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St Mary’s Abbey
Where now the glories of Babylon? All that remains of what was once Ireland’s wealthiest and most powerful monastery is the chapterhouse, so forgotten that most Dubliners are unaware of its existence. Visitors can enjoy a small exhibition and view a model of what the abbey looked l
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Temple Ciaran
The small churches at Clonmacnoise are called temples, a derivation of the Irish word teampall (church). Tiny Temple Ciaran is reputed to be the burial place of St Ciarán, the sites founder. The floor level in Temple Ciaran is lower than outside because local farmers have been taki
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Bantry House & Garden
With its melancholic air of faded gentility, 18th-century Bantry House makes for an intriguing visit. From the Gobelin tapestries in the drawing room to the columned splendour of the library, it conjures up a lost world of aristocratic excess. But the gardens are its greatest glory
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Bunratty Castle & Folk Park
Square, hulking and imposing Bunratty Castle is only the latest of several edifices to occupy its location beside the River Ratty. Vikings founded a settlement here in the 10th century, and later occupants included the Norman Thomas de Clare in the 1270s. The castle is accessed via
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Tintern Abbey
Named after its Welsh counterpart, from where its first monks hailed, the atmospheric remains of Tintern Abbey enjoy a lovely setting amid 40 hectares of woodland. Unusually for an abbey, it has a long history as a private residence. Following the dissolution of the monasteries in
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Áras an Uachtaráin
The residence of the Irish president is a Palladian lodge that was built in 1751 and enlarged a couple of times since, most recently in 1816. Tickets for the free one-hour tours (hourly 10am to 4pm Saturday) can be collected from the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre , the converted form
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Merrion Square
Arguably the most elegant of Dublins Georgian squares, Merrion Square is also the most prestigious. Its well-kept lawns and beautifully tended flower beds are flanked on three sides by gorgeous Georgian houses with colourful doors, peacock fanlights, ornate door knockers and, occas
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Phoenix Park
Measuring 709 glorious hectares, Phoenix Park is one of the world’s largest city parks; you’ll find MP3-rigged joggers, grannies pushing buggies, ladies walking poodles, gardens, lakes, a sporting oval, and 300 deer. There are also cricket and polo grounds, a motor-racing track and
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Bank of Ireland
A sweeping Palladian pile occupying one side of College Green, this magnificent building was the Irish Parliament House until 1801 and is the first purpose-built parliament building in the world. The original building – the central colonnaded section that distinguishes the present-
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Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery
With a birds-eye view of the county from high in the Bricklieve Mountains, its little wonder this hilltop site was sacred in prehistoric times. This windswept and lonely location is simultaneously eerie and uplifting. But for a few sheep (you drive though a sheep gate), its undevel
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Derrynane National Historic Park
Derrynane House was the home of Maurice Hunting Cap OConnell, a notorious local smuggler who grew rich on trade with France and Spain. He was the uncle of Daniel OConnell, the 19th-century campaigner for Catholic emancipation, who grew up here in his uncles care and inherited the p
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Cormacs Chapel
If the Rock of Cashel boasted only Cormacs Chapel, it would still be an outstanding place. This compelling building dates from 1127 and the medieval integrity of its trans-European architec-ture survives. It was probably the first Romanesque church in Ireland. The style of the squa
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Dunmore Cave
Dunmore Cave is as famous for its history as for its beautiful calcite formations, and has yielded many archaeological treasures. Admission is via guided tour only, which leads down a steep descent to caverns full of stalactites, stalagmites and columns, including the 7m-tall Marke
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St Patricks College
Turning out Catholic priests since 1795, St Patricks College & Seminary is Irelands second-oldest university (after Trinity College, Dublin). The college buildings are impressive – Gothic architect Augustus Pugin had a hand in designing them – and well worth an hours ramble. Th
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Dublin Writers Museum
Memorabilia aplenty and lots of literary ephemera line the walls and display cabinets of this elegant museum devoted to preserving the city’s rich literary tradition up to 1970. The building, comprising two 18th-century houses, is worth exploring on its own; Dublin stuccodore Micha
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Dysert ODea
You can feel the past as you navigate the narrow tracks with grass in the middle to Dysert ODea, where St Tola founded a monastery in the 8th century. The church and high cross, the White Cross of St Tola, date from the 12th or 13th century. The cross depicts Daniel in the lions de
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Visitor Centre
Three connected conical huts, echoing the design of early monastic dwellings, house the visitors centre museum. A 20-minute audiovisual show provides an excellent introduction to the historic Clonmacnoise site.The exhibition area contains the original high crosses (replicas have be
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Knock Marian Shrine
The Knock shrine encompasses five churches and a museum in the town centre. People of of many faiths pray at the modern chapel enclosing a scene of the apparition carved from snow-white marble. A segment of stone from the original (and long-gone) church mounted on the outside wall
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Slieve League
The Cliffs of Moher get more publicity, but the cliffs of Slieve League are higher. In fact, these spectacular sea cliffs are among the highest in Europe, plunging some 600m to the sea.From Teelin, a road through the stark landscape leads to the lower car park (which has signs with
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Avondale House
This fine Palladian mansion surrounded by a marvellous 209-hectare estate was the birthplace and Irish headquarters of Charles Stewart Parnell (1846–91), the uncrowned king of Ireland and unquestionably one of the key figures in the Irish independence movement. Designed by James Wy
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