400 Best Sights in Ireland

Between the River Vartry and the road to Dublin stands the Protestant church, which incorporates various unusual details: a Romanesque door, 12th-century stonework, fine pews, and an atmospheric graveyard. The church is topped by a copper, onion-shape cupola, added as an afterthought in 1771.

Take a 4-km (2½-mile) detour off the N70 Ring of Kerry road to visit Staigue Fort. Approximately 2,500 years old, the mortar-free stone fort is almost circular and about 75 feet in diameter, with a single south-side entrance. From the Iron Age (from 500 BC to the 5th century AD) and early Christian times (6th century AD), such "forts" were, in fact, fortified homesteads for several families of one clan and their cattle. The walls at Staigue Fort are almost 13 feet thick at the base and 7 feet thick at the top; they still stand 18 feet high on the north and west sides. Within them, stairs lead to narrow platforms on which the lookouts stood.

Private land must be crossed to reach the fort, and a "compensation for trespass" of €1 is often requested by the landowner.

The site has free parking and is freely accessible, but it has no facilities.

This museum covers the history of Irish steam engines, handsome machines used both in industry and agriculture—for churning butter or threshing corn, for example. There's also a fun collection of model locomotives. Engineers are present on "live steam days" every Sunday and on bank holidays. The adjoining Lodge Park Walled Garden is included in the price and is open year-round for a leisurely summer stroll.

Perhaps the town's most notable historic sight is this 3,000-year-old monument that dates from the early Bronze Age. Sometimes called the Druid Circle, it is within five minutes' walk of the village square (head down Market Street in front of the tourist office). It consists of 15 large stones arranged in a circle around a huge central boulder, which marks a rare Bronze Age burial site.

The highlight of a trip to Strokestown in County Roscommon is the Irish National Famine Museum in the stable yard of Strokestown Park House. The museum tells the story of the devastating Irish potato blight in the 1840s, which is now regarded as one of the greatest social disasters in 19th-century Europe. Two million people—about a quarter of the population of Ireland—either died or emigrated and their harrowing story is well worth exploring. Museum exhibits include original famine documents found during the restoration of the house; it's a remarkable contrast to the opulent surroundings of the Georgian Palladian mansion and its 6 acres of restored garden, which includes a fernery, rose garden, and lily pond representative of horticultural practices and garden architecture from the 1740s. The Strokestown Park House landlord, Major Denis Mahon, was assassinated in November 1847 at the height of the famine. A poignant glass memorial wall bears the names of 1,492 tenants from the estate who boarded famine ships to Quebec. Almost half died on their way to Canada. Guided tours of the house are held three times daily (at noon, 2:30, and 4 pm) in the main tourist season, and once in winter at 2 pm. During the early spring of 2021, an investment of more than €5 million transformed the famine museum using cutting-edge technology along with new projects and soundscapes. The money, provided by Fáilte Ireland, the Irish Heritage Trust, and the owners of Strokestown Park House, is part of the Hidden Heartlands scheme to attract more visitors to the Midlands. While the work is in progress, the museum and house will remain open as normal.

It is not possible to tour the house on your own---all visitors must join a guided tour.

One of the most pleasant villages of southern County Meath, Summerhill has a large square and a village green with a 15th-century cross.

While this state-of-the-art whiskey distillery in Dublin's historic Liberties neighborhood is relatively new, it's only a stone's throw from the 1782 site of the original Teelings. Part of the modern Irish renaissance in whiskey making, this pot-still operation offers one of the best and most inclusive whiskey tours in the country. You get to see the nuts and bolts of how the uisce beatha or "water of life" is made, and there's a delicious tasting waiting for you at the end. The little café out front is usually lively.

Price of tours vary greatly depending on the quality of the whiskey you will be tasting at the end.

This bank building has an 18th-century square granite edifice with a cupola. It now contains the tourist office.

With its distinctive clock tower and grand entrance portico, this limestone-marble building on Parliament Street stands on the site of the execution of poor Petronilla, the "witch" burned at the stake in the 14th century in lieu of her mistress, Dame Alice Le Kyteler. Built in 1761, burned down in 1985, and then completely rebuilt, Tholsel now houses the city's municipal archives and council offices. Musicians often busk in the portico, and city walking tours are sometimes allowed inside to explore. Adjacent to the Tholsel is Alice's Castle, a town jail rather grandly fitted out in 18th-century architectural ornamentation.

Thomond Park is a giant edifice to the city's passion for sport. It dominates the skyline with giant proportions that rise over its low valley backdrop. With a capacity of 26,000 people it attracts all the big rugby matches and high-profile performers like Pink, Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. Guests can take a tour to the innards of the stadium---the home of Munster Rugby---to discover significant milestones and the places normally only seen by players, officials, and artists. 

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.

