Unforgettable events in Ireland.

Discover Ireland

Ireland occupies most of an island on Europe’s Atlantic edge, and its range is compressed into short distances: sea cliffs and limestone karst on the west coast, lakes and sandstone ridges in Kerry, pasture and raised bog through the midlands, and the UNESCO-listed passage tombs of the Boyne Valley, built before the pyramids of Giza. A maritime climate keeps the country green and mild, with long evenings through summer.

Dublin is the capital and the literary city: Georgian squares, the Book of Kells at Trinity College, Joyce and Beckett. Cork sits on the River Lee, with a covered food market and a large natural harbour downstream. Galway faces the Atlantic and keeps its medieval lanes and traditional music sessions. Limerick stands on the Shannon beneath a Norman castle, and Killarney is the gateway town to Kerry’s national park.

Top places in Ireland

• Dublin — The Book of Kells at Trinity College, Georgian doorways on Merrion Square, the National Museum and Phoenix Park.
• Galway — An Atlantic harbour city of medieval lanes and traditional music, and the gateway to Connemara and the Aran Islands.
• Killarney National Park & the Ring of Kerry — Lakes, oak woodland and sandstone peaks, with a signed road loop around the Iveragh Peninsula — where Ireland’s highest mountains rise just beyond the park.
• Cork — Ireland’s second city, on the River Lee — a covered food market, Shandon’s bell tower and the coastal towns of Cobh and Kinsale.
• Cliffs of Moher & the Burren — Sheer Atlantic sea cliffs in County Clare, beside a bare limestone karst landscape of terraces and rare wildflowers.
• Limerick — King John’s Castle on the Shannon, a medieval cathedral, Georgian terraces and one of Ireland’s hurling heartlands.