400 Best Sights in Ireland

Perched on the very edge of a Dingle Bay cliff, and set in the small district of Fahan (which is part of the larger township of Ventry), this small, well-weathered fort was an important Iron Age defensive promontory site, inhabited from about AD 800 until around 1200. It was badly damaged by storms in the winter of 2017-18, and it is unlikely full access will be restored, but you can still view it from above. Its drystone mound was defended against cattle raiders by four earthen rings—note the souterraine (underground) escape route, by the entrance. In addition, there are a number of archaeological artifacts here to interest the time traveler.

There is a 10-minute audiovisual show in the adjacent visitor center, but just as fascinating is the building itself, a modern replica of the drystone construction of the clocháns (pronounced "cluk-awns"), the famous prehistoric "beehive" cells first used by hermit monks in the early Christian period. Beside it is a typical naomhóg (pronounced "na-vogue"), a tarred canvas canoe, resting upside down.

About 1 km (½ mile) farther on is another parking lot, and an interesting group of clocháns can be visited (€3 fee to resident farmer), built of drystone and set on the southern slopes of Mt. Eagle looking out directly across the sea to Skellig Michael. Far from being only prehistoric relics, as the signposts claim, clocháns were being built until a century ago; wood was scarce and stone abounded, so you'll find more than 400 of them between Ceann Sléibhe and Dún Chaoin.

The Beara Peninsula was the cradle of the most powerful O'Sullivan clan, and the crumbling walls of Dunboy Castle that lie wasting away by the ocean shore just south of Castletownbere were once its stronghold. Of enormous historical significance, the castle was the last bastion of strength held by the O'Sullivan chieftain, Donal Cam O'Sullivan, until it was laid waste by Elizabethan forces shortly after the Battle of Kinsale in 1601. Almost the entire clan of mostly women and children perished in a massacre at a failed hideout on nearby Dursey Island in the aftermath, the rest along the 804-km (500-mile) infamous odyssey due north in a bid to safeguard the clan. This is now waymarked and coined the O'Sullivan Way or Beara-Breifne Way, and is Ireland's longest walking and cycling trail. It can start at either Dursey or Castletownbere. Keep an eye out for Dunboy's neighboring ruin, Puxley Manor, a Victorian Gothic manor that was subjected to a botched development project during Ireland's Celtic Tiger period---its fate is still undecided.

History, architecture, and nature merge in a happy commingling at Emo Court, a quintessential landmark of Irish Palladian elegance and a fine large-scale country house. The house is currently closed to the public---expected to reopen in 2023---although the extensive grounds may still be visited free of charge. The main drive is an avenue lined with magisterial Wellingtonia trees and it is a good introduction to one of Ireland's great treasure-house views. Built in the late 18th century and designed by architect James Gandon—it's thought to be his only domestic work matching the grand scale of his Dublin civic buildings such as the Custom House and the Four Courts. Construction continued on and off for 70 years, as family money troubles followed the untimely death of Emo's original patron and owner, the 1st Earl of Portarlington.

In 1994, stockbroker Cholmeley-Harrison donated Emo House to the Irish nation. The ground-floor rooms have already been beautifully restored and decorated and are prime examples of life on a grand scale. Among the highlights are the entrance hall, with trompe-l'oeil paintings in the apses on each side, and the library, which has a carved Italian-marble mantel. Emo's 55 acres of grounds include a 20-acre lake, lawns planted with yew trees, a small garden (the Clocker) with Japanese maples, and a larger one (the Grapery) with rare trees and shrubs. Other fabulous trees include the Bhutan Pine, the Handkerchief and Blue Atlas Cedar, while walnut trees provide a rich source of food for red squirrels foraging in the canopies. Three of the 10 Irish species of bats have been recorded here: Leisler's bat, the brown long-eared bat and the evocatively named Soprano pipistrelle.

Make time for a 3-km (2-mile) stroll around the attractive lake walkway, which includes two footbridges. Afterward, visit the tearoom serving tasty snacks and light lunches, and the gift shop.

In the café choose from Jeeve and Jericho, black loose tea with a perfumed aroma, or try the Laois Apple Juice, straight from Emo's own orchards.

These two brightly painted villages on the southern tip of the Beara Peninsula are regularly featured on tourism posters for their perfect, vernacular streetscapes---and dramatic settings. Allihies has an interesting mining backstory and pretty beach.  