Head onto Bellmullet's Shore Road to discover the Tidal Pool, a feat of engineering and imagination from the 1980s that facilitates an ocean swim without the incumbent risk to life that the Atlantic's strong currents usually pose. Two large concrete basins fill and ebb with the ocean's water at  high tide---one deep, the other shallow---offering hardy sorts an opportunity to swim or just soak in the waters of Blacksod Bay, depending on the tide, and within the confined space of a 20-meter pool. Of course, the ocean still can be hazardous with waves or sudden storms, so take precautions at all times.   

A mid-13th-century Franciscan abbey at the water's edge is Timoleague's most striking monument. The abbey was built before the estuary silted up, and its main business was the importing of wine from Spain. A tower and walls with Gothic-arch windows still stand, and you can trace the ground plan of the old friary—chapel, refectory, cloisters, and the extensive wine cellar. The English sacked the abbey in 1642, but like many other ruins of its kind it was used as a burial place until the late 20th century, hence the modern gravestones.

Walk around the back to find the entrance gate. The view of the sea framed by the structure's ruined Gothic windows is a don't-miss photo op.

This arts and culture center contains the local tourist office and the Tipperary Family History research center—a top spot for all those tracking down their Irish roots.

Cobh was the last port of call for the ocean liner Titanic. At 1:30 pm on April 11, 1912, tenders carried 123 passengers out to the ship from the offices of the White Star Line. These offices have now been converted into an interactive exhibition (cinema, holographs, touch-screen displays), allowing visitors to follow, literally, in the footsteps of the passengers as they embarked on the fateful voyage. Visitors assume the identity of one passenger and discover if that passenger survived at the end of the tour.

You reach this roaring, 65-foot-high cascade by a footpath that begins in the parking lot outside the gates of the Muckross Park, 8 km (5 miles) south of Killarney. After your first view of the Torc, which will appear after about a 10-minute walk, it's worth the climb up a long flight of stone steps to the second, less-frequented clearing.

Learn about the local brewing history from the 1700s and flavor process from master brewers in the heart of Limerick's medieval quarter. Treaty distributes Harris Pale Ale (named after Hollywood actor and local man Richard Harris), Thomond Red Ale, and Shannon River IPA to all the major pubs in Limerick City.  

If you want to understand Irish history in one small nugget---or rather, a giant limestone block overlooking the Shannon River and King John's Castle---then cross over to the Treaty Stone, close to the Curragower Restaurant. Limerick's nickname (the Treaty City) is derived from this monument, set upon a hefty, stepped plinth, the site where the Williamite-Jacobite War ended in 1691 after the last stand by supporters of King James at the end of the Siege of Limerick. After signing an agreement on the Treaty Stone that the Irish would be treated in a fair and dignified manner after their departure, Ireland's earls took flight to mainland Europe, leaving those remaining at the mercy of the conquerors. It didn't end well. 

The long-abandoned but still largely intact castle was once the largest Anglo-Norman fortress in Ireland. Trim Castle dominates present-day Trim from its 2½-acre site, which slopes down to the river's placid waters. Built by Hugh de Lacy in 1173, the castle was soon destroyed, then rebuilt from 1190 to 1220. The ruins include an enormous keep with 70-foot-high turrets flanked by rectangular towers. The outer castle wall is almost 500 yards long, and five D-shape towers survive. So impressive is the castle that it was used as a medieval backdrop in the movie Braveheart. You are free to roam the castle, but the admission price includes a house tour.

Drama from the world of nature, in the form of an amazing butterfly house, is on display at Alcorn's Tropical World and minizoo, near Letterkenny. You will also find an eclectic collection of lizards, lemurs, geckos, squirrel monkeys, bearded dragons, and even snakes—who said St. Patrick banished them all from Ireland’s fair shores? The addition of a Jurassic Land and a Bug World, as well as toucans, rainbow lorikeets, and a pair of cockatiels has brought added dimensions of color. There's a covered play area for children as well as a café and garden center.

It's hard to figure out which is more famous: Tullynally's storybook castle or the magical parklands that surround it. Tullynally—the name, literally translated, means "Hill of the Swans"—has been the home of 10 generations of the Pakenham family which has produced Elizabeth Longford (the well-known biographer of England's Queen Victoria) and Antonia Fraser---the best-selling biographer of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her brother Thomas, a historian, is the current earl but does not use the title. He inherited Tullynally from his uncle and has planted 90,000 trees.

As a result of an 18th-century "Gothicization," the former Georgian house was transformed into a faux castle by architect Francis Johnston. The resulting 600 feet of battlements were not just for show, as the earls vehemently opposed civil rights and the freedom for Catholics to vote and hold land in Ireland. The total circumference of the building's masonry adds up to nearly ½ km (¼ mile) and includes a motley agglomeration of towers, turrets, and crenellations that date from the first early fortified building (circa 1655) up through the mid-19th century, when additions in the Gothic Revival style went up one after another.

