County Offaly

County Offaly (Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is in the East Coast and Midlands region of Ireland, and traditionally part of the province of Leinster. It's mostly lowland and rural.

Towns

 * the county town has two famous distilleries.
 * has a notable bog, in a country which sets the bar high for bogs.
 * is a medieval monastery complex on the riverbank.
 * as the name implies has a fine bridge.
 * is the largest of the villages on the Shannon riverbank and the main base for boating.
 * is the Georgian town that for 70 years was at the leading edge of astronomy.
 * church has a 16th century Pieta.
 * is a good base for walking in the Slieve Bloom Mountains.
 * is a stop along the Grand Canal with a couple of crumbly castles.
 * is mostly in County Laois but straddles the boundary.
 * was the ancestral home of a great-great-great grandfather of Barack Obama.
 * is just over the boundary into County Tipperary but is near Leap Castle.

Other destinations

 * straddle the boundary with County Laois.

Understand
The county is named for the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe which covered much of it. The Normans divided Ireland into shires or counties, but they were repulsed from the midlands to shelter behind the palisades (the "Pale") of Leinster. The Tudors resumed the land-grab, swept aside the old Irish kingdoms, and in 1556 renamed this area "King's County". That king was Philip II of Spain, married to Queen Mary of England: but she died childless, one of the great "what-ifs" of British history. And King's County it officially remains. All sorts of royal names were replaced at Irish independence (Kingstown to Dún Laoghaire, Queenstown to Cobh, and so on); but it's some measure of Offaly's importance that the legislators clean forgot to change this one.

Offaly has the Slieve Bloom Mountains along its southeast boundary but is mostly lowland. Many areas are bog, notably the Bog of Allen, while to the west it's bounded by the flood-prone River Shannon. Agriculture and peat-extraction are traditional occupations. Yet this was no rustic backwater: Tullamore was the unlikely scene of the world's first aviation disaster in 1785. In the 19th century, the Grand Canal stimulated trade. Birr had the world's first automobile fatality in 1869, and its "Leviathan" telescope put it at the leading edge of astronomy for 70 years. The railway arrived in the 1850s and industry developed along it, but the big growth came when motorways put Offaly within commuting range of Dublin. In 2022 the population was 83,000.

Visit Offaly is the county tourist agency.

Get in
Dublin Airport is the obvious choice by air, as it has a good range of flights at competitive prices, and good onward transport.

Trains run from Dublin Heuston via Kildare and Portarlington to Clara and Tullamore, with five or six daily. They continue west to Athlone then branch either to Athenry and Galway or to Roscommon, Castlebar and Westport.

Trains from Dublin Heuston towards Cork stop at Ballybrophy, which has a branch line service to Roscrea, Nenagh and Limerick.

There are direct buses from Dublin to Edenderry, Tullamore, Birr and Banagher.

Bus 73 traverses the country twice a day from Waterford via Thomastown, Kilkenny, Carlow, Stradbally and Portlaoise to Tullamore, Clara and Athlone.

The Grand Canal starts from Dublin and is navigable throughout; it crosses the county via Edenderry and Tullamore to Shannon Harbour near Banagher. The Shannon forms the western boundary of County Offaly and is likewise navigable throughout from Limerick up to Athlone and Carrick-on-Shannon, with onward canals to Enniskillen, Drumshanbo and Boyle. The Grand Canal is connected to the Barrow Navigation, which runs to Athy, Carlow, New Ross and Waterford. Dublin is also linked to the Shannon by the Royal Canal, but that passes further north near Longford.

Get around
Public transport is confined to the corridors described above. The must-see monastic site of Clonmacnoise has no public transport. So you need wheels: the distances are not great and it's not hilly so a bike would do.

There's car hire in Tullamore, but you'll do better to hire from the airport.

If you're in Dublin without a car (and you positively don't want one in the city) then consider joining a day-tour: Bus Éireann is one reliable operator.

See

 * Clonmacnoise is Offaly's top attraction, an extensive monastic complex on the Shannon riverbank.
 * Castles: Charleville Forest Castle in Tullamore is a Gothic building surrounded by ancient oaks.
 * Bogs and wetlands: Lough Boora west of Tullamore and Clara Bog are two examples. They've been scarred by peat extraction, but that has now ceased.
 * Shannon callows are lowlands along the river and its tributaries. Some is wetland, but most is farmland undefended against floods, so it's a distinct semi-wild habitat. A good example is the callows of the Little Brosna south of Banagher.

Do

 * What's on? Tune in to Midlands 103 FM or read the Offaly Independent or Offaly Express.
 * Gaelic games: Offaly GAA play hurling and Gaelic football at O'Connor Park in Tullamore. There are some 40 GAA clubs across the county.
 * Golf: there are golf courses at Tullamore, Birr, Edenderry and Portarlington.
 * Boating: the main centre for boat hire is Banagher, near the junction of the Shannon and the Grand Canal.
 * Hike: the Offaly Way is a 37-km trail in the east of the county, between Cadamstown and Lemanaghan. It's suggested as a two-day hike heading north, but there's little accommodation along the way and you might break it into several there-and-back strolls. It's low-lying across farm land, no dogs. The trail is little used so you might find some stretches overgrown, muddy and poorly signposted.
 * Skydive at Clonbollogue airfield south of Edenderry.

Eat

 * Kinnitty Castle Hotel has fine dining.
 * Otherwise nothing outstanding, bar meals will generally be your best bet.

Drink

 * Tullamore Dew and nearby Kilbeggan are the county's two whiskey distilleries.
 * Kinnitty has Slieve Bloom micro-brewery.
 * Moneygall is the ancestral home of 44th US President Barack Obama, and in 2011 First Lady Michelle was taught how to pour a correct pint of Guinness here. The pub reports that it's just about settled by now.

Connect

 * County Offaly Council website

Go next
The Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, Brú Na Bóinne in County Meath and Lough Owel in County Westmeath are all about an hour's drive from County Offaly.

title: County Offaly


text:
County Roscommon

County Roscommon (Contae Ros Comáin) is in West Ireland, historically part of the Kingdom of Connacht. It's low-lying and rural, with the River Shannon forming its eastern boundary.

Towns

 * As the county is quite narrow, towns on or just across its boundary may be good bases for exploring.

 * has a ruined castle in town, and a more scenic one on an island in Lough Key.
 * has Clonalis House, a stately mansion with a 100,000 volume library of Irish history. Tours and accommodation are available.
 * has a restored 18th century windmill and a ruined cathedral.
 * has the magnificent Palladian Strokestown Park.
 * the county town is near Rathcroghan, seat of the Kings of Connacht.
 * straddles the boundary, with its town centre in Country Leitrim.
 * is across the river in County Leitrim, but is the best base for Roscommon's northeast corner, such as Arigna mines.
 * is in County Westmeath, but the best base for south Roscommon around Lough Ree.

Understand
Little is known about the pre-Celtic peoples of this area, but the Coggalbeg hoard demonstrates their artistry. It was found in 1945 near Strokestown by a turf-cutter, and comprises a gold lunula (crescent moon shape) and two gold discs, all lightweight and suitable for personal ornament. The hoard was tucked away in a pharmacist's safe, until 2009 when the safe was stolen during a break-in. The thieves were only interested in ready cash and dumped the other contents into a skip in Dublin, but were spotted on CCTV. The police retrieved the hoard, which is now on display in the National Museum in Dublin and dated to 2000 BC.

By the early centuries AD the west of Ireland was populated by Celts in the Kingdom of Connacht, ruled from Cruachan, nowadays called Rathcroghan and with extensive remains. The area became christianized, and Coman Mac Faelchon built a monastery in the 5th century. The woods near the monastery became known as Ros Comáin, "Coman's Wood", hence Roscommon town. The native rulers were subjugated by King John in the 13th century, and the Tudors set out the county boundaries.

County Roscommon has low hills, mostly in the northeast towards Lough Allen, with Seltannasaggart reaching 428 m (1404 ft). The farmland is poor and drains east into the River Shannon and its loughs, which are navigable and form the natural boundary with Counties Leitrim and Longford. There's been little industry since a 17th / 18th century spell of coal and iron mining, and thus little to foster population growth or urban development. "Unspoilt" is how the County Tourist Agency pitches it. The region is collectively promoted under the brand "Ireland's Hidden Heartlands".

Get in
Two railways cross the county. Trains from Dublin Connolly run via Drumcondra, Maynooth, Mullingar, Longford and Dromod to Carrick-on-Shannon and Boyle, and continue to Ballymote and Sligo. Trains from Dublin Heuston run via Kildare, Portarlington, Tullamore and Clara to Athlone, whence they either continue west to Athenry and Galway, or head northwest via Roscommon and Castlerea to Castlebar and Westport.

Bus Éireann buses run from Dublin Busáras and Airport to Carrick and Boyle, heading to Sligo, and to Athlone heading for Galway. Roscommon town has no direct service, train is better, but you could change at Athlone for the bus to Roscommon, Castlebar and Westport.