The largest open space in central Galway and the arrival and departure point by train and bus, this is a favorite chill-out spot on a sunny day for students, visitors, and lunching locals. Eyre Square on the east side of the River Corrib incorporates a sculpture garden and children's play area, while its west side is bound by a heavily traveled road. In the center is Kennedy Park, a patch of lawn named in honor of John F. Kennedy, who spoke here when he visited the city in June 1963. At the north end of the park, a 20-foot-high steel sculpture standing in the pool of a fountain represents the brown sails seen on Galway hookers, the area's traditional sailing boats. Now a feature of Kennedy Park, the Browne Doorway was taken in 1905 from the Browne family's town house on Upper Abbeygate Street; it has the 17th-century coats of arms of both the Browne and Lynch families (two of Galway's 14 founding families).

These shocking but beautiful bronze sculptures by artist Rowan Gillespie portray a few wasted victims of the Great Famine stumbling desperately along a road in search of salvation. The location, on Custom House Quay, is particularly appropriate as many of the ships carrying survivors to the New World left from here. A matching set of sculptures can be found on the other side of the Atlantic in Toronto. The nearby World Poverty Stone is another monument to the many people still suffering desperate deprivation throughout the world.

This 78-acre Edwardian estate, situated northwest of Phoenix Park and accessed via the main park road, includes Farmleigh House (which is full of antique furnishings and historic art, now used to accommodate visiting dignitaries), a working farm, walled and sunken gardens, wonderful picnic-friendly grounds, a regular organic food market, and a restaurant in the boathouse. Guided tours of the house last 45 minutes and are offered hourly on a first-come, first-served basis but are limited in size; moreover, the house may be closed on short notice if it is in use by the government.

The name of the Smith-Barry ancestral estate is derived from the Irish Fód te, which means "warm soil," a tribute to the unique tidal estuary microclimate here and the reason why one of Ireland's most exotic botanical gardens was established here. The original lodge house was built in the mid-18th century for the family, which owned vast tracts of land in South Cork, including the whole of Fota Island. The next generation of the powerful family employed the renowned architects Richard and William Vitruvius Morrison to convert the structure into an impressive Regency-style house that has now been painstakingly restored. The symmetrical facade is relatively unadorned and stands in contrast to the resplendent Adamesque plasterwork of the formal reception rooms (somewhat denuded of furniture). The servants' quarters are almost as big as the house proper. Fota's glories continue in the gardens, which include an arboretum, a Victorian fernery, an Italian garden, an orangerie, and a special display of magnolias. You can also (for an extra charge) visit the Victorian working garden. There's a tearoom, and the house hosts a program of concerts and exhibitions.

The 70-acre park is 12 km (7 miles) east of Cork via N25 and R624, the main Cobh road, and also accessible by rail from Cork's Kent Station. It's an important breeding center for cheetahs and wallabies, and also is home to monkeys, zebras, giraffes, ostriches, flamingos, emus, and kangaroos.

Foynes was the crossroads between American and European skies in the early, glamorous days of flying. In fact, it was on this very site that an innovative chef called Joe Sheridan created the Irish coffee on a chilly night in 1943 to warm the bones of shivering passengers. The airport would soon move across the river to become Shannon Airport, but in that brief period in the middle of the 20th century, this little village welcomed dignitaries like Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, King George of Greece, novelist Ernest Hemingway, and from the golden age of Hollywood, Douglas Fairbanks, Bob Hope, actress Gracie Fields, Bill Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, and Humphrey Bogart. The museum has the only B314 flying boat replica in the world, and it also explores the area's maritime history. There is a café on-site along with an Irish coffee lounge.

The ruins of the Franciscan Abbey, founded in 1474 by Hugh O'Donnell, are a five-minute walk south of town at a spectacular site perched at the end of the quay above the Eske River, where it begins to open up into Donegal Bay. The complex was plundered by the English in 1588, and much of the abbey was destroyed in a gunpowder explosion during the siege of 1601; the ruins include the choir, south transept, and two sides of the cloisters, between which lie hundreds of graves dating to the 18th century. The abbey was probably where The Annals of the Four Masters, which chronicles the whole of Celtic history and mythology of Ireland from earliest times up to the year 1616, was written from 1632 to 1636. The Four Masters were monks who believed (correctly, as it turned out) that Celtic culture was doomed by the English conquest, and they wanted to preserve as much of it as they could. At the National Library in Dublin, you can see copies of the monks' work; the original is kept under lock and key.

While Oliver Cromwell made a bonfire of the original 13th-century Friary, this rebuilt 19th-century landmark has a ceiling worth noting for its fine, locally crafted stucco work and a relic and wax effigy of St. Adjutor—a young martyr slain by his own father.

Roofless ruins are all that remain of French Church, a 13th-century Franciscan abbey. The church, also known as Greyfriars, was given to a group of Huguenot refugees (hence the "French") in 1695. A splendid east window remains amid the ruins. The key is available at Reginald's Tower.

