Our first stop could only be where the heart of Ireland truly is - Tara!

Come visit the ancient ruins of Newgrange, located in the beautiful Boyne valley in County Meath. A place of mystery and intrigue. Built before the time of the pyramids of Egypt. It is said to have been built for the kings of Ireland. Another story goes that it was the residence of the Celtic race The Tuatha de Danann (The tribe of Dana).

An engineering marvel constructed so the suns rays are allowed to breach the doorway and illuminate the interior for fifteen minutes at daybreak on just ONE day of each year - on the Winter Solstice!

For our next visit we go to a place near and dear to the hearts of many Irish and non Irish alike - Blarney, County Cork. The home of the original gift of the gab or eloquence!

The castle was originally built of wood in the tenth century and was replaced by stone in 1210 by Cormac MacCarthy. It is said to be half of the Stone of Scone, the Scottish crowning stone, given to Cormac by Robert the Bruce in gratitude for his assistance in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 .

The present day limestone structure was completed by Dermot MacCarthy, King of Munster in 1446.

When Elizabeth the First demanded that the Irish chieftains give allegiance to the crown during her reign (1533 - 1603) she had a hard time getting Cormac Teige MacCarthy to agree to the deal. It was this gentleman who gave the castle  its' fame when Elizabeth in frustration is reputed to have said, " Blarney, Blarney, what he says he never means. I've had enough of his Blarney" and so the word has passed into antiquity.

Our next stop is on the opposite side of the country on the northern coast of County Antrim. The basalt promontory of  Giant's Causeway.

Said to have been built by the Irish hero, Finn Mac Cool, fact is though that the causeway was created some 6o million years ago by repeated volcanic eruptions. 40,000 columns arise out into the sea, each formed with such geometrical precision that it seems the hand of an immense giant molded them in play. It is a truly amazing sight to behold - set against four miles of coastline and reaching 400 feet into the air.

Declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 -  the only one of its kind in Ireland.

Next we will go to the East coast. To the valley of the two lakes. Glendalough in County Wicklow where Saint Kevin founded a monastery in the sixth century. Seeking solitude, he lived in a cave, called St. Kevin's Bed, 30 feet above one of the Lakes, but the irony is that his piety drew many disciples to the area and it became famous throughout Europe. One Pope is said to have decreed that seven visits to Glendalough were to procure the same indulgences as one visit to Rome!

Also known as the garden of Ireland, the area is famous for a round tower, which was built sometime between the tenth and twelfth centuries. One of only 65 remaining in Ireland.

Our last point of call would have to be the West of Ireland and the majestic Cliffs of Moher.

Six miles of  limestone  reach imperiously out of the Atlantic in rigid defiance to nature. Reaching heights of 668 feet, the cliffs are one of the most imposing sights and thus one of the most visited sights in Ireland. A round tower sits on the highest point of the cliffs but this tower is no relation to the aforementioned towers. Rather this one was built by a local character. His name was Sir Cornelius O'Brien in 1835 and he built it for his own posterity. So it could only be called O'Brien's Tower. A reputed descendant of Brian Boru (940-1014), who reigned as King of Munster. He was also the last great High King of Ireland. 

The west of Ireland also lays claim to the most unusual sight of the Burren. A landscape that defies reason in a country as lush and green as The Emerald Isle. It is a moonscape of limestone rock that is a geographical and botanical marvel . 

Oliver Cromwell's general, Ludlow is attributed as saying;

"The land has neither enough water to drown a man, not enough wood to hang him and if you manage to kill him, there is not enough soil to bury him".

So ends our brief tour of Ireland. I hope we have given you just enough of a glimpse to whet your appetite for more. And plenty more there is . . .