With your own car, from Dublin take M4 to Kinnegad. For the south of the county, stay on it (becoming M6) to Athlone, then take N61 for Roscommon. For the north, exit onto N4 through Mullingar and Longford; stay on N4 for Carrick and Boyle, but take N5 for Strokestown.

Get around
The train will get you between Carrick and Boyle, and between Athlone, Roscommon and Castlerea.

Local Link buses run 2 or 3 times a day between Roscommon, Strokestown, Tulsk, Elphin, Boyle, Lough Key and Arigna.

The countryside is low-lying and the distances in such a small county are not great, so bicycle is a viable option.

And then the rain sets in, what a surprise. Thank heavens you hired a car from Dublin Airport.

See

 * Roscommon Castle was Norman, re-modelled in early modern times but demolished under Cromwell.
 * Also in Roscommon town see Harrison Hall and the town museum. Only the facade remains of the Old Gaol.
 * Rathcroghan in the village of Tulsk, midway between Roscommon and Boyle, is an extensive archaeological site occupied from Neolithic to Iron Age times, with burial mounds, ringforts and medieval field patterns. Notable sights are the Rathcroghan Mound, the cave of Oweynagat, the Mucklaghs earthworks, and the Cairns.
 * Arigna Mining Experience: see Drumshanbo for this museum in a former coal mine.

Do

 * There are golf courses at Roscommon town (18 hole), Strokestown (9 hole) and elsewhere.
 * Watch Gaelic games: the county GAA teams play Gaelic football and hurling at Douglas Hyde Park in Roscommon. There are some 30 club teams across the county.
 * Miners Way and The Historical Trail are two long-distance walking trails across the north of the county.
 * Cruise the Shannon: the western navigable system stretches downstream from Boyle and Lough Key to join the Shannon near Carrick, where you can hire boats for extended trips.

Eat

 * In Roscommon town it's Gleesons that earns the raves.
 * All the towns have bar food, nothing outstanding.

Drink

 * Drumshanbo has The Shed Distillery, producing gin, vodka and whiskey. Tours available.
 * Lough Ree Distillery is in Lanesborough, just over the boundary into County Longford. They produce gin, vodka and whiskey.
 * There are traditional pubs in all the towns.
 * Some notable rural pubs are Coffeys in Lecarrow, D'altons in Fuerty, and Luke Gibbons in Ballybeg.

Sleep
Roscommon has the best range, but the grand splurge is Kilronan Castle, see Drumshanbo.

Go next

 * County Leitrim is on the east bank of the Shannon, with Drumshanbo and Carrick-on-Shannon good bases for exploring the waterway network.
 * County Galway is lowland and pastoral where it meets County Roscommon, with historic towns such as Tuam and Athenry. Head further west for the wild scenery of Connemara.
 * County Sligo has cloud-wreathed scarps and prehistoric monuments that inspired WB Yeats.

title: County Roscommon


text:
County Sligo

County Sligo (Contae Shligigh) is on the Irish coast in Northwest Ireland and Lakelands. With a population of 65,535 in 2016, the county is little developed beyond Sligo town, and with a haunting scenery of limestone scarps that often feature in the poetry of WB Yeats. Its main attractions are that scenery, and its many prehistoric monuments.

Towns

 * is the obvious visitor base: it's a transport hub with accommodation and other amenities. Within a few km are Carrowmore neolithic cemetery, the brooding mountains of Knocknarea and Benbulbin, and loughs Gill and Glencar.
 * is a beach resort south side of Sligo Bay, best known for its Atlantic surf.
 * is the beach resort north side of the bay.
 * is a village on the main road 15 km north of Sligo. It has few amenities, so see Sligo for Streedagh beach, Mullaghmore Head, and the island of Inishmurray.
 * is a small town with a 14th century castle, but the main draw is Carrowkeel and other prehistoric sites in that area.
 * (or Tubbercurry) hosts the South Sligo Summer School of trad Irish music in July. There's accommodation but no other reason to linger here, though it's the second-largest town in the county.
 * is a beach resort to the west near the boundary with Mayo.

Understand
Ancient Ireland's skies and mountaintops thundered to the conflicts of the gods and other supernatural beings, according to Irish legends, such as the Second Battle of Moytura fought east of Ballymote. Almost as powerful and quarrelsome were the mortal races of warriors and heroes that followed, such as Queen Méabh or Maeve (Shakespeare's Queen Mab), who fled from Ulster into Connacht there to battle with all and sundry, and to lay any likely man left over. Alas she was killed by a sling-shotted piece of cheese, an iconoclastic first. Tis said Maeve is buried on top of Knocknarea near Sligo town - her legend is from the Ulster Cycle supposedly set in the first century AD; the real burial monuments on Knocknarea are 3000 years older.

Another body of legend, the Fenian or Ossianic Cycle, is mostly set in Munster, but the eloping lovers Diarmuid and Gráinne legged it here to settle in Keshcorran near Ballymote. Diarmuid was warned that he will be killed by a boar yet what does he go and do? - he joins a boar hunt. (Perhaps he'd misunderstood, and was on his guard against some prat with a voluminous knowledge of Game of Thrones.) Sure enough he and the boar deal each other mortal blows. Yet his former love-rival Fionn, who just happened to organise the hunt, has the power to heal Diarmuid by letting him drink water from his hands. Twice Fionn deliberately lets the water slip through his fingers; he's threatened with violence and conveys the water third time, but it's too late to save Diarmuid. And that in a nutshell is the problem of surviving on limestone terrain like Keshcorran, where the rainwater slips away through cracks in the bedrock before it can nourish your vegetables.

The county of Sligo was formed in 1603 at the end of the Nine Years' War, an all-too-real conflict which broke Irish resistance to English Tudor rule, and sparked the chain of events leading to the Partition of Ireland. Sligo town developed as a port and became the county seat, but the region's agriculture was poor and it didn't attract industry. This preserved its natural and prehistoric heritage, which elsewhere was obliterated by farming or building. In early modern times a major export was people heading to North America, even before the horrors of the Great Famine. They left behind a bleak landscape of cloud-wraithed mountains, bogs and stones. But what their eyes had seen as wasteland, in the 19th century became romanticised and re-populated with myths, legends and other-worldly beings. A leading figure in this was the poet WB Yeats (1865-1939), who spent childhood holidays in County Sligo and wove the landscape (such as Innisfree) into his poetry. A friend here was Constance Gore-Booth (1868-1927), later known as Countess Markievicz, the republican activist. When Yeats wrote of the Easter Rising of 1916 that "a terrible beauty is born", part of that beauty was born in County Sligo.

Get in
is just south of the county. It has few flights, mostly by Ryanair from London Stansted, Luton and other UK cities, and some European destinations.

Dublin Airport is generally a better option for its range of flights (including budget carriers) and onward transport.

Six trains per day run from Dublin Connolly, taking 3 hr 20 min to Sligo town via Drumcondra, Maynooth, Mullingar, Longford, Dromod, Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle, Ballymote and Collooney. See Irish Rail for timetables and fares.

Bus 23 runs every 2-3 hours from Dublin Busáras and Airport to Sligo, taking four hours. There are also buses from Galway, Donegal and Derry.

By road from Dublin follow M4 / N4.

Get around
All the towns are small enough to walk around, but you need wheels to reach the sights scattered around.

Buses run from Sligo to Strandhill and to Rosses Point, and north along the coast towards Ballyshannon.

See individual towns for Local Link bus services. These are generally too sparse for visitors, and some only run once or twice a week.

See

 * The horse that comes from the road / The rider, the birds that range / From cloud to tumbling cloud / Minute by minute they change - Yeats

 * Knocknarea is a slab of limestone 327 m high, just north of Strandhill but usually climbed from the southeast towards Sligo. The cairn and other grave markers around its summit are believed to date from 3000 BC.
 * Carrowmore megalithic cemetery below is part of the same Neolithic ritual landscape, as the Knocknarea markers are aligned with it.
 * Heapstown Stone Cairn is a 7 m tall megalithic mound close to Lough Arrow. Other nearby prehistoric monuments include Labby Rock.
 * Carrowkeel is another collection of ancient graves further south.
 * Benbulbin or Ben Bulben is a prominent table mountain that dominates the landscape to the north.
 * Coney Island is a tidal island just north of Strandhill, you can walk or drive across, but think about the getting back.

