Other sights in Ireland
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Dublin Castle
The centre of British power in Ireland for most of 800 years, Dublin Castle sits atop Cork Hill, behind City Hall. It was originally built on the orders of King John in 1204, but it’s more higgledy-piggledy palace than castle. Only the Record Tower, completed in 1258, survives from the original Norman construction. Parts of the castle’s foundations remain and a visit to the excavations is the most interesting part of the castle tour. The moats, now completely covered by more modern developments, were once filled by the River Poddle. The castle is also home to one of Dublin’s best museums, the Chester Beatty Library.
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Trinity College
On a summer’s evening, when the bustling crowds have gone for the day, there’s hardly a more delightful place in Dublin than the grounds of Ireland’s most prestigious university, a masterpiece of architecture and landscaping beautifully preserved in Georgian aspic. Not only is it Dublin’s most attractive bit of historical real estate, but it’s also home to one of the world’s most famous – and most beautiful – books, the gloriously illuminated Book of Kells. There is no charge to wander around the gardens on your own between 8am and 10pm.
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Dunbrody Heritage Ship
Emigrants’ sorrowful yet often-inspiring stories are brought to life by actors during a 30-minute tour of the Dunbrody Heritage Ship, a full-scale replica 1845 Famine ship (also known as a ‘coffin ship’, due to the number of passengers who didn’t survive the journey). Prior to the tour, a 10-minute film gives you background on the original three-masted barque and the construction of the new one. Admission includes access to the onsite database of Irish emigration to America from 1845 to 1875, containing over two million records.
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Fry Model Railway
Ireland’s biggest model railway is 240 sq metres, and authentically displays much of Ireland’s rail and public transport system, including the DART line and Irish Sea ferry services, in O-gauge (32mm track width). A separate room features model trains and other memorabilia. Unfortunately the operators suffer from the overseriousness of some grown men with complicated toys; rather than let you simply look and admire, they herd you into the control room in groups for demonstrations.
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John F Kennedy Arboretum
On a sunny day, this place is so nice for families that it could be called Camelot. The park, 2km southeast of the Kennedy Homestead, has a small visitor centre, tearooms and a picnic area; a miniature train tootles around in the summer months. It has 4500 species of trees and shrubs in 252 hectares of woodlands and gardens. Slieve Coillte (270m), opposite the park entrance, has a viewing point from where you can see the arboretum and six counties on a clear day.
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Hugh Lane Gallery
Whatever reputation Dublin has a repository of world-class art has a lot to do with the simply stunning collection at the Hugh Lane Gallery, which is not only home to works by some of the brightest stars in the modern and contemporary art world both foreign and domestic, but is also where you’ll find one of the most singular exhibitions to be seen anywhere: the actual studio of one of the 20th century’s truly iconic artists, Francis Bacon.
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Waterways Visitor Centre
If you absolutely must know about the construction and operation of Ireland's canals, you'll have to wait a bit as this interpretative centre is currently closed for renovations. Still, admiring the 'box on the docks' – as this modern building is nicknamed – is plenty good enough for the average enthusiast of artificial waterways.
If you are here in summer and are wondering why it needs to employ a security guard, it's to keep local kids from storming up to the centre's roof and using it as a diving platform into the basin. Sometimes the kids content themselves with diving off the shed on the bridge, terrorising those on board the Viking Splash Tour boats that pass…
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Leap Castle
Leap Castle is reputedly one of the most haunted castles in Europe. Originally an O'Carroll family residence, the castle was the scene of many dreadful deeds and is famous for its eerie apparitions - its most renowned inhabitant is the 'smelly ghost', a spirit that apparently leaves a smell behind after sightings.
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Gallery of Photography
This small gallery devoted to the photograph is set in a light and airy three-level space overlooking Meeting House Sq in the heart of Temple Bar. It features a constantly changing menu of local and international work, and while it's a little too small to be considered a really good gallery, the downstairs shop is well stocked with all manner of photographic tomes and manuals.
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Rotunda Hospital
Irish public hospitals aren’t usually attractions, by any stretch of the imagination, but this one makes for an interesting walk-by or an unofficial wander inside if you’re interested in Victorian plasterwork. It was the first maternity hospital in the British Isles – and once the world’s largest – and was established by Dr Bartholomew Mosse in 1748, at a time when the burgeoning urban population was enduring shocking infant mortality rates.
