Highlights of Southern Ireland

The highlight of a trip to Dublin is a visit to the home of the ‘black stuff’. Arthur Guinness founded the family business in 1759 at St. James’s Gate. The Storehouse, impressively built in 1904 as a fermentation plant, is now an interactive museum on several floors, detailing how four simple ingredients are blended to create the famous stout. Finally, pull yourself up to the almighty Gravity Bar on the 7th floor for the most scenic complimentary pint in Dublin. The 360-degree windows afford exceptional views of the city.

Dublin’s GPO is indelibly associated with the 1916 rising and the events that led to the creation of an independent Irish state. The stern grandeur of its façade,with the Irish flag flying proudly aloft, is an image that evokes a justifiable sense of heroism and nationhood. The General Post Office Witness History Museum is a brand-new immersive exhibition in the iconic GPO building in the heart of Dublin’s City Centre. GPO Witness History’s special effects, soundscapes and heartfelt testimonials from real people in extraordinary circumstances will captivate all age groups, from the curious, young international visitor to the well-informed history buff.

Explore one of the largest unoccupied jails in Europe, covering some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland’s emergence as a modern nation from the 1780s to the 1920s. Attractions here include a major exhibition detailing the political and penal history of the prison and its restoration and the tour of the prison also includes an audio-visual show.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral has been at the heart of Dublin and Ireland’s history and culture for over 800 years. For centuries it was the largest enclosed space on the island and it remains the largest cathedral in the country. It has been visited by some of Irish history’s most influential individuals from Cromwell, William of Orange and King James I, to Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. We can organise a private vergers tour with behind-the-scenes access.

Explore one of the most recognisable buildings in Ireland. Kilkenny Castle has been an important site since Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, also known as Strongbow, constructed the first castle in the 12th century. The history is full of legends and stories involving earls, witches and visits from royalty. Marvel at the grand country house and wander among the beautifully manicured gardens and 50 acres of lush parklands. There’s also a tearoom and even orienteering trails to discover.

The world-class 45km Waterford Greenway runs from Waterford to Dungarvan along the route of an old railway line. Along the way you’ll travel over two stone viaducts and have the opportunity to stop at some local villages. The famous Mount Congreve Gardens are along the route and you’ll also encounter stunning sea views as you cycle the final stage into Dungarvan.

Cobh (pronounced ‘cove’) is located on a glittering estuary, dotted with brightly coloured houses and overlooked by a splendid cathedral. It’s popular with Corkonians looking for a spot of R&R, and with cruise liners. Each year around 75 visit the port, the second largest natural harbour in the world (after Sydney Harbour in Australia). Cobh was also the final port of call for the Titanic. Here, a poignant museum commemorates the fatal voyage’s point of departure.

Dating to 1788, this is one of the oldest covered markets of its kind known to exist in the world with a great selection of delicious Irish produce. Although it might not be the largest, it is a bustling and pretty place. Lunch is available in the upstairs café and restaurant.

This vast 17th-century fortification would be worth a visit for its spectacular views alone, but there’s much more here. The 18th and 19th-century ruins inside the walls make for some fascinating wandering. It’s 3km southeast of Kinsale along the minor road through Scilly; if you have time, hike there along the lovely coastal Scilly Walk.

Slea Head Drive is a 50km loop around superbly preserved structures from Dingle’s ancient past including beehive huts, ring forts, inscribed stones and early Christian sites. Set against staggeringly beautiful coastal scenery, the landscape is especially dramatic in shifting mist.

Framed by its fishing port, the peninsula’s charming little ‘capital’ manages to be quaint without even trying. Some pubs double as shops, so you can enjoy a Guinness and a singalong among screws and nails, wellies and horseshoes. Dingle town is a truly cosmopolitan, creative place. In summer its hilly streets can be clogged with visitors; in other seasons its authentic charms are yours for the savouring. Although Dingle is one of Ireland’s largest Gaeltacht towns, the locals have voted to retain the name Dingle rather than go by the officially sanctioned – and signposted – Gaelic name of An Daingean.

The Burren (meaning ‘great rock’) stretches across northern Clare, a windswept, lunar-like landscape of barren grey limestone that was shaped beneath ancient seas, then forced high and dry by a great geological cataclysm.  Villages throughout the region include the music hub of Doolin on the west coast, Kilfenora inland and charming Ballyvaughan in the north on the shores of Galway Bay. South of Ballyvaughan, a series of severe bends twists up Corkscrew Hill. Built as part of a Great Famine relief scheme in the 1840s, the road leads to prehistoric and Iron Age sites including Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb, Poulnabrone Dolmen and Caherconnell Fort.