Do

 * Surf at Strandhill, which has surf schools and equipment.
 * Boat trips of Lough Gill take in Beezie's Island, Parkes Castle, and the frankly disappointing Lake Isle of Innisfree: it's just a woody outcrop. Trips usually start from Sligo.
 * The Wild Atlantic Way is the tourist name for the motoring route that hugs the west coast from Donegal all the way south to Cork. The route across County Sligo is fairly obvious. From County Donegal N15 crosses a sliver of County Leitrim into County Sligo; at Cliffony turn up the side road for Mullagmore, and at Grange turn off for Streedagh Point. Continue on N15 past Benbulbin and Drumcliffe and detour to Rosses Point before coming in to Sligo town. From here take the loop of R292 through Strandhill before returning to the main road at Baladrihid, then take N59 west as far as Shemagh, branching onto R297. Follow this west then trending south through Enniscrone to reach Ballina in County Mayo.
 * Look up your Irish ancestors: Sligo was a major port of emigration to America, and the town has a good genealogy centre. Mike Pence (US Vice President from 2017) had a maternal grandfather from the county; his maternal great-grandparents were from County Clare. Also from Sligo was the father of Bernardo O'Higgins (1778-1842), founder of the nation of Chile; and the father of Spike Milligan (1918-2002), who grew up in India before his showbiz career. When Spike sang of "walking backwards for Christmas, across the Irish Sea" he evoked a pilgrimage as spiritual as any made by early saint or friar.
 * Gaelic games: the County GAA teams play Gaelic football and hurling at Markievicz Park in Sligo. There are almost 30 club teams across the county.
 * Golf: courses are dotted around, but the prestige course is the Championship links at Rosses Point.
 * Seaweed: walk across a stony beach uncovered at low tide, the crinkly dark stuff that goes "pop" under your feet is bladder-wrack. Its alginates make it slippy, and you could easily skid and land in a cold pool of it, probably venting a cry of Fucus vesiculosus! to acknowledge its scientific binomial. People actually pay money to do so, reckon €30 for a 50 min soak. There are seaweed bath companies in Strandhill, Enniscrone and elsewhere. Their websites bandy words like "organic", "de-toxifying", "anti-ageing" and even "cancer" while ever-so-artfully avoiding any statement such that the regulatory agencies could ask "prove it?"
 * Warriors Run is a 15 km race from Strandhill to the top of Knocknarea and back. It's in late August.

Buy
Every village has a Centra or similar convenience store, but Sligo is the place to stock up and re-fuel the car.

Eat

 * Sligo town centre has the best choice. Well-regarded places are Fiddlers Creek, Bistro Bianconi and Coach House.

Drink

 * I have drunk ale from the Country of the Young / and weep because I know all things now - Yeats

 * Shoot the Crows pub in Sligo is still going strong, but the bartenders no longer accept dead crows as payment as they did in 1876. It's probably pointless to offer them bitcoin.
 * Lough Gill Brewery east edge of Sligo town produces a range of beers, plus mead. They don't offer tours.
 * White Hag Brewery is in Ballymote. No tours.
 * Athru is the only distillery in the county, producing Irish malt whiskey. It's by Hazelwood House near the outflow of Lough Gill east of Sligo. Opened in 2019, they don't offer tours but plan a second building to accommodate visits from 2021.

Sleep

 * There are many B&Bs throughout the county, several mainstream hotels and a few hostels, see individual towns.
 * The Glamping Village in Enniscrone brought a Boeing 767 all the way from Shannon Airport to serve as accommodation. The venture flopped so there it sits idle by the roadside.
 * Strangest by a distance is the Gyreum Ecolodge, listed in Ballymote though it's nearer to the edge of damn-all.

Stay safe
Usual precautions about road safety, valuables in cars, and aggressive drunks. The mountains can be cold, windy and rain-lashed but are of no great altitude.

Go next

 * County Donegal to the north has a wild Atlantic coastline but is well-developed for tourism.
 * County Mayo to the west is rugged and little developed. In 1798 it saw the last armed invasion of Britain, the "Year of the French".

title: County Sligo


text:
County Tipperary

County Tipperary (Irish: Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in the Mid-West or Shannon Region of Ireland, historically part of the province of Munster. It's low-lying, fertile and extensive: to paraphrase the familiar tune, "it's a long way from one end of Tipperary to the other". It was therefore divided into two tidings, with the north governed from Nenagh and the south from Clonmel. In 2014 the ridings were abolished and it became a single county, with those two towns continuing to share the county role. Tipperary town has never been the county seat.

Towns

 * (Aonach Urmhumhan) has a well-preserved Norman castle tower.
 * (Port Omna) in County Galway is just across the river from Lorrha and Terryglass, which have tumbledown abbeys and castles.
 * on the Shannon is a short walk from the medieval cathedral of Killaloe.
 * (Ros Cré) has an abbey, restored mill and high cross.
 * (Durlas Éile) has an ornate cathedral, but the big draw is Holy Cross Abbey.
 * (Tiobraid Árann) is near scenic Glen Aherlow.
 * (Caiseal) has the Rock of Cashel, crowned with medieval sites.
 * (Fiodh Ard) has a medieval church, abbey and defensive walls.
 * (An Chathair) has a fine castle, the playful Swiss Cottage and Mitchelstown Cave.
 * (Cluain Meala) has several interesting buildings such as Main Guard and Old St Mary's Church.

Understand
Tipperary is low-lying, ringed by hills (some of them ranking as mountains) at its boundaries, and with the River Shannon and Lough Derg on its northwest flank. It's landlocked, mostly drained by the River Suir flowing south to Waterford through the fertile "Golden Vale". County Tipperary was created in the 13th century when the Normans broke up the former kingdom of Munster, though for 500 years the church lands formed a separate county of Cross Tipperary. The area was united in 1715 but divided again in 1838, this time geographically into North and South ridings, which persisted until 2014. The largest towns are Clonmel, Nenagh and Thurles, and in 2016 the county had a population of about 160,000.

The county remains mostly agricultural, with limited industry. Its low terrain has suited railway- and road-building, and Tipperary for many visitors is just a green blur through the rain-streaked windows on the way to the Atlantic coast. The main reasons to linger are the historic towns of Cahir and Cashel. With your own vehicle you can easily reach interesting old villages such as Fethard and Ahenny, and explore Glen of Aherlow and soggy Slievenamon.

English is the prime language. About 40% of the population speak Irish but Tipperary is not part of the Gaeltacht. It has nevertheless played an important role in preserving Irish traditions: the Gaelic Athletic Association was founded in Thurles in 1884.

By plane
Dublin Airport has the best selection of flights, competitive fares and the best onward public transport into the county. But since you'll need a car to get around, you could also fly into Shannon (the nearest airport, near Limerick) or Cork  and hire from there.

By train
The main railway line crosses the county, with trains every hour or two from Dublin Heuston via Kildare and Portlaoise to Thurles (75 min) and Limerick Junction just outside Tipperary (90 min). They continue south to Mallow and Cork, while connecting trains run to Limerick Colbert i.e. the city.

Twice M-Sa the train from Dublin connects at Ballybrophy with a branch line train to Roscrea, Nenagh and Limerick Colbert.

Two trains M-Sa follow a branch line from Limerick Junction to Tipperary, Cahir, Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir and Waterford.

By bus
Expressway X12 runs hourly from Dublin Airport and Busáras via Portlaoise to Roscrea and Nenagh, continuing to Limerick.

Expressway X8 runs every two hours from Dublin Airport and Busáras to Cashel and Cahir, continuing to Fermoy and Cork.

Expressway Bus 55 runs every two hours from Limerick city to Tipperary, Cahir, Clonmel and Waterford.

By road
From Dublin take N7 onto M7 (the section to Naas hasn't yet been upgraded to motorway) past Kildare and Portlaoise. Stay on M7 for Roscrea, Nenagh and Limerick; branch south on M8 for Thurles, Cashel (turnoff for Tipperary), Cahir (turnoff for Clonmel), Fermoy and Cork.

The main cross-county highways are N24 Waterford - Clonmel - Cahir - Tipperary - Limerick, and N62 Thurles - Roscrea - Birr - Athlone.

Get around
Mainline trains connect Thurles and Tipperary, though the latter's mainline station is 3 km from town. Branch line services are sparse, see above.

The Dublin - Cork bus connects Cashel and Cahir, and the Limerick - Waterford bus connects Tipperary, Cahir and Clonmel.

See individual towns for Local Link bus services, operated by Kavanagh's Coaches. They're sparse but could prove useful, e.g., the Clonmel - Fethard - Cashel - Thurles route and the Roscrea-Thurles route.

See

 * Rock of Cashel is the county standout, a crag with several religious ruins.
 * Cahir has the Castle, Swiss Cottage, and Mitchelstown Caves.
 *  Terryglass at the north end of Lough Derg is an attractive village.
 * Glen of Aherlow is a scenic area south of Tipperary. It's backed by the Galtee mountains, where Galtymore reaches 918 metres.
 *  Holycross Abbey is a church within a ruined abbey with fragments of the True Cross, allegedly.
 * Lough Derg, part of the River Shannon, extends for 50 km through Ballina, Garrykennedy, Dromineer, Puckane, Terryglass and on up to Portumna in County Galway. You can make a circuit, returning along the County Clare side of the lough.
 * Ormond Castle is a fine Elizabethan manor house at Carrick-on-Suir, east of Clonmel.
 * "First Fruits" churches: After the Reformation, the Anglicans (i.e. establishment Protestants) took over all the churches, and Catholics weren't allowed to build their own or hold mass - or else! Anglican churches were supported by a tithe, a tax (nominally 10% of arable produce) on parishioners. But Ireland remained too darned Catholic and too darned Irish for the likes of its rulers, so one initiative was the "Board of First Fruits" set up in 1711 to establish more Protestant churches in Ireland. This was funded by the cunning ruse of taxing the Catholics an equivalent amount to a tithe. (Since they were being spared the expense of having their own churches, they surely couldn't begrudge the tax could they now?) County Tipperary received the bulk of these "First Fruits" churches. There are good surviving examples in Thurles, Roscrea and Terryglass, with others in ruins.