It shares its basic design with Leinster House because the architect of both, Richard Cassels, used the same floor plan to economise. He added a three-storey tower, which Mosse intended to use for fundraising purposes…
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Cormac's Chapel
If the Rock of Cashel boasted only Cormac's 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 square towers that flank it to either side may reflect Germanic influences, but there are haunting simi-larities in its steep stone roof to the 'boat-hull' shape of older Irish buildings, such as the Gallarus Oratory in County Kerry and the beehive huts of the Dingle Peninsula. The true Romanesque splendour is in the detail of the exquisite doorway arches, the grand chancel arch and ribbed barrel…
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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. In its medieval day, this Cistercian abbey ran the show when it came to Irish church politics, although its reputation with the authorities was somewhat sullied when it became a favourite meeting place for rebels against the crown. On 11 June 1534, ‘Silken’ Thomas Fitzgerald, the most important of Leinster’s Anglo-Norman lords, entered the chapterhouse and flung his Sword of State on the ground in front of the awaiting King’s Council – a ceremonial two-fingered salute to…
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St Werburgh's Church
Lying west of Dublin Castle, St Werburgh's Church stands upon ancient foundations (probably from the 12th century), but was rebuilt several times during the 17th and 18th centuries. The church's tall spire was dismantled after Robert Emmet's rising in 1803, for fear that future rebels might use it as a vantage point for snipers. Interred in the vault is Lord Edward Fitzgerald, who turned against Britain, joined the United Irishmen and was a leader of the 1798 Rising. In what was a frequent theme of Irish uprisings, compatriots gave him away and his death resulted from the wounds he received when captured. Coincidentally, Major Henry Sirr, the man who captured him, is…
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Wonderful Barn
Immediately to the east of the grounds of Castletown House, and on private property that never belonged to the house, you will find the curious, conical Wonderful Barn. Standing at 21m high, this extraordinary five-storey structure, which is wrapped by a 94-step winding staircase, was commissioned by Lady Conolly in 1743 to give employment to local tenants whose crops were ruined by the severe frosts in the winters of 1741 and 1742. The building was ostensibly a granary, but it was also used as a shooting tower – doves were considered a delicacy in Georgian times. Flanking the main building are two smaller towers, which were also used to store grain. Be warned however:…
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Mount Stewart
The magnificent 18th-century Mount Stewart is one of Northern Ireland’s grandest stately homes. It was built for the Marquess of Londonderry and is decorated with lavish plasterwork, marble nudes and priceless artworks. Much of the landscaping of the beautiful gardens was supervised in the early 20th century by Lady Edith, wife of the seventh marquess, for the benefit of her children – the Dodo Terrace at the front of the house is populated with unusual creatures from history (dinosaurs and dodos) and myth (griffins and mermaids), accompanied by giant frogs and duck-billed platypuses. Mount Stewart is on the A20, 3km north-west of Greyabbey and 8km south-east of…
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Dunsany Castle
See how the other 1% lives at Dunsany Castle , the residence of the lords of Dunsany and one of the oldest continually inhabited buildings in Ireland. Construction started on the castle in the 12th century, with major alterations taking place in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Today the castle houses an impressive private art collection and many other treasures related to important figures in Irish history, such as Oliver Plunkett and Patrick Sarsfield, leader of the Irish Jacobite forces at the siege of Limerick in 1691. A guided tour takes almost two hours and offers a fascinating insight into the family history as well as that of the castle. It remains a family home, and…
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Killruddery House & Gardens
About 3km south of Bray on the Greystones road are Killruddery House & Gardens. A stunning mansion in the Elizabethan Revival style, Killruddery has been home to the Brabazon family (earls of Meath) since 1618 and has one of the oldest gardens in Ireland. The house, designed by trendy 19th-century architects Richard Morrisson and his son William in 1820, was reduced to its present-day huge proportions by the 14th earl in 1953; he was obviously looking for something a little more bijou. The house is impressive, but the prizewinner here is the magnificent orangery, built in 1852 and chock-full of statuary and plant life. If you like fancy glasshouses, this is the one for…
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St George’s Church
