3 Best Sights in Coole Park, County Clare, Galway, and the Aran Islands

Kilmacduagh's 110-foot-high Round Tower, reputedly the tallest in the world, tilts 3 feet from the vertical over the monastery below. Arguably more impressive than the famous tower at Glendalough and without the backdrop of tour buses, Kilmacduagh is peaceful apart from the mournful lowing of cattle. The monastery was founded in the 7th century, but the tower, cathedral, churches, and abbot's home were built more than three centuries later. St. Colman, who founded the monastery, is buried behind the cathedral. Lying on his grave is believed to relieve back pain. The key to the site can be obtained across the street at the Tower View Guesthouse with a €5 deposit.

Coole Park was once the home of Lady Augusta Gregory (1859–1932), patron of W. B. Yeats and cofounder with the poet of Dublin's Abbey Theatre. Yeats visited here often, as did almost all the other writers who contributed to the Irish literary revival in the first half of the 20th century. The house became derelict after Lady Gregory's death and was demolished in 1941; the grounds are now a wildlife park with a herd of deer and 6 km (4 miles) of nature trails. Picnic tables make this a lovely alfresco lunch spot. There's also a visitor center with displays on Lady Gregory and W. B. Yeats. Don't miss the park's only reminder of its literary past, the Autograph Tree, a giant copper beech, on which many of Lady Gregory's famous guests carved their initials.

W. B. Yeats wrote some of his finest poetry, including "The Tower" and "The Winding Stair" in Thoor Ballylee, a small castle just an eight-minute drive from Gort. You can take the winding staircase that led the famous poet up to his writer's garret. A tablet with the words "I, the poet William Yeats, With old mill boards and sea-green slates, And smithy work from the Gort forge, Restored this tower for my wife George. And may these characters remain, When all is ruin once again" is mounted outside as a testament to the time he spent in his summer retreat. Fans of Hollywood's golden age will remember Maureen O'Hara's character, Mary Kate Danagher from John Ford's movie The Quiet Man (1952), rambling by the river at the foot of the tower house.

The tower house is susceptible to flooding so call ahead.