Do

 * Golf: most towns have a golf course or two nearby.
 * Gaelic games: the County GAA play Gaelic football and hurling in Thurles, where the national Association was founded. There are some 75 club teams across the county.
 * Sing! It's a long way to Tipperary was written by Harry Williams and Jack Judge, and first performed by Judge in Jan 1912 at the Grand Theatre in Stalybridge near Manchester. The legend goes that it was only composed for a bet the night before performance, but they already had a good draft of 1909 called "It's a long way to Connemara" which just needed tweaking. "It's a long way to County Sligo" somehow wouldn't chime, but Judge's grandparents were from Tipperary — aha! The song was born upon an Edwardian peacetime world, where Irish songs were popular but often mawkish. But this lyric has the hero leaving London with a spring in his step, surely on his own terms and with cash in his pockets, to return to "the sweetest girl I know". It has a rousing marching rhythm and in Aug 1914 the Daily Mail reported the Connaught Rangers singing it as they passed through Boulogne, with every stride taking them further from Piccadilly, Leicester Square and Tipperary, into the maw of Germany's Schlieffen Plan. Soon every British Army unit was singing it. It was recorded in Nov 1914 and became popular throughout the English-speaking countries, and an unofficial anthem of the First World War.
 * However "It's a long way..." is not the county anthem, for obvious topological reasons. What they sing is Slievenamon, written in the mid-19th century, and suitably lachrymose yet patriotic.

Eat & Drink

 * In most towns, bar meals in the pubs will be your best option.
 * The standout restaurant in the county is Chez Hans in Cashel.
 * Lava Rock in Cahir is the up-and-coming challenger.
 * In Fethard, McCarthy's Pub, Restaurant and Undertaker has been going strong since the 1850s.
 * In Clonmel, Mulcahy's and Befani's both attract admiring reviews.
 * Bulmer's Cider is made in Clonmel. It's marketed as Magner's outside the Republic as it's no longer connected with the UK Bulmer's firm.
 * Stock up on fresh local produce at the farmer's markets held in many towns. And wine from the supermarket of course.

Go next

 * To the west is historic Limerick city and county, and scenic County Clare.
 * South across low hills is County Waterford.

title: County Tipperary


text:
County Tyrone

County Tyrone is one of the six counties of Ulster in Northern Ireland. In Irish it's Tír Eoghain, the land of Owen, forerunners of the medieval O'Neill ruling dynasty. Tyrone is mostly lowland, with prehistoric sites and interesting small towns created during the 17th century Plantations. It has a long (and nowadays open and peaceful) border with the Republic of Ireland.

Towns

 * has a famously long wide main street, but you come for its prehistoric monuments and the "beetling mill", which put the shine on Ulster linen.
 * is a small village on Lough Neagh with a 10th century High cross.
 * is mostly just a commuter town, but The Argory is a mansion from 1820.
 * is a tiny village along the road from Dungannon to Enniskillen. Royal Spur Castle is a mostly 19th-century mansion house not open to the public. Knockmany and Clogher are nearby neolithic sites.
 * is near the Ulster American Folk Park.
 * is where John Dunlap (printer of the US Declaration of Independence) learnt the printing trade.
 * is a village at the base of a knuckle of Tyrone projecting into Donegal. The castle is a scrap of ruin and you'd only pass through to reach the upland heath and forest to the west.

Understand
This rural, mostly lowland area triggered the sequence of events leading to the partition of Ireland. Medieval Tyrone was ruled by the O'Neill dynasty, the Gaelic lords whose territory took in Derry and Donegal. Their powerbase was initially near Strabane, then Tullyhogue near Cookstown, and finally at Dungannon. Further south the English increasingly controlled Ireland but the O'Neills held out until the Nine Years' War of 1593-1603. That broke Gaelic rule, and their ceremonial seat at Tullyhogue was smashed with relish.

The victorious English organised Ulster into nine counties. Scottish settlers were already moving in before the war, but 1607 saw the flight of the defeated Earl of Tyrone into exile, and seizure of his estates. In 1608 rebels burned Derry, and London authority was determined to prevent further uprisings, so they began the systematic Plantation of Ulster with loyal Protestants. These became the majority population especially in the industrial east around Dungannon, while rural Strabane and Castlederg remained largely Catholic. The main industry was linen, although Dungannon also had a coalfield.

In 1921 the Anglo-Irish conflict led to the partition of Ireland. County Donegal, though geographically in Ulster, was Catholic and joined Southern Ireland, which became an independent republic. Tyrone and Londonderry were marginally Protestant and (with Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and Down) joined Northern Ireland, which remained within the United Kingdom. A boundary commission recommended transferring several Catholic areas of Tyrone and Armagh to the south, but no adjustment was made, and the county boundaries became an international border. This blighted transport, trade and industry on both sides.

Northern Ireland slumped in the 1950s and 60s as textile and metal-bashing industries were lost to foreign competition. "The Troubles" flared up in 1969, with economic grievances stoking sectarian tensions. There were frequent bombings and shootings, and gun-running and other crime along the porous border. The army and police were deployed in force, to become themselves targets for violence. In Tyrone, Strabane was the worst damaged, and employment and industry fled.

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 led to de-escalation of violence and military presence, though four months later a terrible bombing in Omagh showed that murderous splinter groups remained active. The border of Tyrone with Donegal and Monaghan became as insignificant as a parish boundary, but economic regeneration was slow. In 2011 the counties of Northern Ireland were abolished as units of local government, and since 2015 Tyrone has been divided between three "super-districts": of Mid-Ulster to the east with Cookstown and Dungannon, of Derry and Strabane to the north, and of Fermanagh and Omagh to the southwest. In 2020 the big uncertainty is the long-term effect of Brexit on the Irish border.

Get in
See Northern Ireland for air and ferry routes - County Tyrone is within a couple of hours drive from most ports of entry.

There is no railway service. Ulsterbus 273 runs hourly from Belfast Europa bus station to Dungannon, Omagh, Newtonstewart, Sion Mills, Strabane and Derry.

Buses run 3 times a day from Dublin Busáras and Airport: the X3 runs via Monaghan, Ballygawley, Omagh and Strabane to Derry, while the X4 runs via Armagh, Dungannon and Cookstown to Derry.

Buses also ply between Dungannon and Cookstown, and Enniskillen and Omagh.

By road from Belfast follow M1 west, which becomes A4 at Dungannon. However for the north end of the county around Strabane, it's quicker to take M2 / A6 towards Derry.

Get around
The bus routes above connect the towns. Beyond that, you need wheels, because most sights are scattered around the countryside with little or no public transport.

A network of national cycleways crosses the county, though they're mostly on road.

See

 * Stately Mansions: good examples are Springfield House, Lissan House and Killymoon Castle near Cookstown, and The Argory near Dungannon.
 * Wellbrook Beetling Mill near Cookstown demonstrates the last stage of the process of turning flax into linen. The fabric is pounded with "beetles" - wooden mallets - to give it a lustrous shine.
 * Beaghmore is a stone circle near Cookstown. Other nearby prehistoric sites are Creggandevesky Court Tomb and Aghanascrebagh Ogham Stone.
 * Ulster American Folk Park a few miles north of Omagh depicts the Ulster emigrant experience.
 * Gray's Printing Press in Strabane shows 18th century printing methods. You wouldn't want to overturn that colossal jug of ink.

Do

 * Lough Neagh for water activities, though there are better facilities on the east bank near Antrim.
 * Watch Gaelic games: the County GAA plays Gaelic football and hurling at Healy Park in Omagh. There are some 60 club teams across the county.
 * Strabane has a drama festival in mid-March, close to St Patrick's Day.

Eat

 * No standouts, bar food will often be your best bet.
 * Eat in an atmospheric old church at Viscount's in Dungannon.
 * Mary Mallon was an early 20th-century celebrity chef, from Cookstown, appropriately. She's better known as Typhoid Mary.

Drink

 * The towns all have bars, either as free-standing pubs or in the hotels.
 * Wild Atlantic Distillery produce gin and whiskey, way out west of Castlederg, and offer tours.

Stay safe
Usual advice about road safety, care of valuables, and dressing for the weather. The border with the Republic is nowadays safe, but many people lost family members in the Troubles so there are still raw nerves.

