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Coleman Irish Music Centre
This music centre has multimedia exhibits and hosts workshops and performances. You can add to your music collection or pick up your own instruments and sheet music at the on-site shop. Its 12km south of Ballymote on the R293 in the little village of Gurteen.
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Copper Coast Geopark Centre
The old church uphill from the Geological Garden in Bunmahon houses an exhibition about the history and geology of copper mining on the Copper Coast. It also has information on the self-guided Copper Coast Trail, as well as trail cards describing walks in the area.
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Keem Bay
The 8km drive west from Keel to what is literally the end of the road is spectacular, with sweeping views across the water as the road climbs the sheer rock face. But after you spiral down to this perfect cove, youre rewarded with a gorgeous Blue Flag beach .
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Sheila
Just under the archway to the river bank and Watergate Bridge is a fine sheila-na-gig (a sexually explicit medieval depiction of a woman) embedded in the wall to your left. You can stroll along the river bank, provided the resident geese are feeling friendly.
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Jackie Clarke Collection
Starting when he was 12 in 1939, the late Jackie Clarke amassed an extraordinary collection of 100,000 items covering 400 years of Irish history. Housed in an 1881 bank building, this well-curated museum brims with surprises. It has a lovely garden and cafe.
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Sheep Gate
Part of the 14th-century town wall stands in the field to the east of the abbey, including the Sheep Gate, the lone survivor of the towns original five gates. It used to be closed daily between 21:00 and 04:00, and a toll was charged for sheep entering to be sold at market.
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Derreen Gardens
Lauragh is home to the Derreen Gardens, planted by the fifth Lord Lansdowne around the turn of the 20th century. Mossy paths weave through an abundance of interesting plants, including spectacular New Zealand tree ferns and red cedars, and you may see seals on the shore.
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Friends Meeting House
The Dublin branch of the Society of United Irishmen, who sought Parliamentary reform and equality for Catholics, was first convened in 1791 in the Eagle Tavern, now the Friends Meeting House. (This should not be confused with the other Eagle Tavern, which is on Cork St.)
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Dún na Sí Heritage Park
This folk park has a re-created ring fort, portal dolmen, lime kiln, mass rock, farmhouse and forge. It also has a traditional session with music, song, dance and storytelling at 8pm on Sundays in summer. The surrounding nature park is lovely. Its 16km east of Athlone.
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Clonmacnoise
Gloriously placed overlooking the River Shannon, Clonmacnoise is one of Ireland’s most important ancient monastic cities. The site is enclosed in a walled field and contains numerous early churches, high crosses, round towers and graves in astonishingly good condition.
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Patrick Pearses Cottage
Near Gortmore, along the R340, is Patrick Pearse’s Cottage . Pádraig Pearse (1879–1916) led the Easter Rising with James Connolly in 1916; after the revolt he was executed by the British. Pearse wrote some of his short stories and plays in this small thatched cottage.
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Clare Museum
Sharing the same building as the tourist office is this diverting little museum. The Riches of Clare exhibition tells the story of Clare from 8000 years ago to the present day over two floors, using authentic artefacts grouped into four themes: earth, power, faith and water.
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Carron Polje
Below Carron lies Carron Polje, one of the finest turloughs in Ireland. Polje is a Serbo-Croatian term used universally for these shallow depressions that flood in winter and dry out in summer, when the lush grass that flourishes on the surface is used for grazing.
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Ballycroy National Park
Covering one of Europe’s largest expanses of blanket bog, Ballycroy National Park was founded in 1998 and became fully operational in 2009. It is a gorgeously scenic region, where the River Owenduff wends its way through intact bogs. The park is on the Bangor Trail.
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Ashtown Castle
The restored four-storey Ashtown Castle is a 17th-century tower house that was discovered inside the 18th-century nuncios mansion when the latter was demolished in 1986 due to dry rot. You can visit the castle only on a guided tour from the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre .
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Abbey Sensory Gardens
Garden lovers should make their way to this sensory playground set in the walled gardens of a 19th-century Brigidine convent. The vibrant blooms, wind chimes, humming stone and fragrant plants aim to stimulate all the senses and are the first of their kind in Ireland.
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Mountmellick Museum
For an insight into the towns Quaker and industrial heritage, visit Mountmellick Museum, where you can also see a display of superbly subtle Mountmellick embroidery. Various linens and quilts still being made by locals are on sale here. It also has guides to the heritage trail.
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Nuns Church
Beyond the sites boundary wall, about 500m east through the modern graveyard, is the secluded Nuns Church with wonderful Romanesque arches and minute carvings; one has been interpreted as Irelands earliest sheila-na-gig, in an acrobatic pose with feet tucked behind the ears.
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Dooagh
This village is where Don Allum, the first person to row across the Atlantic Ocean in both directions, landed in September 1982 in his 6m-long plywood boat, dubbed the QE3, after 77 days at sea. Opposite the monument, the Pub (thats its name) has memorabilia marking the feat.
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Wellington Monument
Near the Parkgate St entrance to the park is the 63m-high Wellington Monument. This took from 1817 to 1861 to build, mainly because the Duke of Wellington fell from public favour during its construction. Nearby is the Peoples Garden , dating from 1864, and the bandstand in the Holl
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