Closed down during the 16th-century dissolution of the monasteries, the Friary is a reminder of Wicklow's stormy past, which began with the unwelcome reception given to St. Patrick on his arrival in AD 432. Inquire at the nearby priest's house to see the ruins.

The Irish are sports crazy and reserve their fiercest pride for their native games. In the bowels of Croke Park, the main stadium and headquarters of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), this museum gives you a great introduction to native Irish sport. The four Gaelic games (football, hurling, camogie, and handball) are explained in detail, and if you're brave enough you can have a go yourself. High-tech displays take you through the history and highlights of the games. National Awakening is a really smart, interesting short film reflecting the key impact of the GAA on the emergence of the Irish nation and the forging of a new Irish identity. The exhilarating A Day in September captures the thrill and passion of All Ireland finals day—the annual denouement of the intercounty hurling and Gaelic football seasons—which is every bit as important to the locals as the Super Bowl is to sports fans in the United States. Tours of the stadium, one of the largest in Europe, are available.

Dublin's premier photography gallery has a permanent collection of early-20th-century Irish photography and also puts on monthly exhibitions of work by contemporary Irish and international photographers. The gallery is an invaluable social record of Ireland. The bookstore is the best place in town to browse for photography books and to pick up arty postcards.

Dominating Galway City's skyline for more than half a century with its massive, green, copper dome, Galway Cathedral's hulking brick exterior has had a mixed reception from critics since its construction. Inside, the limestone walls draw the eye up, while the stained-glass windows and the dome's light-filled contour add a heavenly perspective.

The city's civic museum, housed in a modern building behind the Spanish Arch, contains materials relating to local history: old photographs, antiquities (the oldest is a stone ax head carbon-dated to 3500 BC), and a full-scale Galway hooker (turf-carrying boat) in the stairwell, as well as information on the city's involvement in Ireland's 1916 Rising. On the top floor, there's a child-friendly ocean-life museum with panoramic Corrib River views. Its café, the Kitchen, is a lively lunch and coffee spot.

Opened 50 years after the Easter Rising of 1916, the garden in Parnell Square commemorates those who died fighting for Ireland's freedom. At the garden's entrance is a large plaza; steps lead down to the fountain area, graced with a sculpture by contemporary Irish artist Oisín Kelly, based on the mythological Children of Lír, who were turned into swans. The garden serves as an oasis of tranquility in the middle of the busy city.

The GPO's fame is based on the role it played in the fateful 1916 Easter Rising. The building, with its impressive Neoclassical facade, was designed by Francis Johnston and built by the British between 1814 and 1818 as a center of communications. This gave it great strategic importance—and was one of the reasons it was chosen by the insurgent forces in 1916 as a headquarters. Here, on Easter Monday, 1916, the Republican forces, about 2,000 in number and under the guidance of Pádraig Pearse and James Connolly, stormed the building and issued the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. After a week of shelling, the GPO lay in ruins; 13 rebels were ultimately executed, including Connolly, who was dying of gangrene from a wound in a leg shattered in the fighting and had to be propped up in a chair in front of the firing squad. Most of the original building was destroyed, though the facade survived, albeit with the scars of bullets on its pillars. Rebuilt and reopened in 1929, it is now home to GPO Witness History, an impressive interactive museum that brings to life the glory and horror of that violent uprising and the part this famous building played in it. It includes an original copy of the Proclamation of Independence. There's also a café.

Civil records—dating back to 1865—are available at the General Register Office. Records for Anglican marriages date from 1845.

Glasnevin Cemetery, on the right-hand side of Finglas Road, is the best-known burial ground in Dublin. It's the site of the graves of many distinguished Irish leaders, including Eamon de Valera, a founding father of modern Ireland and a former Irish taoiseach (prime minister) and president, and Michael Collins, the celebrated hero of the Irish War of Independence. Other notables interred here include the late-19th-century poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and Sir Roger Casement, a former British consul turned Irish nationalist, hanged for treason by the British in 1916. The large column to the right of the main entrance is the tomb of "The Liberator" Daniel O'Connell, perhaps Ireland's greatest historical figure, renowned for his nonviolent struggle for Catholic emancipation, achieved in 1829. The cemetery is freely accessible 24 hours a day. An impressive museum has a City of the Dead permanent exhibition that covers the burial practices and religious beliefs of the 1.5 million people buried in Glasnevin. The Milestone Gallery has exhibits on key historical figures buried here. They also run great tours of the cemetery itself. You can also climb the refurbished Round Tower, Ireland's tallest, with views of the whole city.