Go next

 * North to County Londonderry, with the fascinating walled city of Derry and an attractive coastline to Coleraine
 * Southwest to County Fermanagh, with thinly-populated countryside and the Erne loughs
 * Southeast to County Armagh, where Armagh is the ecclesiastic capital of all Ireland
 * South to County Monaghan in the Republic, a landscape of drumlin hillocks and quiet market towns
 * West to County Donegal in the Republic, wild country and coast stretching further north than Northern Ireland

title: County Tyrone


text:
County Waterford

County Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge) is in Southeast Ireland, and historically part of Munster. It's mostly low-lying, but with mountains of 500-700 m along its border with County Tipperary to the north. Its main attractions are Waterford city (Ireland's oldest), the mansions and gardens dotted about the countryside, and the little harbours and beach resorts along its coast.

Cities and towns

 * (Port Láirge), the county town and only city, has a rich Viking, medieval and Georgian heritage.
 * (An Dún Mór Thoir) is a fishing port and seaside resort.
 * (Trá Mhór) has a long beach popular for surfing.
 * (Dún Garbhán) is a small coastal town with a Norman castle. South around the village of Helvick is the county's only Gaeltacht, where Irish is the primary language.
 * (Aird Mhór) is a little beach resort with a well-preserved Round Tower and cathedral ruins.
 * (Lios Mór) has an elegant castle, gardens and cathedral, with other mansions and gardens in the nearby countryside.

Other destinations

 * are a block of twelve peaks in the east of the county, with Fauscoum the highest at 792 m, and attractive glaciated scenery. Good access routes are the "Magic Road" above Mahon Bridge to the south, and the Nire Valley from the west.
 * are the range dividing the west of the county from County Tipperary. Knockmealdown itself is the highest at 794 m. They're Devonian Old Red Sandstone, with deep gullies etched by post-glacial run-off. They're accessed from the minor roads above Lismore.
 * is the geographical oddity known as a "pene-enclave". It's a tract of farmland that is part of County Waterford, but connected only by a farm gate between diagonally-set fields and otherwise surrounded by County Cork. A public lane skims the south edge of it, but the boundary isn't signposted and there's nothing to see.

Understand
The tribal domains of southwest Ireland coalesced in the Iron Ages into the Kingdom of Munster. Especially in the low-lying terrain around Waterford, there were harbours and navigable rivers that brought outside influence - and not just from overseas. In an age when overland travel was quagmire-cum-nightmare, early missionaries such as St Declan and St Patrick came by sea, christianising the Déise - the local Celtic tribe - from the 5th century. The Vikings came to raid, but why grab a pig and rush back to sea when you could take permanent possession of this fertile land? So they settled all the way up the navigable River Suir, founding Veðrafjǫrðr - Waterford - in the 9th century. Their settlement 5 km further upriver may have been even more significant but there's nothing left there.

In medieval times the Normans increasingly controlled Ireland - and Waterford was easier to reach by sea from England than much of Great Britain. They divided the country into shires, which evolved into the present-day counties, though it would be another 700 years before the administrative focus shifted from weapon-takes and harsh justice to bin collections and library vans. Meanwhile a series of barons grew and became over-mighty, warring with each other and with London authority. The Desmond dynasty was troublesome into the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but was then beaten and their lands handed over to staunch Protestants. One beneficiary was soldier-of-fortune Sir Walter Raleigh, who became a major landowner around Lismore and Youghal. He in turn overstepped, to be deposed and executed once a Catholic monarch again ruled England. He sold off his estates to the Earl of Cork, whose son Robert Boyle the physicist and chemist was born at Lismore Castle.

Waterford grew into a large city with trade in Georgian and Victorian times, but was limited by its twisty narrow river channel - very difficult to navigate under sail, so Dunmore served as the port until steam-powered iron vessels were developed. The county remained agricultural, with little industry, though there was copper mining towards Dungarvan, and its glass-making (Waterford Crystal) lasted until 2009. That meant that agricultural slumps hit the area hard - the Great Famine of 1845-1849 being the worst of several. But for the wealthy few, it was an agreeable place for building grand mansion houses with the lucre they'd acquired elsewhere. Many of these stately homes and gardens can be visited: the IRA burned down as many as it could both before and after Irish independence, but some were re-built while others are picturesque ruins. Waterford also earned a special place in the history of travel in July 1985 when a 15-seater turboprop first juddered into its skies towards London Gatwick. It was a mere side-hustle for the aviation business of Tony Ryan (1936-2007), but it's now Ryanair.

Get in
Dublin is usually the best airport to fly into, for its range of flights and good onward transport. You might also fly into Cork or Shannon and hire a car. Waterford Airport has no commercial flights.

Direct trains run from Dublin Heuston via Newbridge, Kildare, Athy, Carlow, Bagenalstown, Kilkenny and Thomastown to Waterford, taking 2 hr 15 min. There are seven M-Sa and four on Sunday.

Two trains run M-Sa from Limerick Junction (for Cork, Limerick and Dublin) via Tipperary, Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir to Waterford.

Expressway Bus 4 runs every hour or two from Dublin Airport, taking 3 hours to Waterford via Dublin Busáras and Heuston, Carlow and Thomastown.

Expressway Bus 55 runs daily every two hours from Limerick via Tipperary, Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir to Waterford.

Expressway Bus 40 runs hourly from Cork via Youghal and Dungarvan to Waterford, and continues to Wexford and Rosslare Harbour, for ferries to Wales and the Continent.

By road from Dublin, take M9 for Waterford and the east of the county. For Lismore, Ardmore and the west, you could take M8 to Cahir then the scenic road over the hills.

Get around
You need a car. Public transport is sparse even between the main towns, and non-existent in the countryside where many of the sights of interest are found.

See individual towns for Local Link bus services. They're generally too sparse for visitors, but a few are practical options, such as the Dungarvan-Ardmore bus.

See

 * Waterford's medieval museum is a stand-out.
 * Pleasant beach resorts are Dunmore East and Tramore. Ardmore beach is polluted, but the Round Tower and religious ruins are worth the trip.
 * Stately mansions and gardens are dotted around the county, with a rich collection near Lismore. As well as its castle and gardens, the Ballyswaggartmore Towers illustrate what happens when you spend more on your gate lodge than a multi-millionaire would spend on the mansion itself, and Dromona Gate is what happens if you recreate Brighton Pavilion on an Irish country lane.

Do

 * What's on? Listen to WLR FM on 95.1 / 97.5 / 94.8 MHz or read Waterford News & Star or Munster Express.
 * Hillwalking in the Comeragh and Knockmealdown Mountains. They're mostly in the 500-700 m range and not technically demanding, but often wet and muddy.
 * Deise Greenway runs for 46 km along an old railway track bed between Waterford and Dungarvan. Near the city it passes Mount Congreve, and runs alongside the heritage WSV narrow-gauge railway. Further west are a series of impressive viaducts and a tunnel.
 * The coastal resorts have boat charters for angling and sight-seeing. There's also river angling in season.
 * Gaelic games: the County GAA plays hurling and Gaelic football in Waterford and occasionally in Dungarvan. There are almost 50 club teams across the county.

Eat

 * A blaa is a floury bread bun unique to this region; it's a protected geographical name under EU law. They're similar to baps, but square, softer and more doughy. Soft blaas are slightly sweet and malty and dissolve in the mouth, crusty blaas are crunchy at first bite, then chewy within. A breakfast blaa might contain egg, bacon or sausage. They need to be eaten fresh-baked, they don't keep, which doesn't fit with modern mass production and delivery. Only three bakeries still produce blaas by the traditional method: Walsh's Bakehouse and Hickey's Bakery in Waterford, and Barron's Bakery in Cappoquin near Lismore. Kilmacow Bakery on the outskirts of Waterford but in County Kilkenny is no longer active in 2020; blaas used also to be made in Wexford. "Blaa" may derive from blanc and the legend goes that they were introduced by the Huguenots in the 17th century, however white flour was uncommon in that era.
 * Waterford has the best selection of restaurants, including Japanese and upmarket French.
 * Beyond the city, Tannery in Dungarvan is the stand-out.
 * Mostly it's a choice of bar food or the local golf hotel.

Drink

 * All the towns have bars, or try the hotels.
 * Ballinalira on N25 south from Dungarvan had a mass grave for victims of the Famine. And so many grave-diggers and body-carts were needed, they had to build a pub An Seanachai to serve them all. It's still serving.
 * Metalman Brewing Co in Waterford produces an off-beat selection of beers; no tours.
 * Dungarvan has a brewery producing Black Rock Stout and other ales, which you can tour.
 * There's a distillery in Waterford and another near Lismore, with tours available.

Stay safe
Standard advice about road safety, protecting valuables, and dressing for the weather. On the water, never underestimate the power of the Atlantic.

Go next

 * County Cork where Cork itself is a lively place.
 * County Kilkenny has prehistoric ruins, old castles, and fields as green as any in Ireland.
 * County Limerick has a remarkable range, from prehistoric Lough Gur to medieval castles and the cosmopolitan city of Limerick.
 * County Tipperary highlights are Cahir with its river island castle, Cashel religious complex, and the Vale of Aherlow.
 * County Wexford has a sweeping coastline and historic small towns.

title: County Waterford


text:
County Westmeath

County Westmeath (Contae na hIarmhí) is in the East Coast and Midlands region of Ireland, and historically part of the kingdoms of Meath and of Leinster. It's about 90 min travel northwest of Dublin.

