Must see attractions in Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

Loughcrew Gardens incorporates 2.5 hectares of lawns, terraces and herbaceous borders along with a lime avenue, yew walk, canal and 'grotesque grotto'…

Far from the beaten track, this extraordinary passage tomb dates from 3000 BC and, like Newgrange, is aligned with the winter solstice. The mound is 19m…

Travelling along the Cooley Peninsula from Carlingford to Newry in Northern Ireland, a quick 3km detour rewards you with sweeping views of Carlingford…

Tara's Protestant church grounds and graveyard spill onto the remains of this triple-ringed fort where some of St Patrick's early synods (meetings)…

One for the kids, this hands-on, family-run 135-hectare working farm allows visitors to feed the ducks, lambs and goats, milk a cow, pet a rabbit and take…

This quaint cottage, 1km east of Slane on the N51, was the birthplace of poet Francis Ledwidge (1887–1917). A keen political activist, Ledwidge was…

The extraordinarily preserved yet little-visited ruins of Cistercian Bective Abbey are off the R161, 7km northeast of Trim. Founded by Murchadh O'Melaghin…

Tara's most unusual feature is a rectangular earthwork measuring 230m by 27m along a north–south axis. Tradition holds that it was built to cater for…

Gráinne was the daughter of King Cormac, the most lauded of all high kings. Betrothed to Fionn MacCumhaill (Finn McCool), she eloped with Diarmuid, one of…

That huge steeple you see belongs to St Patrick's Cathedral Church, parts of which date from the 15th century, although it wasn't granted cathedral status…

Different floors in this worthwhile museum are dedicated to the town's early history and archaeology, and to the Norman period. One floor deals with the…

Set in a beautifully converted 19th-century monastery, this gallery has a permanent collection of contemporary art, along with regular temporary…

This solid structure is a survivor from the old monastic settlement. Its name is a misnomer, as it was built in the 10th century and St Colmcille was…

The 225-hectare Dún an Rí Forest Park, 11km southwest of Carrickmacross, has four colour-coded forest walks (all less than 4km long), with picnic places…

South of Tara's Royal Enclosure is this large but worn ring fort where the king, a contemporary of St Patrick, is said to be buried standing upright and…

About 1.5km east of town on Lackanash Rd are the ruins of the former Parish Church of Newtown Clonbun, the Cathedral of Sts Peter & Paul and 18th-century…

St Peter's Church of Ireland (not to be confused with St Peter's Roman Catholic Church) is the church whose spire was burned by Cromwell's men, resulting…

Until 1996, when it was relocated outside the courthouse on Headfort Pl, the Market Cross had stood for centuries in Cross St, at the heart of the town…

The local burghers dedicated this column to Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, in recognition of his impressive career: after defeating…

The 14th-century Magdalene Tower is the bell tower of a Dominican friary founded in 1224. It was here that England's King Richard II, accompanied by a…