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

  • Newgrange Megalithic Passage Tomb

    Newgrange

    County Meath

    Newgrange is one of the most remarkable prehistoric sites in Europe, famous for the illumination of its passage and tomb during the winter solstice sun…

  • People at Slane Castle, Slane, Ireland

    Slane Castle

    County Meath

    Slane Castle is a 300-year-old sprawling estate on the banks of the River Boyne in County Meath.  The neo-gothic castle and grounds  are open to visitors…

  • Tayto Park

    County Meath

    At Ireland’s only permanent theme park you can ride Europe's largest wooden inverted roller coaster, Cú Chulainn. Just 45 minutes from Dublin city center,…

  • 1st August 2019, Drogheda, Ireland. The historic ruins of Monasterboice, an early Christian settlement near Drogheda in County Louth, Ireland.

    Monasterboice

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Crowing ravens lend an eerie atmosphere to Monasterboice, an intriguing monastic site down a leafy lane in sweeping farmland, which contains a cemetery,…

  • Trim Castle

    County Meath

    Proof of Trim's medieval importance, this remarkably preserved edifice was Ireland's largest Anglo-Norman fortification. Hugh de Lacy founded Trim Castle…

  • Knowth

    County Meath

    Northwest of Newgrange, the burial mound of Knowth was built around the same time. It has the greatest collection of passage-grave art ever uncovered in…

  • Old Mellifont Abbey

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    In its Anglo-Norman prime, this abbey, 1.5km off the main Drogheda–Collon road (R168), was the Cistercians' first and most magnificent centre in Ireland…

  • Millmount Museum & Tower

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Overlooking Drogheda, Millmount is an artificial hill that may have been a prehistoric burial ground like Newgrange, but has never been excavated. The…

  • Cavan Burren Park

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Just 3km south of Blacklion, within the Cuilcagh Mountain Park and traversed by the Cavan Way walking route, this other-worldly megalithic site was…

  • Cairn T

    County Meath

    At Carnbane East, Cairn T is 35m in diameter, with numerous carved stones. One of its outlying kerbstones, the Hag’s Chair, is covered in gouged holes,…

  • St Peter's Roman Catholic Church

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Displayed in a glittering brass-and-glass case in the north transept, the shrivelled head of St Oliver Plunkett (1629–81) is this church's main draw (the…

  • Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre

    County Meath

    Built in a spiral design echoing Newgrange, this superb interpretive centre houses interactive exhibits on prehistoric Ireland and its passage tombs. It…

  • IRELAND-ENVIRONMENT-CLIMATE-NATURE
A picture shows Dunsany Castle, the seat of Randal Plunkett, Baron of Dunsany, in Dunsany, northwest of Dublin, Ireland, on October 13, 2021. - Randal Plunkett, the 21st Baron of Dunsany, strides out of his Irish castle in a t-shirt bearing the name of the US death metal band "Cannibal Corpse" in bloody lettering. In the distance, a russet-coloured stag appears for a moment, bracketed by impossibly green trees, before dissolving into the 750 acres (300 hectares) of ancestral estate Plunkett has surrendered to the wilderness. - TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JOE STENSON (Photo by Paul Faith / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JOE STENSON (Photo by PAUL FAITH/AFP via Getty Images)

    Dunsany Castle

    County Meath

    You can see how the other 1% lives at Dunsany Castle, 5km south of Tara on the Dunshaughlin–Kilmessan road. The residence of the lords of Dunsany, it's…

  • St Mary's Abbey & Talbot Castle

    County Meath

    Across the River Boyne from Trim Castle are the ruins of the 12th-century Augustinian St Mary's Abbey, rebuilt after a fire in 1368 and once home to a…

  • Hill of Slane

    County Meath

    About 1km north of Slane village is the Hill of Slane, a fairly plain-looking mound that stands out only for its association with a thick slice of Celto…

  • Royal Enclosure

    County Meath

    South of Tara's church, the Royal Enclosure is a large oval Iron Age hill fort, 315m in diameter and surrounded by a bank and ditch cut through solid rock…

  • Dowth

    County Meath

    The circular mound at Dowth is similar in size to Newgrange – about 63m in diameter – but is slightly taller at 14m high. Due to safety issues, Dowth's…

  • Patrick Kavanagh Resource Centre

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Acclaimed poet Patrick Kavanagh (1904–67) was born in the picturesque little village of Inniskeen, 10km northeast of Carrickmacross. The Patrick Kavanagh…

  • St Columba

    County Meath

    The Protestant church of St Columba has a 30m-high 10th-century round tower on the southern side (today without its conical roof). In 1076 the high king…

  • Killykeen Forest Park

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Sprawling over 240 hectares, Killykeen Forest Park, 12km northwest of Cavan, has various nature trails (from 1.5km to 5.8km) that lead you through the…

  • Battle of the Boyne Site

    County Meath

    More than 60,000 soldiers of the armies of King James II and King William III fought in 1690 on this patch of farmland on the border of Counties Meath and…

  • Carrickmacross Lace Gallery

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    In the town's former cattle yards, a local cooperative runs this thimble-sized lace gallery, where you can see lace-making demonstrations and check out…

  • Loughcrew Megalithic Centre

    County Meath

    Centred on a collection of thatched cottages, the Loughcrew Megalithic Centre encompasses a museum detailing the megalithic wonders hereabouts, as well as…

  • King John's Castle

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Carlingford was first settled by the Vikings, and in the Middle Ages became an English stronghold under the protection of the now-ruined castle, which was…

  • Cuilcagh Mountain Park

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    The border between the Republic and Northern Ireland runs along the ridge of Cuilcagh Mountain, the distinctive tabletop summit of Cuilcagh Mountain Park,…

  • Rossmore Forest Park

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Crumbling remains of the Rossmore family's 19th-century castle, including its entrance stairway, buttresses and the family's pet cemetery, can still be…

  • Loughcrew Gardens

    County Meath

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

  • Fourknocks Passage Tomb

    County Meath

    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…

  • Flagstaff Viewpoint

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

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

  • Rath of the Synods

    County Meath

    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)…

  • Newtown Ruins

    County Meath

    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…

  • Newgrange Farm

    County Meath

    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…

  • Cavan County Museum

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Located inside a former convent, this museum's wide-ranging collection includes a huge array of 18th-, 19th- and 20th-century costumes and relics from the…

  • Ledwidge Museum

    County Meath

    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…

  • St Macartan's Cathedral

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    In a commanding hilltop position this neo-Gothic Catholic cathedral with stepped buttresses, turrets and an 81m-high spire was built from local grey…

  • Slane Distillery

    County Meath

    Triple-cask-matured whiskey made on-site at Slane Castle was first released in 2017. The castle's 18th-century horse stables are home to a visitor…

  • Bective Abbey

    County Meath

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

  • Banquet Hall

    County Meath

    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…

  • Monaghan County Museum

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    More than 70,000 artefacts from the Stone Age to modern times are housed at this excellent regional museum. Its crowning glory is the 14th-century Cross…

  • Carlingford Brewing Company

    Counties Meath, Louth, Cavan & Monaghan

    Tours of this craft brewery, 8km southwest of Carlingford on the R173, start with a sample, then take you through the brewing process (one to 1½ hours)…

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