☘️ Ireland, from two people who actually live here
🇮🇪 IrelandOur homeFirst-hand · local · still exploring
Ireland — our home, and we're still discovering it
We travel all over the world, but some of our favourite discoveries have been right here at home. We're Nicola and Padraig from Carlow, and this is our growing guide to Ireland — castles, country houses, gardens, ancient sites, brilliant little towns, road trips and the places we'd driven past for years until we finally stopped.
Start with one of our county guides. Most combine our own visits, local connections, videos and practical ideas. All 32 counties now have a guide! Most of our newest are researched guides, and we'll add our own visits and videos to them as we go. Dublin and Donegal already mix research with our own videos.
💎 Hidden IrelandOn videoOur favourite kind of Ireland
The places most tourists drive straight past
Ruins on the side of roads, extraordinary gardens, castles without queues, little museums, curious villages and places that make us ask: why does nobody know about this? Hidden Ireland is our collection of those finds.
🎁 Free guide — 10 Deadly Irish Hidden Gems
Quirky Irish spots worth putting on your next road trip — without the usual Cliffs of Moher and Blarney Stone list.
Haunted castles, witches, banshees and a headless horseman or two. Friday Night Frights explores the spooky stories and folklore hidden in towns, castles and countryside across Ireland.
🕯️ The first fright arrives Friday 23 October — with a new tale every Friday night after that.
Co. Laois · Castle ruin
The Rock of Dunamase
Perched high above the Laois countryside, these ruins have seen bloody battles and Viking raids. Local folklore tells of treasure buried by the O’Moore clan, guarded by a terrifying black hound known as the Bandog — and of mischievous fairies too.
In 1324, wealthy Dame Alice Kyteler, married four times, was accused by her stepchildren of using dark magic to murder her husbands. Alice escaped, but her servant Petronilla de Meath was burned at the stake — the first recorded execution for witchcraft in Ireland.
High on Montpelier Hill, this 18th-century hunting lodge was linked to a notorious club rumoured to dabble in black magic. Its most famous legend? A stranger at the card table who turned out to have a cloven hoof.
Thousands of ancient circular earthworks dot the countryside, long believed to be home to the Aos Sí. Farmers still won’t disturb them — legend warns that anyone who does risks terrible misfortune.
Ireland’s headless horseman rides through the night with his own head under his arm, and when he stops, someone is destined to die. No locked gate can stop him — but even a tiny piece of gold will send him fleeing.
The Gothic ruins of this once-grand estate are tied to tales of a family curse and a Banshee whose cries foretold death. Fire gutted the house in 1933, leaving the eerie towers and crumbling walls you see today.
Turned into swans by their jealous stepmother Aoife, the four children of King Lir spent 900 years on Ireland’s waters, from Lough Derravaragh to the Sea of Moyle. One of Ireland’s most beautiful — and heartbreaking — legends.
Carlow Castle — The Fortress That Fell to a Doctor
This 13th-century Norman fortress beside the River Barrow survived centuries of conflict, only to be brought down in 1814 by a doctor using explosives to turn it into an asylum. Some castles fall to armies…
Legend says a Carlow witch, feuding with her Wexford neighbour, hurled an enormous boulder — then tumbled down the mountain, carving the tracks still known as the Witch’s Slide. The boulder is said to stand in Clonee to this day.
The Bean Sí, “woman of the fairy mound”, is said to wail before a death in certain Irish families — sometimes a young woman with silver hair, sometimes an old hag in grey. And never pick up a mysterious silver comb…
A shape-shifter that might appear as a black horse with glowing golden eyes, tricking travellers into a wild ride through the night. Closely tied to Samhain, the festival that gave us Halloween.
Puck, a 16th-century court jester, was found stabbed outside the castle walls after falling for a noblewoman. He swore to haunt Malahide until a master of the house married a woman of common birth.
A charming stranger, a game of cards, a dropped card — and a cloven hoof. The legend of Anne Tottenham has made Loftus Hall one of Ireland’s most infamous haunted houses.
Tap a marker to jump into the matching county guide or Hidden Ireland find.
LeinsterMunsterConnachtUlster
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No stock photos here
Ireland through our lens
Every photo on this page is from our own travels around Ireland — no stock images.
🇮🇪 First-hand only
We're exploring Ireland one county at a time
This isn't a generic Ireland guide written from a desk. The places we feature come from somewhere we've actually visited, filmed or explored ourselves.
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Pick a direction
Explore Ireland by province
Leinster is home, so it's where our guides go deepest — but every corner of the island has something worth the drive.
☘️ Our home province
Leinster
Carlow, Kilkenny, Laois, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford and the brilliant corners of Ireland closest to home.
Our own Ireland is mostly back roads and hidden corners — but if you'd rather have the classic loop of Connemara, the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher and Kerry organised for you, these are two itineraries we'd start by looking at. These are our picks, not tours we've personally taken.
☘️ Small group
10 Day Wild Irish Experience
A 10-day small-group journey starting and ending in Dublin, with stops including Clonmacnoise, Connemara, Kylemore Abbey, the Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Dingle, Killarney, Blarney and Kilkenny.
Disclosure: Klook links are affiliate links. If you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
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One more from the road
More Ireland through our lens
Our own photographs from Ireland — no stock images.
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The best bits are often between stops
Our Ireland road-trip tips
Leave room for detours. Some of our favourite discoveries began with a sign, a gate or a road we'd never taken before.
Download maps before rural drives. Mobile coverage can still disappear exactly when you decide to leave the main road.
Watch for heritage signs. Ireland is packed with ruins, monastic sites, gardens, castles and monuments that barely advertise themselves.
Bring waterproof layers. Sunshine at breakfast tells you very little about what the afternoon is going to do.
Don't judge distance by kilometres alone. Smaller roads, tractors, villages and photo stops can make a short-looking journey take much longer.
Ask people locally. A recommendation from somebody behind a bar, café counter or shop till can be better than an hour of scrolling.
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Common questions
Ireland travel FAQ
What are the best places to visit in Ireland?
There isn't one perfect list. Ireland's famous places are famous for a reason, but we think some of the best trips mix them with smaller towns, heritage sites and unexpected stops. That's why this hub is organised around the Ireland we've actually explored rather than a generic top-ten list.
What parts of Ireland do tourists miss?
The Midlands and South Leinster are regularly overlooked beside Dublin and the west coast. Our Hidden Ireland collection is specifically about the places that deserve more attention.
Do I need a car to explore Ireland?
For major cities, no. For the kind of Ireland we love exploring — rural heritage sites, gardens, small towns and spontaneous stops — a car makes a huge difference.
What is the best time of year to visit Ireland?
Late spring through early autumn gives longer daylight for road trips, while spring and autumn can be quieter. The weather is changeable year-round, so we plan around what we want to see rather than waiting for a guaranteed sunny week!
Where can I find unusual places in Ireland?
Start with our Hidden Ireland guide. It's where we collect the castles, ruins, gardens, quirky attractions and overlooked places that have surprised us most.
Come explore Ireland with us
Start in our home counties, dive into Hidden Ireland, or pick any of our 32 county guides and see where it takes you.