Towns

 * the county town is near Lough Ennell, where Belvedere House has a dark history.
 * is a crossing point on the Shannon, with a castle and twin-spired church.
 * has a whiskey distillery you can tour.

Understand
From the 1st to the 12th century AD, the Kingdom of Meath (Mide, meaning "middle") was a broad belt from the Shannon to the east coast of Ireland. Then the Normans arrived and began to subdue the Gaelic kingdoms and parcel the land into shires or counties. Meath was absorbed into the vassal kingdom of Leinster, to re-emerge as County Meath. In 1543 this was subdivided into an eastern part very much under Tudor English control and becoming the modern County Meath, and a western part that had remained more Gaelic. This "Westmeath" contained what is now County Longford, but that became separate in 1586, leaving County Westmeath on its present footprint. Local government reforms in 1898 completed the transition from wopentakes and baronial demesnes into the 20th-century governance of county road building, libraries and schools.

Westmeath is lowland and agricultural, with easy transport to Dublin. As if it didn't have enough water courses, early in the 19th century the Royal Canal came through to link Dublin to the Shannon, with the similar Grand Canal further south. Like the rest of Ireland there was major loss of population in the wake of the 19th-century famines, and from the slower but inexorable process of farm mechanisation. By 2022 the county population had rebuilt to 96,000, concentrated in the towns, with the countryside thinly populated. Water activities on the rivers and lakes are the main tourist attraction.

There are tourust information centres in Mullingar and Athlone, and the county agency is Visit Westmeath, which promotes the area as part of "Ireland's Hidden Heartlands".

Get in
Dublin Airport is closest, and usually the best choice for its range of flights and good onward transport.

Trains from Dublin Connolly run via Drumcondra and Maynooth to Mullingar. They continue northwest to Longford, Dromod, Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle, Ballymote and Sligo.

Trains from Dublin Heuston run via Portarlington, Tullamore and Clara to Athlone. They either continue west via Athenry to Galway, or northwest to Roscommon, Castlebar and Westport.

To Athlone, Bus Éireann and City Link compete on the route from Dublin Airport and city centre, taking 90 min (some stopping at Kilbeggan and Moate) and continuing west to Galway.

Athlone also has buses once or twice a day from Waterford via Kilkenny, Carlow, Port Laoise and Tullamore, and from Monaghan via Clones, Cavan Town, Longford and Ballymahon.

To Mullingar, quickest is Expressway Bus 22 / 23, taking 90 min from Dublin city and airport, Lucan and Maynooth. These continue to Longford whence Bus 23 runs to Dromod, Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle and Sligo, while Bus 22 heads west to Ballina. There's also a slower Bus Éireann 115 from Dublin via Lucan, Maynooth, Kilcock, Enfield and Kinnegad to Mullingar.

By road follow N4 / M4 to Kinnegad, then take either N4 for Mullingar or M6 for Kilbeggan, Moate and Athlone.

Get around
There are two separate transport routes across the county, with poor interconnection: the bus between Mullingar and Athlone only runs twice a day. The two railway lines start from different Dublin stations so you don't even have the option of backtracking. The lakes and rural sites have next-to-no public transport. So you need wheels to get around: the terrain is lowland and a bike would do.

See

 * Castles: Athlone has the stoutest in Westmeath, as it was rebuilt in the Napoleonic era but never again assaulted.
 * Churches: the finest are Cathedral of Christ the King in Mullingar, and St Peter & Paul in Athlone.
 * Stately mansions: see Belvedere near Mullingar and Tullynally (grounds only) north of Mullingar.

Do

 * Gaelic games: Westmeath GAA play football and hurling in Mullingar. There are 45 GAA clubs across the county.
 * Greenway is a hiking and cycling trail along the former railway from Mullingar to Athlone. It's 40 km via Castletown and Moate.
 * Water sports: Lough Ree above Athlone and Lough Ennell near Mullingar are the main recreation areas.

Eat

 * Athlone has the best selection, with Thai, Lebanese, Italian, modern Irish and other choices.
 * Cheap eats and fast food in many places; beyond the two main towns, pub grub is usually your best choice.

Drink

 * Sean's Bar in Athlone is the oldest pub in Ireland, and possibly the world, being reliably dated to 900 AD.
 * Kilbeggan Distillery makes whiskey and offers tours.

Go next

 * County Longford further upriver is a quiet rural place, with prehistoric sites at Corlea, Aughnacliffe and elsewhere.
 * County Roscommon west of the Shannon is where the country turns wilder. Take in Boyle before heading on to Sligo.
 * County Offaly south has the distillery town of Tullamore, Georgian Birr, and the stand-out monastic site of Clonmacnoise.
 * County Meath is mostly suburban or industrial, but it has a remarkable cluster of sites: Trim for the castle, Kells and other ruined abbeys, Brú Na Bóinne Archaeological Park, and Loughcrew Cairns near Oldcastle.

title: County Westmeath


text:
County Wexford

County Wexford (Irish: Contae Loch Garman) is in Southeast Ireland, and historically part of the province of Leinster. Its coast is lined by long sandy beaches and by caravan parks. Inland is a rich heritage, especially of medieval times and of the rebellion of 1798.

Towns

 * the county town was founded as a Viking port.
 * is a seaside resort and ferry port.
 * was a centre of the 1798 rebellion.
 * is a tiny village that was once capital of Leinster. It has a cluster of medieval ruins.
 * is a small market town; its main attraction is the beach resort of Courtown.
 * is near the JFK arboretum and family homestead.
 * is near Tintern Abbey.
 * is a fishing village on the south coast, with boat trips to Great Saltee Island.

Other destinations

 * at 793 m / 2605 ft is the highest of the Blackstairs Mountains, which form the boundary to the west with County Carlow - see Enniscorthy for walking routes.
 * is the largest of the little islands around the coast, and the only one routinely visited by boat trips.

Understand
County Wexford forms the southeast corner of Ireland, where the coast turns from the Irish Sea to face the Atlantic. It's low-lying and fertile, less boggy than elsewhere, so it was settled from early times: there are many remnants of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Long stretches of sandy beach, which nowadays draw the day-trippers and the caravan parks, for earlier arrivals meant you could land a small boat almost anywhere. So it was well-connected to the rest of Ireland and to England: in the 5th century it was one of the first areas to become Christian. Wexford and Carlow comprised the Gaelic kingdom of Uí Ceinnselaig (Kinsella) who at times ruled all of Leinster, with their capital at Ferns. From the 8th century the Vikings raided then settled around Wexford town, and the first Norman beachhead in 1169 was near Fethard-on-Sea. The Normans laid out the present pattern of counties or shires in Ireland, and this was entrenched under the Tudors.

This led to a colonial era where a few incomers enjoyed wealth and political power at the expense of the native majority. A major uprising in 1641 established an independent Irish Confederation, smashed by Cromwell in 1652. County Wexford had only minor involvement in the Williamite Wars of the 17th / 18th century, but it was central to the 1798 rebellion of United Irishmen. This became known as "The Year of the French", though the French incursion was only a brief coda when the main rebellion was already crushed. But of all the lurid events of that year, the aspect seared into establishment minds was that of the French (who'd beheaded their own king and aristocracy) marching unchecked for 11 days across County Mayo, with a raggle-taggle band of Irish rebels flocking to join them.

The Society of United Irishmen sought to bring together Catholics and Protestants, and to free and reform Ireland along the lines of republican France and the United States. They tried but soon despaired of constitutional methods of reform. Outright rebellion broke out in May 1798, but its centre in Dublin collapsed at the outset, and it was soon quelled in other counties. Its main success was in County Wexford - by the end of May the rebels held the entire county and proclaimed a revolutionary republic. Now it only remained to liberate the rest of Ireland. On 5 June 1798 they assaulted New Ross and captured it for a few hours, then were driven back with great slaughter. On 9 June they attacked Arklow but were repulsed by gunfire. They retreated to Wexford as government troops converged upon them. Their last stand was on Vinegar Hill in Enniscorthy on 21 June. Even then, many escaped through a gap in the surrounding forces, but thereafter they could only mount pinprick attacks, and inexorably they were hunted down. The long-promised French support only arrived in Aug 1798, landing in County Mayo. It had unexpected success, brushing aside opposition, but 12 days later was encircled. The French surrendered while their Irish comrades were cut down by British bayonets. A last French landing attempt was at Lough Swilly in Donegal in October, but it was trounced by the Royal Navy, and the rebel leader Wolfe Tone was captured. Perhaps some 10,000 died in the course of the rebellion, and with them died the vision of United Irishmen. Future resistance to Britain, and interpretation of the events of 1798, was along sectarian lines, developing the fault line that would eventually sunder Ireland.

Get in
Five trains a day run from Dublin Connolly via Dún Laoghaire, Bray, Wicklow Town, Rathdrum and Arklow to Gorey, Enniscorthy, Wexford, Rosslare Strand and Rosslare Europort the ferry terminal. The line between Rosslare and Waterford was axed in 2010.

