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EVERY CORNER OF Ireland has something unique to showcase – but how much of it have you seen?
TheJournal.ie has been chatting to heritage officers in every part of the country to compile their top five picks that they think you might enjoy visiting this summer.
Heritage includes monuments, archaeological or architectural objects, seascapes, wrecks, geology, inland waterways, gardens and parks. We are publishing recommendations for every local authority area over the course of a fortnight, along with the details you need to know to plan your visit.
Get motoring!
1. Parke’s Castle, Kilmore
This restored castle from the plantations of the early 17th century was the Parke family home built by Robert Parke in 1610. It was once a strong hold of the ancient ruling O’Rourke clan and excavations have revealed the original tower house beneath the courtyard.
The castle is located on the North shores of Lough Gill and the interior of the castle contains exhibitions around the courtyard, well and forge. The castle was restored using traditional 17th century craftsmanship and a guided tour of the castle takes place every hour.
Amenities: Works are currently ongoing, access to the public toilets are restricted to so portable toilets are available. Wheelchair access is only available to the ground floor exhibitions. There is a public car park close by and a restaurant and tea room open to the public.
Opening hours and cost: The castle is open 10am-6pm daily and last entry is 5.15pm. As works continue, entry is FREE of charge but access to the courtyard is off limits to visitors.
Updates on these works can be accessed here.
2. Glencar Waterfall
Inspiring the poem The Stolen Child by WB Yeats, the 50ft waterfall at Glencar Lough plunges into the valley below. It can be viewed from a scenic wooden walk around the area and the natural feature is a example of a U-shaped valley carved during the ice-age by a glacier.
Amenities: By the waterfall visitors will find a children’s playground, picnic areas, café, public toilets, free car park and information point. There is full access to wheelchair users.
Opening hours and costs: Entry to the site is FREE and it is always open.
3. Sean Mac Diarmada Homestead, Corranmore
Home to one of the seven signatories of the 1916 Proclamation, rebel Seán Mac Diarmada was born here in 1883. With a view across Upper Lough MacNean, the homestead consists of a cottage, a dairy and a byre and is an example of a traditional Irish cottage.
Guided tours of the house can be arranged in advance and there is a maximum of 10 people allowed per tour.
Amenities: There is no wheelchair access to the interior of the house. There is a public car park.
Opening hours and costs: Admission and tour of the MacDiarmada house is FREE and tours commence from the heritage centre in the village, booking in advance is advised. Opening hours are Monday-Wednesday 10am-2pm, Thursday and Friday 10am-4pm and Saturday 12-3pm.
4. Costello Memorial Chapel, Carrick-on-Shannon
At 16ft long, 12ft wide and 30ft tall, the Costello Memorial Chapel is the smallest church in Ireland and the second smallest chapel in the world. It was erected in the 1700s by Sir Edward Costello in memory of his wife and both are laid to rest at the chapel today.
Amenities: There is full access to wheelchair users.
Opening hours and costs: The chapel is FREE to visit and is open from 11am-4pm with late openings in the summer months.
5. Birthplace of Margaret of New Orleans, Carrigallen
The memorial cottage was built to honour Margaret Haughery known as Margaret of New Orleans. Margaret left Ireland in 1818 and became an entrepreneur and philanthropist in New Orleans, helping the poor as well as orphaned children. Visitors are invited to walk in her footsteps and view the statue erected in her honour.
Amenities: There are toilets on site and there is no wheelchair access.
Opening hours and costs: The birthplace is open on Sundays from 2-5pm and visits can be arranged for other times by appointment. Donations are welcome.
Thanks to Leitrim Tourism for recommendations.
LATER TONIGHT: Top 5 must-sees in Longford.
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I’d love one to drive home after the night shift, I could have a quick snooze and “hopefully” I won’t kill anyone.
Father Ted had one years ago!
*Tesla
People kill and injure thousands of other people each year on the worlds roads- computers are bound to do better-
always a good day when you dont hit someone.
