"Top Ten" Off the beaten path list - The Wild Geese2024-03-28T13:25:13Zhttps://thewildgeese.irish/forum/topics/top-ten-off-the-beaten-path-list?commentId=6442157%3AComment%3A20416&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThis list changes with my moo…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2014-03-23:6442157:Comment:845772014-03-23T18:55:43.681ZIrish Firesidehttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/IrishFireside
<p>This list changes with my mood... today, I'd pick:</p>
<ul>
<li>Athassel Priory, Co Tipperary: fantastic monastic ruin a few miles from Cashel in Golden</li>
<li>Achill Island, Co Mayo: the cliffs and coast are beautiful and the famine village is simply amazing</li>
<li>Rock of Dunamase, Co Laois: enormous ruin with views of the countryside</li>
<li>Kilmalkedar Church and Graveyard, Co Kerry: beautiful stop on the Dingle Peninsula</li>
<li>Skellig Michael, Co Kerry: even with its UNESCO…</li>
</ul>
<p>This list changes with my mood... today, I'd pick:</p>
<ul>
<li>Athassel Priory, Co Tipperary: fantastic monastic ruin a few miles from Cashel in Golden</li>
<li>Achill Island, Co Mayo: the cliffs and coast are beautiful and the famine village is simply amazing</li>
<li>Rock of Dunamase, Co Laois: enormous ruin with views of the countryside</li>
<li>Kilmalkedar Church and Graveyard, Co Kerry: beautiful stop on the Dingle Peninsula</li>
<li>Skellig Michael, Co Kerry: even with its UNESCO status, it's missed by many visitors</li>
<li>Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Castle: an absolute treasure of ancient manuscripts</li>
<li>Loughcrew, Co Meath: a bit like Newgrange, except more rustic (and minus the quartz front) and nobody goes there</li>
<li>Lough Derg, Co Clare/Tipperary/Galway: loads of history and beauty... including the towns of Ballina, Killaloe, Portumna</li>
<li>Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin: a who's-who in modern Irish history</li>
<li>Kilbeggan Distillery: they're making whiskey on site and they're giving tours (choose one of their upgraded tours to meet the distiller and get extra samples)</li>
</ul> Add to that Smerwick Harbor,…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-05-17:6442157:Comment:220462013-05-17T17:36:43.080ZGerry Reganhttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/ger_regan
<p><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Monument_commemorating_the_Smerwick_Harbour_massacre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_459585.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Monument_commemorating_the_Smerwick_Harbour_massacre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_459585.jpg?width=250" style="padding: 5px;" width="250"></img></a> Add to that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Smerwick" target="_blank">Smerwick Harbor</a>, where in 1580 the English slaughtered a Spanish garrison who had come to help the Geraldines in their rising against the the English. When I visited it in June 1974, I recalled a summer school nearby but nothing in…</p>
<p><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Monument_commemorating_the_Smerwick_Harbour_massacre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_459585.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Monument_commemorating_the_Smerwick_Harbour_massacre_-_geograph.org.uk_-_459585.jpg?width=250" width="250" style="padding: 5px;" class="align-left"/></a>Add to that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Smerwick" target="_blank">Smerwick Harbor</a>, where in 1580 the English slaughtered a Spanish garrison who had come to help the Geraldines in their rising against the the English. When I visited it in June 1974, I recalled a summer school nearby but nothing in eye shot, just a bog- and rock-dominated landscape that seemed to bespeak a tragedy.</p> Yes, you can indeed get there…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-05-08:6442157:Comment:205182013-05-08T16:13:32.439ZBit Devinehttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/BitDevine
<p>Yes, you can indeed get there via inner island.</p>
<p>I did mean from the mainland. There is "regular" ferry service to the Inis Oirr & Inis Mor but not so much to Inis Meáin from the mainland. I liken Inis Meáin to the middle child in a family, most of the attention is directed to the eldest and the youngest</p>
<p>Yes, you can indeed get there via inner island.</p>
<p>I did mean from the mainland. There is "regular" ferry service to the Inis Oirr & Inis Mor but not so much to Inis Meáin from the mainland. I liken Inis Meáin to the middle child in a family, most of the attention is directed to the eldest and the youngest</p> Ferries do indeed dock at Ini…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-05-08:6442157:Comment:204192013-05-08T16:04:10.583ZRyan O'Rourkehttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/RyanORourke
<p>Ferries do indeed dock at Inis Meáin, Bit. Nothing direct from the mainland, if that's what you mean. You can get there easily enough by the island-to-island ferry, though.</p>
<p>Ferries do indeed dock at Inis Meáin, Bit. Nothing direct from the mainland, if that's what you mean. You can get there easily enough by the island-to-island ferry, though.</p> Go raibh mil maith agat Ryan,…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-05-08:6442157:Comment:204162013-05-08T15:59:18.805ZBit Devinehttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/BitDevine
<p>Go raibh mil maith agat Ryan, mo chara.</p>
<p>Lough Gill is indeed over looked. I have never understood that. It has strong connections to Yeats, the birding is fantastic, not to mention Church and Cottage islands and all of the walking trails. I could get lost there for days, happily</p>
<p>I have never understood why the ferries dock at Inis Oirr and not at Inis Meáin. Each island has so much to offer in their own right.</p>
<p>Inis Bó Finne, there is much on offer there, to be sure. It…</p>
<p>Go raibh mil maith agat Ryan, mo chara.</p>
<p>Lough Gill is indeed over looked. I have never understood that. It has strong connections to Yeats, the birding is fantastic, not to mention Church and Cottage islands and all of the walking trails. I could get lost there for days, happily</p>
<p>I have never understood why the ferries dock at Inis Oirr and not at Inis Meáin. Each island has so much to offer in their own right.</p>
<p>Inis Bó Finne, there is much on offer there, to be sure. It has its own song, a cacophony of corncrakes and seals, that I can hear still if I close my eyes at dawn. I have spent many an early morning in St Colman's cemetry.</p>
<p>Bundoran, not so much off the beaten path if you are into surfing. I do enjoy that fun & funky surfer vibe that seems to be present in every surf town no matter where you might be.</p> Hadn't really thought about i…tag:thewildgeese.irish,2013-05-08:6442157:Comment:201962013-05-08T09:03:58.003ZRyan O'Rourkehttps://thewildgeese.irish/profile/RyanORourke
<p>Hadn't really thought about it in a list of ten, but here are a few I'd suggest:</p>
<p>1) <strong>Inis Meáin</strong> -- The middle of the three Aran islands, and even less visited than Inis Oírr.</p>
<p>2) <strong>Lough Gill</strong> -- On the border of Counties Sligo & Leitrim. Really this whole area.</p>
<p>3) <strong>Inisbofin</strong> -- Great music / arts here.</p>
<p>4) <strong>Bundoran</strong> -- Border of Counties Leitrim & Donegal ... not sure just how "off the beaten…</p>
<p>Hadn't really thought about it in a list of ten, but here are a few I'd suggest:</p>
<p>1) <strong>Inis Meáin</strong> -- The middle of the three Aran islands, and even less visited than Inis Oírr.</p>
<p>2) <strong>Lough Gill</strong> -- On the border of Counties Sligo & Leitrim. Really this whole area.</p>
<p>3) <strong>Inisbofin</strong> -- Great music / arts here.</p>
<p>4) <strong>Bundoran</strong> -- Border of Counties Leitrim & Donegal ... not sure just how "off the beaten path" this is.</p>