Today, more attention is given to the beautiful parkland, in part due to the passion of Thomas Pakenham, a tree-hugger extraordinaire who founded the Irish Tree Society in 1992 and authored several books. The estate's rolling parkland was laid out in 1760, much along the lines you see today, with fine rhododendrons, numerous trees (oak, ash, sycamore, Scots pine, beech, silver fir, larch, and spruce, among others), and two ornamental lakes. A walk through the grounds in front of the castle leads to a spacious flower garden, a pond, a grotto, and walled gardens. You'll also find a Tibetan garden, a Chinese garden, and a kitchen garden, one of the largest in Ireland, with a row of old Irish yew trees.

  Don't miss the forest path, which takes you around the perimeter of the parkland and affords excellent views of the romantic castle. After your walk, enjoy a visit to the Tullynally Tea Rooms in a renovated Georgian stable block, which serves lunches such as lasagna, quiche, and preconcert supper roasts.

Atop the cliff rising north of the village, the Turas Cholmcille pilgrimage takes place at midnight on June 9 each year, traditionally in bare feet. The three-hour route consists of stone cross pillars, natural features, and megalithic tombs, associated with St. Columba. Details on the mysterious stone cairns and pillars are available in the Glencolmcille Folk Village museum.

The Doric-porticoed gates of UCC stand about 2 km (1 mile) from the city center. The college, which has a student body of roughly 20,000, is a constituent of the National University of Ireland. The main quadrangle is a fine example of 19th-century university architecture in the Tudor-Gothic style, reminiscent of many Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Several ancient ogham stones are on display in the North Quadrangle (near the visitor center), and the renovated Crawford Observatory's 1860 telescope can be visited. The Honan Collegiate Chapel, east of the quadrangle, was built in 1916 and modeled on the 12th-century Hiberno-Romanesque style, best exemplified by the remains of Cormac's Chapel at Cashel. The UCC chapel's stained-glass windows, as well as its collection of art and crafts, altar furnishings, and textiles in the Celtic Revival style, are noteworthy. Three large, modern buildings have been successfully integrated with the old, including the Boole Library, named for mathematician George Boole (1815–64), who was a professor at the college, and whose bicentenary was celebrated in 2015. Both indoors and out the campus is enhanced by works of contemporary Irish art. The Lewis Glucksman Gallery, a striking new building adjacent to the college's entrance gates, displays works from the college's outstanding collection and hosts cutting-edge contemporary-art exhibitions.

Linked to the city by a river walk, the University of Limerick (UL) is a metropolis of redbrick buildings and wide-open spaces. Home of Ireland's first and only Olympic-sized swimming pool outside of the capital and the largest indoor sports complex, and, in keeping with its home base, it's the only university in the country to get five stars for its impressive sports facilities. The university's on-campus concert hall has attracted a wide range of performers from Johnny Cash  to Van Morrison over the years and its "Living Bridge"---a curving white feat of engineering---is the longest pedestrian bridge in Ireland, and it connects County Limerick to County Clare. Art lovers will appreciate the phenomenal collection of work in the Visual Art Collection in Plassey House. 

Ventry Beach (or Ventry Strand) is just southwest of the village of Ceann Trá (Ventry). This lovely stretch of golden sand, said by many to be one of Ireland's most beautiful beaches, runs for 8 km (5 miles) and is part of the Dingle Way walking route. There is a dune system with a small lake, wetlands, and a reed swamp, and abundant wildlife. In July and August it attracts families and swimmers. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (no fee); toilets; water sports. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking; windsurfing.

Among the town's landmarks is its long railway viaduct, which towers over the river. Built around 1850 as part of the railway line from Dublin to Belfast, it's still in use and is a splendid example of Victorian engineering. Its height above the River Boyne makes the viaduct Drogheda's most prominent landmark.

If you're strolling through Temple Bar and suddenly come upon a group of slack-jawed young people staring wide-eyed at a large wall, then you've probably stumbled upon the Wall of Fame. The whole front wall of the Button Factory music venue has become a massive tribute to the giants of Irish rock music. Twelve huge photos adorn the wall, including a very young and innocent U2, a very beautiful Sinead O'Connor, and a very drunk Shane McGowan.

One of Waterford's finest Georgian buildings, Waterford City Hall dates from 1783 and was designed by native son John Roberts. The arms of Waterford hang over the entrance, which leads into a spacious foyer that originally served as a town meeting place and merchants' exchange. The building contains an enormous 1802 Waterford glass chandelier, which hangs in the Council Chamber (a copy hangs in Independence Hall in Philadelphia). The Victorian horseshoe-shape Theatre Royal is the venue for the annual Festival of Light Opera in September.

Of the five fortified gateways through the Norman and Viking town walls, Westgate is the only one remaining. The early-13th-century tower has been sensitively restored. Keep an eye out as you wander this part of town for other preserved segments of the old town walls.