Except for the Micra / Yaris driver who takes half an hour to go round a corner
Perhaps it might stop them savages from running down people at bus stops and then choping the injured with and ax!
Fingers crossed, be grand they said……
rise of the machines
this is awesome. My next car will be a Tesla.
Honestly I don’t see how one of these vehicles could be better than a competent driver. They’re susceptible to all kinds of software and hardware issues which could cause fatal accidents and they could be vulnerable to unsolicited electronic access. Not to mention the fact that cars will become much more expensive to manufacture and maintain as a result.
I think in theory it’s a good idea but in practice it will fail.
ya gotta start somewhere. otherwise progress will never be made!
“a motorised carriage fuelled by highly combustible liquid!? I think in theory it’s a good idea but in practice it will fail.” – Some dude, circa 1900
You can’t see how because you don’t know the first thing about machine learning. Google ‘s cars are already safer than competent drivers.
Why would cars that don’t need steering wheels and peddles be more expensive?
I’m pretty sure a full suite of computers, sensors and AI programming are more expensive than a steering wheel and a couple of peddles Jake.
Hólec, for every one design out there that succeeds there’s a ton more that fail. How are those flying car designs which were supposed to revolutionise travel coming along? Hell even jetpacks were toted as the personal transport revolution and promptly dropped.
Jason, open up to the spirit of endeavour.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.
“I’m pretty sure a full suite of computers, sensors and AI programming are more expensive than a steering wheel and a couple of peddles Jake”
So Tesla uses a system of radar and cameras. They’re not that expensive. They were included with all of their models and did not increase the price of the car. Tesla will be selling a $35K model starting next year and it too will include the radar and cameras.
Then there is the fact that Tesla’s are electric cars and cost fukc all to run compared to an ICE.
As for computers, cars already have on-board computers and have since the 1980s. The biggest problem facing manufacturers of self-driving cars is the software, not hardware.
‘They’re susceptible to all kinds of software and hardware issues which could cause fatal accidents and they could be vulnerable to unsolicited electronic access.’
You could say the same of human drivers.
Another one of these cars that Feds could switch off remotely and lock you in side or worse again crash it into something.
Michael Hastings, ‘Rolling Stone’ Contributor,died at the age of 33
Denmark is slowly retreating from some of its most ambitious, self-regarding climate initiatives. In an unforeseen attack of common sense, the government is readying to end its generous tax breaks for citizens who buy low-carbon vehicles because of the expense imposed on the public purse.
This will triple the retail price of electric cars like the popular Tesla (Model X pictured above) and remove their competitive price advantage against standard fossil fuel-powered models.
A draft budget proposed last week would extend an existing 180 per cent automobile tax to electric vehicles and place their pricing alongside all other standard competitors.
HT Simon Kent Breitbart
To be honest, I’m glad they’re pulling support for electrical vehicles. Evidence has shown that the production processes involved in making these electrical cars is even worse for the environment than standard hydrocarbon vehicles. That and they still contribute negatively to CO2 emissions unless the entire grid is powered by sustainable fuels (which almost nobody has achieved).
The only vehicles that stand a reasonable chance of having a positive effect are hydrogen cars and even then the production process for hydrogen fuel requires gas.
This is what the Chinese get from all this green nonsense, just one on the many many articles on this pollution available http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/01/28/article-1350811-0CF36063000005DC-625_634x286.jpg
I wish I was a kid again so that when I grew up I coud be like Elon Musk.
I’m honestly more concerned about it ‘self-parking’ itself into the side of the Ferrari or the Porsche that my neighbours in the garage drive than it hitting a person.
Try not parking it in your neighbours garage.
With increased interest in autonomous vehicles – everyone and their mother seems to be looking into autonomous driving – at what point do pedestrians themselves become responsible for crossing a road out side of pedestrian/zebra crossings. No matter how good software and sensor arrays get they can’t predict or be responsible for stupidity.
They can predict about as well as a human diver and react far far quicker
And they’re unlikely to down ten pints, smoke an ounce of weed before attempting to drive home.
did he not launch these on the Simpsons a few months back
have your say