Rosslare Europort has daily ferries from Pembroke and Fishguard in Wales, taking about four hours. In summer there are also ferries from Cherbourg, Roscoff and Bilbao, but these didn't sail in 2020.

There's competition on the bus route from Dublin: Expressway and Wexford Bus both run hourly from Dublin Airport and city centre via Arklow to Gorey, Enniscorthy and Wexford.

A cross-country bus runs from Rosslare Europort to Wexford, New Ross, Waterford, Cork, Killarney and Tralee.

By road from Dublin follow N11 / M11 along the coast.

Get around
Train is the best option for anywhere along the Dublin-Europort line, with stops at Rosslare Strand, Wexford, Enniscorthy and Gorey.

Bus is a good option for anywhere along the route from Dublin (eg to Ferns, which doesn't have trains) or the cross-country route to Waterford (eg to New Ross). Beyond that is a sparse service of rural and Local Link buses. You need your own wheels to get around the many outlying places, especially on Hook Peninsula. The county is low-lying and the distances aren't great, so cycling is an option.

See

 * John F Kennedy Arboretum south of New Ross commemorates JFK, and the nearby homestead was the Kennedy ancestral home.
 * The Famine Ship in New Ross is a replica of a sailing ship that carried many away to North America.
 * Ferns medieval ruins include a castle, cathedral and abbey.
 * The Irish National Heritage Park is at Ferrycarrig 3 km west of Wexford.
 * Johnston Castle has a lavish interior, gardens and the Irish Agricultural Museum. It's 5 km south of Wexford.
 * The museum of the 1798 rebellion is in Enniscorthy where the rebels made their last stand.
 * Tintern Abbey near Fethard-on-Sea was staffed by Cistercian monks from the better-known Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire.
 * Hook Head is the scenic peninsula below Fethard.
 * Islands lie off the coast, while others (eg Bannow) have become fused to the mainland. Boat trips from Kilmore Quay visit Great Saltee, a nature reserve.

Do

 * Beaches: the best are at Courtown near Gorey, Curracloe near Wexford, several near Rosslare (Strand, St Helens Bay and Carne), and Duncannon to the west with Booley Bay and Doller Bay.
 * Go to the races: Wexford Racecourse 2 km west of town centre has jumps racing. Enniscorthy has greyhound racing two evenings a week.
 * Watch Gaelic games: county GAA teams play Gaelic football and hurling in Wexford. There are almost 50 club sides across the county.
 * The Wicklow Way is a 131 km walking trail from Dublin to Clonegal on the boundary with County Carlow. The southern sections of the trail are lowland and pastoral, yet feel more away-from-it-all than the touristy mountain sections further north near the city.

Eat

 * Strawberries are a county specialty, ripening earlier here.
 * Wexford has the widest selection of cuisine. La Côte has excellent seafood, but there's also Schnitzel Haus, a Ramen outlet, Thai and South Indian.
 * The Duck, within Marlfield House in Gorey, is probably the county's top restaurant.
 * Bar and hotel food may be your best bet anywhere elsewhere. The beach resorts have the usual cheap and cheerful offerings.

Drink

 * In Wexford, two long-time favourites are Thomas Moore Tavern and The Sky And The Ground.
 * In Enniscorthy, try Holohan's and Antique Tavern.
 * In New Ross, sup in the historic Tholsel.
 * There are two breweries in Wexford and one in Courtown near Gorey. There's no whiskey distillery in the county, but gin is produced near Enniscorthy.

Stay safe

 * As it's lowland, natural hazards are few, but safety on water always needs care.
 * Mind the traffic, and don't leave valuables on display in parked cars.

Go next

 * County Carlow is rolling pasture, stud farms, and (in a land where the bar is set high) one helluva bog.
 * County Kilkenny is picture-perfect rural Ireland, centred on the marble city of Kilkenny.
 * County Waterford has Viking, medieval and Georgian heritage in Waterford city, and castles and mansions aplenty.
 * County Wicklow is a ridge of mountains with cascading waterfalls, the monastic complex of Glendalough, and great mansions and gardens on the outskirts of Dublin.

title: County Wexford


text:
County Wicklow

County Wicklow (Irish: Contae Chill Mhantáin) is a mountainous region of Ireland's East Coast and Midlands, historically part of the province of Leinster. It's just south of Dublin so it combines ease of access with outstanding scenery. It's often called "the Garden of Ireland" — and does have several fine gardens — but it's more like the recreation park of Dublin.

Towns

 * has a pleasant sea front and the elegant house and gardens of Kilruddery.
 * has Powerscourt gardens and waterfall.
 * is on the Wicklow Way hiking route.
 * is Wicklow's must-see, an extensive medieval monastic complex in a scenic valley.
 * is close to two fine botanic gardens.
 * has an interesting maritime museum.
 * is where Avoca linen and knitwear is produced; you can tour the mills.
 * is dominated by the Poulaphouca reservoir lake and by grand Russborough House.
 * has a striking ruined abbey, and the Rathcoran passage grave and hill fort.

Understand
County Wicklow is dominated by its chain of mountains and by its proximity to Dublin. The mountains are granite, uplifted 400 million years ago, and polished by glaciation into rounded tops. These have poor soil and drainage and are coated in heath and bog. Lugnaquilla rises to 925 m but most summits are around 600 m, more like hills. There are extensive conifer plantations which are gradually being replaced with mixed native trees. Much of the uplands are within Wicklow Mountains National Park, which preserves them from an encrustation of weekend cottages. The hills and valleys are scenic and are very popular with day-trippers from the city, as are the top sights of Glendalough and Powerscourt.

The coastal towns are part of Dublin's commuter belt, and Bray is on the DART suburban railway. Elsewhere is green and pastoral, especially west of the mountains. The southwest of the county is short of accommodation so you might consider staying in Tullow or Carlow just over the boundary.

The climate is mild similar to Dublin, but wetter. Wicklow Town on the coast averages 930 mm of rainfall annually, but the mountains get double that.

Wicklow is not part of the Gaeltacht and English is the primary language; you'll hear exotic languages from the many tourists.

Visit Wicklow is an online directory of accommodation and other amenities.

Get in
See Dublin for Dublin Airport  and the ferry port. There are direct buses from the airport to Bray and to Arklow; for other places in Wicklow travel into central Dublin for onward public transport. See also Rosslare for ferries from Wales.

By train
Trains run along the coast from Dublin Connolly station. Bray in the north of the county is within the Dublin transport area, with frequent DART trains via Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey, all for the standard Dublin flat fare. Four or five mainline trains per day continue south to Wicklow Town, Rathdrum and Arklow, then across County Wexford to Rosslare, which has ferries from Fishguard and Pembroke.

By bus
All the towns have a direct bus from Dublin city, and Bray and Arklow also have buses direct from the airport. See individual towns' "Get in" section for details, and note that the bus may not run from the central Busáras but from other stops around College Green.

One that may not show on conventional timetables is the privately operated St Kevin's Bus, which plies between Dublin, Bray, Roundwood and Glendalough twice daily. It's designed for day trips there, giving you four hours on site, but you can ride it as a point-to-point service, see Glendalough for details.

There's also a bus between Bray, Enniskerry and Powerscourt, and one across the hills from Naas to Glendalough and Wicklow Town, but otherwise no cross-country buses beyond the radial routes from the city. If you don't have your own transport, consider taking a day excursion. Bus Éireann and other operators run trips to all the major sights, including Powerscourt, Glendalough, Avoca and the scenic roads through the mountains.

By road
M11 / N11 connects Dublin, the Wicklow coast towns and Rosslare ferry port; N81 runs down the west of the county from Dublin to Blessington and onward to County Carlow and Wexford. They're good roads and your main task is to avoid rush hour.

In between are the Wicklow mountains, with no public transport. Roads are well-surfaced but twisty and narrow: some scenic routes are described below. They can be congested especially on fine weekends when the city empties out.

Get around

 * Most public transport routes start in Dublin, see above.
 * Horse-drawn caravans Romany-style are available for one or two day hires from Clissman Caravans.

See

 * Glendalough is a must-see and needs a full day to explore, a scenic valley with an extensive complex of medieval monastic buildings.
 * Gardens: top gardens routinely open to the public are Kilruddery near Bray, Powerscourt at Enniskerry, Mount Usher and Kilmacurragh near Wicklow Town, and Russborough near Blessington, which also has the two Blake gardens. Several more are occasionally open in summer through the Wicklow Gardens Festival.
 * Russborough House near Blessington is a grand Palladian mansion with a big-name art collection.
 * The Pyramid: did you ever get suckered into an Egyptian excursion that made an interminable stop at a tourist-trap gift shop then hurried your visit to the Pyramids? Some excursions of Glendalough and Powerscourt make a big thing of visiting the Avoca outlet shops, and most of them miss out the Pyramid entirely. It's 2 km north of Arklow, walking distance from the train and bus stations. There isn't a Sphinx, but given the astonishing discoveries they've made in Ireland's bogs, that's perhaps only a matter of time.
 *  Wicklow Gaol was notorious in the 19th century.
 * Rathgall Hill Fort on the southwest county boundary is easiest reached from Tullow, 5 km west in County Carlow.