On the northwest shore of Gartan Lough just off R251 is Glebe House and Gallery, a sweetly elegant redbrick Regency manor with 25 acres of gardens. For 30 years, Glebe House was the home of the distinguished landscape and portrait artist Derek Hill, who furnished the house in a mix of styles with art from around the world and who died in 2000; in 1981 he gave the house and its contents, including his outstanding art collection, to the nation. Highlights of more than 300 works include paintings by Renoir and Bonnard, lithographs by Kokoschka, ceramics and etchings by Picasso, and the paintings Whippet Racing and The Ferry, Early Morning by Jack B. Yeats, as well as Donegal folk art produced by the Toraigh Islanders and paintings by Louis Le Brocquy. The decoration and furnishings of the house, including original William Morris wallpaper, are also worth a look. Everything Hill collected is still here, including his cobra-skin slippers on the wooden floor under his bed. The house is accessed only by guided tour ( 45 minutes) and it is advisable to book in advance as tours are currently limited due to Covid-19.

Walk through the beachfront Folk Village Museum to explore rural life. This clachan, or tiny village, comprises eight cottages, all of which are whitewashed, thatch-roofed, and extremely modest in appearance. Three showcase particular years in Irish culture: 1720, 1820, and 1920; pride of place goes to the 1881 schoolhouse and the re-created shebeen (pub). You'll also find an interpretive center, tea shop, regular demonstrations of hand weaving (there is a newly installed working loom), and crafts shop selling local handmade products. Three small cottages, with bare-earth floors, represent the basic living conditions over three centuries. The signposted circular nature and history trail is a tranquil and reflective place that includes a sweathouse (early Irish sauna), replica lime kilns, and mass rocks. Standing in the car park at 15 feet tall is a unique stone map of Ireland, Clocha na hEireann, which is made up of a stone from all 32 counties. It was erected in 2016 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916.

The swan song of British architecture in the capital, this enormous complex, a landmark of Edwardian Baroque, was the last Neoclassical edifice to be erected by the British government. It was designed by Sir Aston Webb, who did many of the similarly grand buildings in London's Piccadilly Circus, to serve as the College of Science in the early 1900s. Following a major restoration, these buildings became the offices of the Department of the taoiseach (the prime minister, pronounced tea-shuck) and the tánaiste (the deputy prime minister, pronounced tawn-ish-ta). Fine examples of contemporary Irish furniture and carpets populate the offices. A stained-glass window, known as "My Four Green Fields," was made by Evie Hone for the 1939 New York World's Fair. It depicts the four ancient provinces of Ireland: Munster, Ulster, Leinster, and Connacht. The government offices are accessible only via 35-minute guided tours; phone for details. The buildings are dramatically illuminated every night.

It's no more than 200 yards long and about 20 feet wide, but Grafton Street, open only to pedestrians, can claim to be the most humming street in the city, if not in all of Ireland. It's one of Dublin's vital spines: the most direct route between the front door of Trinity College and St. Stephen's Green, and the city's premier shopping street, with Dublin's most distinguished department store, Brown Thomas, as well as tried and trusted Marks & Spencer. Grafton Street and the smaller alleyways that radiate off it offer independent stores, a dozen or so colorful flower sellers, and some of the Southside's most popular watering holes. In summer, buskers from all over the world line both sides of the street, pouring out the sounds of drum, whistle, pipe, and string.

At the heart of the whole docklands development, this 10,000-square-meter, modernist square was designed by American landscape architect Martha Schwartz. Situated just to the west of the dock, with one side facing out onto the water, the sloping glass of the Daniel Libeskind--designed theater dominates the square's east side, while the black-and-white checkerboard Marker Hotel is to the north. The unusual red, resin glass-paved surface is supposed to reflect a "carpet" spilling out of the theater and into the public square.

Every Dubliner has a story about meeting someone on this cast-iron Victorian bridge, a heavily trafficked footbridge that crosses the Liffey at a prime spot—Temple Bar is on the south side, and the bridge provides the fastest route to the thriving Mary and Henry Streets shopping areas to the north. Until early in the 20th century, a halfpenny toll was charged to cross it. Congestion on the Ha'penny was relieved with the opening of the Millennium Footbridge a few hundred yards up the river. A refurbishment, including new railings, a return to the original white color, and tasteful lighting at night, has given the bridge a new lease on life.

Galway's Custom's House discovered a hoard of artifacts in its foundation, which revealed the site's significant past, as the palace of Ricard de Burgo, an earl who was the grandson of the city's founding father. It was the nerve center of Galway---its tax office, courthouse, and town hall all under one roof. Today, the floodlit foundation of the building can be explored from a gangway through a glass partition that surrounds the dig, unveiling city life in Galway in the 13th century, before the 14 tribes ruled the city.