It is the National Cathedral of the chuch of Ireland.

It was built on a site where Saint Patrick is said to have baptized the pagan Irish.

It began as a college of priests and became a cathedral around 1220.

It was the largest church in medieval Ireland and was built in a harmonious early English Gothic style.

It was consecrated in 1254.

Between 1832 and 1904 the Guinness family financed its extensive restoration which succeeded in leaving much of the medieval fabric intact.

Its most famous dean was Jonathan Swift from 1713 to 1745.

He was of course the author of Gullivers Travels and is buried in the cathedral.

Come and see Ireland with all its history and architecture on our special tours of Ireland.

We at Ireland Luxury Tours pride ourselves in our Ireland tours because of the bespoke nature of our itineraries.

If you fancy an extended tour taking in Dublin , Cork , Galway , and Belfast email us for great deals.

Or if you would like a nice Belfast tour or one taking in the Giants causeway and North coast then just email us.

Our tours of Ireland are among the best Ireland tours available.

As a small family run company we make sure that you see the real Ireland.

A wild esolate looking town with a slendidly wide main street which is the ideal base for exploring the great natural beauties of the West.

The 2 hour journey fron Galway provides a truly memorable approach.

Situated between the Atlantic and the peaks of the Twelve Bens Clifden has an almost alpine air and is most refreshing.

Two buildings dominate the town. The Protestant church built in 1820 , just eight years after Clifden was founded , has a silver copy of the Cross of Cong.

The Catholic church , built in 1830 , stands on the site of an ancient CLOCHAN or beehive shaped monastic stone from which Clifden takes its name.

At Ireland Luxury Tours we book our clients into the fantastic Ballynahinch Castle nearby. It is the first stop of our seven days Ireland tours….and one of our most popular.

From the castle we can explore Galway city and the wild countryside of the West…..and of course Clifden.

For truly unique tours of Ireland contact the specialists “Ireland Luxury Tours”

The county, which stretches over 745 square miles, has a population of approx 60,000.

Cavan town is the county capital and the cathedral center of the diocese of Kilmore. Before the English conquest, the O’Reilly clan dominated the area, which was then known as Breifni, also included Leitrim.

Cavan is essentially agrarian. Throughout the county there are 365 lakes.

The southern part, with its fertile, rolling hills and tidy towns , borders and resembles Leinster.

The north, rugged, mountainous, and thinly populated, blends elements of Connacht and Ulster.

The northwest parish of Killanagh in the barony of Tullyhaw, dominated by the mountain Cuilcagh (2,199 ft), is a scenic area, still largely undiscovered by tourists ( a real hidden gem ). Close to the mountain’s base, the Shannon Pot, a pool fed by a spring, is the source of Ireland’s longest river.

Cavan is also the source of the Erne, the river that produces the lovely lake country of Fermanagh.

A few hundred yards from the Shannon Pot, in the town land of Moneygashel, are interesting early Celtic archaeological sites – a ring fort and sweat house with instruments and ornaments of the times. Ring forts are also common in other parts of the county.

The remains of Cloghoughter Castle, on an island in Lough Oughter, offers the best example of the native Irish style of circular tower castles of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries. Owen Roe O’Niell, the leading general of the Catholic Confederation, died there in 1649.

At Drumlane near Beltrurbet  are the remains of a twelfth-century round tower.

In 1726, Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travels in the home of his friend Thomas Sheridan near the town of Virginia.

A celebrated personality with Cavan connections is Philip Sheridan, an American Civil War General.

See it on Ireland tours and tours of Ireland with the best little company in Ireland….Ireland Luxury Tours !!!!

One of the particular attractions is Port Cuan (or Coon) which is a huge cave accessed by boat. Once upon a time the tourist guides would blow bugles so visitors could experience the dramatic echo inside the cave’s Gothic proportions.

Despite somewhat choleric view of Dr Samuel Johnston that the Giant’s Causeway was worth seeing “but not worth going to see”, it remains a major tourist attraction, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There is much geological history here, as well as outstanding sea views and challenging cliff-path walks which are rewarding but worthy of caution.

The area is also in the care of the National Trust, which also owns the period Causeway Hotel nearby. It is well-known for serving some of the heartiest food and drink in all of Ireland, including a “mixed-grill” of gargantuan proportions which almost requires two plates per person!

Nearby Bushmills was also the focus of a hitherto little known story whereby a former revolutionary new navigational code developed by the German Luftwaffe and named “Consol” was captured by the British during the Second World War. It was later adapted as a key navigational aid for European aircraft in peace-time. The Consol system was installed in a small building three miles outside Bushmills. It was opened in 1946 with the appropriate call signal “MWN-Mike-Whiskey-November”, and for many years its 310 feet  masts were a feature on the Causeway Coast landscape until it was overtaken by new technology and closed down on 30 September 1976.

The system was switched off some 90 minutes before the official time of midnight – so that the “farewell party” would reach the bar at the Bay View Hotel in Portballintrae before closing time.

The Bay View, a hostelry of character and popular hotel still entertains the weary or thirsty although the coastal village of Portballintrae has now been transformed by modern developments.

Any Ireland tours should include this coastline and in particular the Giants Causeway.

At Ireland Luxury Tours we spend a day on this coast on our tours of Ireland.

It is also worth a day tour out of Belfast if you are staying in a hotel or visiting on a cruise ship.

Beyond Castlerock on the road to Downhill is the entrance to the Bishop’s Glen and Mussenden Temple. there are beautiful walks along the Glen and past the old Bishop’s Palace, now in ruins, and on to Mussenden Temple, which is perched on an outcrop overlooking a long stretch of beach.

This is one of the the best known structure in Northern Ireland, and was built in the late eighteenth century by Frederick Augustus Hervey, the 4th Earl of Bristol who was also the Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry. Known also as “the Temple of the Winds” because of its weather beaten location, it was inspired by the temples of Vesta at Tivoli in Rome, ad was named in honor of the Bishop’s young cousin, the beautiful Mrs Mussenden – although she died before it was completed.

He was very much his own man, and in his day he was a champion of Catholic rights, and he made available the basement of the Mussenden temple for Roman Catholic worship, he was also delightfully eccentric, and he once staged a horse race on Magilligan Strand between Presbyterian and Anglican Clergy.

There are magnificent sea views from Mussenden Temple, which is now in the care of the National Trust, and there is also a good path back to Castlerock. For the visitor moving further along the coast, the roads winds down a steep hill to the hamlet of Downhill, and immediately left there is a steep climb on a minor road which leads to the Eagle’s Nest. this affords one of the best views along the entire North Coast.

See it all on your Ireland tour with Ireland Luxury Tours !!!!