Sweet Vale of Avoca, how calm could I rest
In thy bosom of shade, with the friends I love best,
Where the storms that we feel in this cold world should cease,
And our hearts, like thy waters, be mingled in peace.

from "The Meeting of the Waters" by Thomas Moore

A 15-minute vertical walk in South County Dublin to the ruins of an 18th-century house that was the scene of unspeakable debauchery (which I'll tell you about) and is reputed to be haunted by the devil in the form of a black cat.

From the Hell Fire Club, we drive through the Featherbeds and peat bogs of the Wicklow Hills.

A brief stop at a scenic waterfall before we begin the descent to Glendalough.

Gleann dá Locha, the Valley of Two Lakes, is in the Wicklow Hills about 25 miles south of Dublin. It was founded in the sixth century by Saint Kevin as a monastery and university. Up to 6000 students, teachers and monks would have been in residence at one time.

This and other centres of education organised by Christian monks "kept the light of learning alive" in Ireland when civilisation on the Continent had broken down during the Middle Ages. Hear legends about St Kevin, see the picturesque ruins, and take a pleasant stroll through the woods to the Upper Lake. For more exercise and a spectacular view, we usually then walk up a short, sharp hill to amble high along the side of the glen for about an hour and a half. Admission fee for the optional visitors centre.

First, while our shoes are still clean, we will visit the 18th-century Russborough House, with its expensive furnishings, including the famous Beit collection of Dutch, Flemish, Spanish, Italian, French and English paintings.

Then we will enter Saint Kevin's Cave where the saint of Glendalough went to escape the crowds. We see Saint Kevin's Chair, the 12th-century Norman motte of Geoffrey de Marisco and a replica road used in the Michael Collins film.

Next, we visit the 4000-year-old Athgreany (Field of the Sun) Stone Circle, dedicated to sun worship.

Finally, explore Seefin (Seat of Fionn), a 5000-year-old passage tomb, and hear stories about Fionn mac Cumhaill, the super-hero of folk legend.

Ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, seat of Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland archbishops; Catholic and Protestant cathedrals are set on facing hills.

Political and religious capital of the Ulaid (Ulster people) until the first century BC, when it was thoroughly and ceremonially destroyed. Video of the history and legends of Ulster and a "Real World" hands-on exhibit.

Walk the recently restored 17th-century wall, the only remaining unbroken city wall in Europe; the (Protestant) Apprentice Boys Hall, also recently restored, overlooks the Catholic bogside neighbourhood and "Free Derry Corner". We usually overnight in Derry.

12th-century stone fort of the O'Neills

Picturesque 12th-century promontory castle

40,000 mostly hexagonal basalt columns; primary tourist attraction since the 17th century

A sturdy, secure, safe board and rope bridge to a small island (or big rock). Not for the faint-hearted. Summer season only.

Drive through the scenic glens along the coast

During our two-day Tour, I tell stories from the oldest vernacular epic in European literature: the invasion of Ulster by the rest of Ireland 2000 years ago. The old story-tellers used to spend a week of evenings telling the story of the Táin -- "the Iliad of Ireland ... the queen of Irish epic tales, and the wildest and most fascinating saga-tale, not only of the entire Celtic world, but even of all western Europe" (from the preface to The Ancient Irish Epic Tale: Táin Bó Cúalnge, Joseph Dunn; David Nutt, London, 1914).

Galway, the gateway to the Connemara Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area), is the home of University College Galway, the most Irish of the universities, and has always been a favourite of students and other visitors to Ireland. The arts are very much alive, from traditional music to theatre, painting and literature.

Inis Mór (Big Island) is the largest of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, where the traditional way of life is still followed, including the speaking of Irish -- although the Islanders all speak English as well. The famous Iron Age fort, Dún Aenghus, set at the edge of a cliff, is the most spectacular of the national monuments to be seen.

A full-day scenic tour of "the real Ireland" by coach.

A full-day scenic tour of the Burren, an area of special botanical interest, and the 600ft (200m) Cliffs of Moher.

The full version of this tour is 5 days: a half-day travel to Galway, a half-day in Galway, two days and one night on Inis Mór, one day in Connemara and one day in Clare, including 3 nights in Galway. It can be reduced to 3 or 4 days by deleting Clare or Connemara and/or one day and the night on Inis Mór.

This special-interest tour takes in a variety of defensive earthworks, hill-forts, ring forts and a crannóg, including Rathgall, Brusselstown Ring (the largest hill-fort in Europe at 132 hectares), Crossoona Rath, Davidstown Motte, all in Wicklow, and the tri-vallate Ring of Sillagh in Kildare; plus others as time allows. Sites date from the Iron Age through the Anglo-Norman occupation. Details on request.