If you’re on the north side, the steeple of this deconsecrated church may catch your eye. The church was built by Francis Johnston from 1802 in Greek Ionic style, and the 60m-high steeple was modelled on that of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. Although this was one of Johnston’s finest works, and the Duke of Wellington was married here, the church has been sorely neglected – probably because it’s Church of Ireland and not Roman Catholic, it has to be said. The bells that Leopold Bloom heard in that book were removed, the ornate pulpit was carved up and used to decorate the pub Thomas Read’s, and the spire is in danger of crumbling, which has resulted in it…
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Lough Navar Forest Park
This forest park lies at the western end of Lower Lough Erne, where the Cliffs of Magho – a 250m-high and 9km-long limestone escarpment – rise above a fringe of native woodland on the south shore. An 11km scenic drive through the park leads to the Magho Viewpoint. The panorama from the cliff top here is one of the finest in Ireland, especially before sunset: it looks out over the shimmering expanse of Lough and river to the Blue Stack Mountains, the sparkling waters of Donegal Bay and the sea cliffs of Slieve League. The vehicle entrance to Lough Navar Forest Park is on the minor Glennasheevar road between Garrison and Derrygonnelly, 20km south-east of Belleek (take the…
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Berkeley Library
To one side of the Old Library is Paul Koralek’s 1967 Berkeley Library. This solid, square, brutalist- style building has been hailed as the best example of modern architecture in Ireland, though it has to be admitted the competition isn’t great. It’s fronted by Arnaldo Pomodoro’s 1982 sculpture Sphere Within Sphere. George Berkeley was born in Kilkenny in 1685, studied at Trinity when he was only 15 years old and went on to a distinguished career in many fields, particularly philosophy. His influence spread to the new colonies in North America where, among other things, he helped to found the University of Pennsylvania. Berkeley, California, and its namesake…
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Hall of the Vicars Choral
The entrance to the Rock of Cashel is through this 15th-century building, once home to the male choristers who sang in the cathedral. It houses the ticket office. The exhibits in the adjoining undercroft include some very rare silverware, Bronze Age axes and St Patrick's Cross – an im-pressive, although eroded, 12th-century crutched cross with a crucifixion scene on one face and animals on the other. A replica stands outside in the castle courtyard. The kitchen and dining hall upstairs contain some period furniture, tapestries and paintings beneath a fine carved-oak roof and gallery. A 20-minute audiovisual presentation on the Rock's history runs every half hour. Showings…
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Jerpoint Abbey
One of Ireland’s finest Cistercian ruins, Jerpoint Abbey is about 2.5km southwest of Thomastown on the N9. It was established in the 12th century and has been partially restored. The tower and cloister are late 14th or early 15th century. Look for the series of often amusing figures carved on the cloister pillars, including a knight. There are also stone carvings on the church walls and in the tombs of members of the Butler and Walshe families. Faint traces of a 15th- or 16th-century painting remain on the northern wall of the church. This chancel area also contains a tomb thought to belong to hardheaded Felix O’Dulany, Jerpoint’s first abbot and bishop of Ossory, who…
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Titanic Quarter
Belfast's former shipbuilding yards - the birthplace of the RMS Titanic - stretch along the east side of the River Lagan, dominated by the towering yellow cranes known as Samson and Goliath. The area is currently undergoing a €1 billion regeneration project known as Titanic Quarter, which plans to develop the long-derelict docklands over the next 15 to 20 years.
There are plans to build an 'iconic attraction' in the Titanic Quarter in time for the centenary of the Titanic's launch in 2012. In the meantime, the informative and entertaining commentary on the Lagan Boat Company's Titanic Tour is the best way to learn about the history of the shipyards.
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Belvedere House
Great Denmark St runs northeast towards Mountjoy Sq and passes the 18th-century Belvedere House at No 6. This has been used as the Jesuit Belvedere College since 1841, and one James Joyce studied here between 1893 and 1898, describing it later in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The building is renowned for its magnificent plasterwork by the master stuccodore Michael Stapleton and for its fireplaces by the Venetian artisan Bossi, but the only chance you’ll get to admire these features is if you enrol for a class at this secondary school as the building is closed to the public. The plasterwork isn’t that special.
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Working Farm
One for the kids. Situated a few hundred metres down the hill to the west of Newgrange tomb (or follow the signs on the N51) is a 135-hectare working farm. The truly hands-on, family-run farm allows visitors to feed the ducks and lambs, and tour the exotic bird aviaries. Amiable Farmer Bill keeps things interesting and demonstrations of threshing, sheepdog work and shoeing a horse are absorbing. Sunday at 3pm is a very special time when the ‘sheep derby’ is run. Finding jockeys small enough wasn’t easy, so teddy bears are tied to the animals’ backs. Visiting children are made owners of individual sheep for the race.
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