Scenic drives

 * The Military Road is a north-south switchback road along the mountain chain, badged R115 for much of its length. It starts at Brookwood in the south suburbs of Dublin: the closest M50 access is junction 12, turn east along Scholarstown Road for a km to pick up R115. It climbs into the hills past Hell Fire Club, where debauchery and demonic manifestations are not what they used to be in the rip-roaring days of 1735-41. The road descends into Glencree, where a lane branches east to Powerscourt, then with Kippure to the west it climbs to the crossroads and pass of Sally Gap, see below. Continuing south it twists and turns along the flank of Mullaghcleevaun to Laragh near Glendalough. R115 ends here but the military road continues as a lane up Glenmalure then skirting the south shoulder of the hills at Aughavannagh. Descending to pastoral lowlands, the lane runs on west to Baltinglass.
 * is the mountain pass at the crossroads of R759 and R115, but the term has come to mean the entire scenic road east-west through the mountains. From the east R759 starts near Roundwood and passes the corrie lake of Lough Tay, the usual start point for climbing Luggala. The "Gap" is the crest of the ridge at 503 m / 1650 ft, with Kippure looming to the north and Gravale and Duff Hill to the south. Descending west on R759 you pass watery bog and boggy water as the ditches and runnels coalesce into the headwaters of the Liffey. Kippure Bridge is worth a photo; Kippure Lodge is used for events but doesn't have hotel facilities. Lower down the land becomes pastoral; the road heads northwest to meet N81 north of Blessington, while the river curls southwest to flow into Poulaphouca reservoir lake.
 * further south is likewise the top of a pass at 475 m (1558 ft), but loosely applies to the scenic road R756. Westbound this starts from Laragh and passes the monastic complex at Glendalough, then climbs Glendasan. There are two car parks near the crest from where you can climb Turlough Hill and Camaderry to the south, or just stroll round the little corrie lake at their foot, or climb Tonelagee to the north. The road then descends into the valley of King's River, with St Kevin's Way hiking trail parallel. Stay on R756 to reach Hollywood or turn north on R758 by the lake shore to reach Blessington.

Do

 * What's on? Listen to East Coast FM on 94.9 / 96.2 / 99.9 / 102.9 FM or read Wicklow Times.
 * Golf: the countryside is studded with golf courses with great scenery, all the towns have one or two nearby. Powerscourt at Enniskerry is the big name but there are at least two dozen more where you can lose your ball in a gorse thicket for a tenth of what you'd pay for the privilege at Powerscourt.
 * Beaches: the best stretch is Brittas Bay south of Arklow.
 * St Kevin's Way is a 26- to 30-km hiking trail across the mountains from around Blessington up King's River valley to cross the mountains at Wicklow Gap then descend the Glendasan valley to Glendalough. The route is seldom far from R756.
 * The Wicklow Way is a 131-km hiking trail across the Wicklow Mountains. It's traditionally walked north to south over 5-7 days, from Marlay Park in Dublin through County Wicklow to Clonegal in County Carlow, but you can do sections any way you please. There are slithery bits but much of it is firm track through forest plantations.
 * Climbing: the U-shaped mountain valleys have rock-climbs for all levels of ability. The upper valley of Glendalough is a popular site.
 * Hill-walking: popular peaks include:
 * - Mullaghcleevaun at 849 m (2785 ft) is climbed from the southeast, from Oasis car park on R115 above Laragh. It can be combined with Duff Hill (720 m), Gravale (718 m) and Carrigvore (682 m) before descending into Sally Gap.
 * - Tonelagee at 817 metres (2680 ft) can be climbed from the west, straight up the shoulder from R756, but the more scenic usual route is from Glenmacnass waterfall car park on R115 above Laragh.
 * - Luggala at 595 m (1952 ft) is climbed from the car park on R759, the road from Roundwood towards Sally Gap.
 * - Djouce at 725 m (2379 ft) has the advantage of a boardwalk approach along the Wicklow Way, either from Enniskerry to the north or more usually from the south above Roundwood: use either Ballinastoe Wood or JB Malone car parks off R759.
 * - Lugnaquilla at 925 m (3035 ft) is the highest peak in the county. Climb it from Fenton's pub in Glen of Imaal via Camarahill (13 km, 4 hr, but this route crosses an army training range and you must check firing times in advance); or from Baravore in Glenmalure (15 km, 5 hr); or less often from Aghavannagh Bridge up the Ow valley and the "South Prison" (16 km, 6 hr if you successfully make your escape).
 * - Sunday afternoon strolls are Kippure above Enniskerry, Bray Head, Great Sugar Loaf south of Bray, and Devil's Glen northeast of Wicklow Town.

 * Gaelic games: the County GAA play Gaelic football and hurling at the County Grounds in Aughrim. There are some 35 club teams across the county.

Eat

 * Excellent spots to eat are Brass Fox, Tinakilly and Chester Beatty Inn all in Wicklow Town, Roundwood Inn in Roundwood, Strawberry Tree in Aughrim, Johnnie Fox's on the Enniskerry / County Dublin boundary, Hungry Monk in Greystones and The Meetings in the valley above Avoca near Arklow.

Drink

 * Top pubs are Harbour Bar and Porterhouse in Bray, Johnnie Fox's above Enniskerry, and Bridge Tavern in Wicklow Town.
 * Powerscourt Distillery is by the gardens, and Glendalough Distillery is in Newtown 10 km north of Wicklow Town.
 * And then there's the water. Wicklow's teeming rain is captured in reservoirs at Roundwood (commended by Bloom in James Joyce's Ulysses) and at Blessington (where Bloom suffered adolescent yearnings), and piped to Dublin.

Sleep

 * Top-rated hotels are Powerscourt at Enniskerry, Strand Hotel in Bray, Tinakilly and Hunter's Hotel in Wicklow Town, and Tulfarris Hotel at Blessington (which also has yurts, otherwise uncommon in Wicklow).
 * See Wicklow Mountains National Park website for rules on wild camping.

Go next

 * County Dublin for the city of course, but don't neglect seaside towns such as Dún Laoghaire or Howth, or the castle at Malahide.
 * County Wexford: Wexford town has an interesting old harbour, and the county is better stocked with castles and beaches than Wicklow.
 * County Kildare is all about golf and horse-racing, but they also have the Japanese Gardens and a palatial mansion house.

title: County Wicklow


text:
Coupeville

The Victorian seaport community of Coupeville, one of the oldest towns in Washington, is on Whidbey Island. It is part of Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve which encompasses a mixture of federal, state, county and private property, all managed in a way that preserves its historic essence. Also included are two state parks: Fort Casey and Fort Ebey and the Central Whidbey Island Historic District.

By public transit

 * The main bus stops in Coupeville are:
 * on S Main St & SR-20

Camping
Camping on Whidbey Island is limited, with sites most readily available in the spring and fall:

title: Coupeville


text:
Courchevel

Courchevel is a city in Savoie, France.

Understand
The most chic alpine resort in France, Courchevel features 11 luxury five stars hotels, 6 restaurants awarded with the Michelin star, jet-set and royal clientele, luxury boutiques, exceptional SPAs in the heart of the 3 Valleys, the world's largest ski domain, with of trails and slopes and 198 lifts.

By plane
The nearest major airport is in Geneva, away, but there are regular flights to the smaller airport of Chambery and also many visitors fly to Lyon or Grenoble. It is also possible to fly into the resort by private plane or helicopter although the airport is one of the most dangerous in the world.

By train
The closest railway station is in Moûtiers, around away.

Get around
There are numerous transfer companies offering shared and private transfers to Courchevel. One small friendly firm is TheSkiBug, but you can also get the Eurostar to Moûtiers or one of the coach services to the area.

Do
Courchevel is a ski resort, so it is recommended that you do ski - there are many slopes for all abilities and it is part of 'Les 3 vallées', a group of ski resorts consisting also of Meribel and Val Thorens, so if you are bored of the slopes in Courchevel, you could always ski there!

Eat
Courchevel has some amazing restaurants and is a foodies paradise! A few highly recommended options:

Cheap eats - Chez La Gaulois for great value cheesy sandwiches, Chrome Bar in La Tania for cheap burger meal deals, The Black Pearl in St Bon does amazing pizzas.

Mid range - The Boulotte in 1650 for great pub grub (including Katie's infamous falafels), Bouc Blanc at the top of the La Tania bubble for great value lunches on the mountain, Petit Savoyard for great pizzas and fondues.

Top range - The Azimut in Le Praz is amazing. Michelin starred food without the fussy cold service. Highly recommended.

Excited to see what Copina have to offer? A sister restaurant to the Spanish tapas bar in Méribel, it will be great to have some different cuisine on offer in the valley.

title: Courchevel