The ten greatest places to visit in Ireland - SEE PHOTOS

SEE PHOTOS - Greatest spots in Ireland

1.     Dublin can be heaven….especially on a sunny summer’s morning in Stephen’s Green, or a stroll down Grafton Street, the main shopping fare, and breakfast in Beweley’s coffee shop where you will feel like you have stepped back in time.

2.     The fishing boats at Dingle.. the Gaelic speaking town at the heart of the West Kerry Gaeltacht is a wondrous place to be. Tiny cobblestoned streets, beautiful Atlantic scenery, wonderful pubs and craic. ..and the soft tones of the oldest language in Europe…perfect.

3.     Sun going down on Galway Bay.... Galway City is the jewel of the West of Ireland, with the liveliest social scene in the whole country. Be there for Galway Races or the Arts Festival and watch the city come to life with a million musicians, gamblers, actors and entertainer sin one of the great scenes of life

4.     I will arise and go now.. Yeats country, essentially County Sligo, awash in memories of the greatest poet in the English language.
He name checked every little town and village river and and pools that could ‘ scarcely bathe a star.’ Go see his grave at Drumcliffe under the majestic Ben Bulben mountain and visit Rosse’s Point and Strandhill. Earth has nothing to show more fair

5.     To see old Shannon’s face again…. John F.Kenendy was captivated by the beauty of the Shannon region during his visit to Ireland in 1963 and it easy to see why. It encompasses both Limerick and Clare and stretches from glorious beaches like Lahinch and Kilkee to the rugged grandeur of the Cliffs of Moher and inland to wonderful little towns and villages.

6.     Tara of the Kings.. The Hill of Tara was the center fo the old civilization in Ireland, where kings were crowned and battles fought and won and tribes made merry. It’s in County Meath, just twenty miles or so from Dublin , take a giant step back into the past.

7.     I wish I was in Carrickfergus….. and the beautiful Northern Ireland coastline north of Belfast. Unspoilt and untouched because of the former Troubles, the road North from Belfast is a magical mystery tour of the Giants Causeway, quaint little towns and wonderful beaches. You can spy Scotland in the distance

8.    You take the high road.. to the Donegal highlands, again impossibly remote and almost inaccessible, but well worth the effort. Towering mountains, wild seas, and gorgeous scenery, perhaps Ireland’s best-kept secret.

9.     They say that the lakes of Killarney are fair.. and indeed, they are. The County Kerry town was first made famous when Queen Victoria of all people, pitched up there for a vacation back in the 1890s. She knew well what she was doing, not just the lakes, but also the mountains the valleys. the streams make it’ heaven’s reflex’– a must- see destination beloved by Americans.

10.    Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.... just across the border in County Down lie Warrenpoint and several little fishing villages, all in the shadow of the mighty Mourne mountains, which do indeed sweep down to the sea at this precious spot. The golf courses are magnificent – Ryder Cup star Rory McIlroy grew up here and the scenery is spectacular.