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The timber-beamed ceilings, wooden floors, and brick walls give a cozy feel to this pub in the tiny village of Rossnowlagh in County Donegal. Overlooking the long golden Rossnowlagh Beach and Donegal Bay, the pub specializes in seafood, with tasty oysters, mussels, and crab claws appearing on the menu at the Conservatory restaurant and Gallery dining room. There’s a very popular Sunday lunch and, from June to October, live music every Saturday night.

Farmgate Café is a lively spot upstairs at the buzzing English Market, Ireland’s oldest food market, in Cork City Centre, with balcony seating that has great views of the bustling crowds and vendors below. Try some traditional Irish favorites, such as seafood chowder, rock oysters, lamb stew, or a version of bangers and mash—pork sausages with mashed potato, lentils, and bacon. Make sure to try a local black pudding–like delicacy called drisheen, and save room for the delicious cakes.

St. Dymphna, a seventh-century peasant who was eventually canonized, is said to have founded the church that this atmospheric cemetery is centered around. Dymphna is the patron saint of mental and nervous disorders and if you’re uptight or have anxiety, Achill will definitely put you at ease. After all, this aesthetically pleasing cemetery isn’t the only reason to come to Achill Island, Ireland‘s largest island, located in County Mayo on the country’s western shores. There’s a ghostly deserted village, a 26-mile bike trail that leads you to the island (the Great Western Greenway, starting in the town of Westport) and people so friendly you’ll wonder what is in the water (or the Guinness). But the main reason to come to Achill are for the spectacular views. Drive around the periphery of the island—as I recently did—and prepare to be shocked and awed by some of the most stunning scenery your eyes will encounter while in Ireland. You’ll pray to St. Dymphna that luck and fortune will bring you back here some day.

Dingle is a charming fishing village in County Kerry, Ireland, and a popular tourist destination known for fresh seafood, sunrises, rolling hills, and live music. I enjoyed the music we heard in the bars and pubs we visited (the Guinness we drank keeps me from remembering all of it), but was particularly fond of the street buskers we met throughout the city. We met this gentleman on The Wood, and parted with a few pennies as he played us a tune. I was surprised at how many people walked right past him without lending an ear, only to slip into a crowded pub and stand some fifty yards away from the musicians on the stage.

If a hotel has a swank spa that administers treatments using ultra-expensive (and effective) Sisley products, it’s probably something special. And if those treatments come in a Victorian manse overlooking the placid waters of Kenmare Bay in Southwestern Ireland’s Ring of Kerry, it’s yet more likely to engage even the jaded traveler’s predilections for plush resorts. Kenmare Manor, a turn-of-the-19th-century stone building backed by patchwork hills and forests, looks like something out of a storybook. But it’s more than attractive: At SÁMAS spa, the treatments, which are indeed high-caliber, come with views of the misty woods (from the pool) and the bay and mountains (from the relaxation room). Staff are attentive to even tiny details, like buttery Irish shortbread at turndown. Breakfasts of smoked salmon and eggs and flaky scones are served by smartly dressed waiters rather than set out at a buffet. The hotel’s restaurant is known as one of the best in the country for wild-mushroom risotto and Kerry lamb loin with eucalyptus-flavored peas.

Quirky is the word for Castle Leslie Estate in Monaghan—near the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland—where rooms are arranged at the end of higgledy-piggledy corridors and long flights of stairs. The winding layout and overstuffed armchairs in the lobby make the vine-swathed, 19th-century castle feel like a family residence—and it feels even more homey when you see the castle’s nonagenarian owner, Sir John Leslie, Fourth Baronet (or Sir Jack to guests), chatting with visitors in his pajamas around midday.

There are a thousand acres to explore, three lakes to row around, forests to get lost in, streams to follow, and horse trails to trot along (starting in the equestrian center and livery near the main house). So at the end of the day there’s nothing left to do but sit by the fire and engage Sir Jack in a long chat. Rooms are scattered throughout the estate: in the castle, of course, but also in the former hunting lodge, stable mews, and village cottages.

If you’re a fan of history and/or photography, be sure to spend time at Charles Fort in County Cork. This National Monument of Ireland is the bastion on the water’s edge near Kinsale, and is open year round. The fort was built on the site of an earlier stronghold known as Ringcurran Castle, that was featured prominently during the Siege of Kinsale in 1601. The fort you see today was built in the 1670s and 1680s to a star fortification design - a layout specifically designed to resist attack by cannon.

When in Dublin city center, it’s hard to miss the Jeanie Johnston tall ship tied to a quay on the River Liffey. The ship you see is actually a replica of a ship that transported emigrants to Canada during the Great Famine, taking a total of 2,500 people over the Atlantic between the years 1848 to 1855, a period when a million people left Ireland and another million died of starvation. A guided tour above and below decks on the ship tells stories of the ship and some of those who traveled on her, enduring harsh conditions during voyages which could take up to six weeks.

The island of Ireland has a history of emigration—a million people emigrated during famine times, and today on the U.S. census, 40 million people claim Irish roots; worldwide, the figure is around 70 million. EPIC is the world’s first digital museum where, through a series of interactive exhibits, you learn the stories of the Irish around the world, and learn about their input and influence on everything from art, culture and music to sports, science, and even politics (22 U.S. presidents have claimed Irish roots). The museum is self-guided so you can spend as much time as you like in each section. A separate genealogy service at the end helps those tracing their Irish roots. The museum’s setting in the vaults of Dublin’s old dockside warehouse at CHQ adds to the experience.

Visiting this cheese shop was like touring Costco during Christmas. Samples, my friends. Samples. I’ve never tried so many different cheeses in my entire life, and I’m certain I left this little shop lactose intolerant. And I would do it over in a heartbeat. Ireland‘s cheese scene really is something to behold, and this is the place to stock up your picnic basket prior to touring the Dingle Peninsula. I’m a fan of the heavy, funky stuff - the more mold the better - but I’m sure you’ll find something to suit your fancy under this roof. Don’t forget the bread.

Fancy yourself a brave one, do ye? Aye, aye, then the Cliffs of Moher are right up your alley. Ireland‘s most popular tourist destination does not disappoint, though visiting during the middle of the day means you’re going to have to share the walking paths with plenty of other folk - most of them American visitors in their finest Notre Dame Fighting Irish t-shirts. Come early in the morning or late in the afternoon and you’ll have the cliffs, beautiful light, and ancient rock monsters all to yourself. That’s right; rock monsters. That’s one giving tourists the finger right there in the ocean.

In some ways, the Cliff House Hotel is just a resting place for people looking to eat in its highly regarded Michelin-starred restaurant, but the hotel’s loft-style bedrooms are also among the most modern and stylish anywhere in this country. (Plus, each room has a terrace or veranda, and even the rain-forest showers have sea views.) The House Restaurant, though, is a highlight, and it’s unusual in Ireland because Dutch chef Martijn Kajuiter prepares food that is highly wrought, inventive, and beautifully plated—but also deliciously unpretentious. That sense of unfussiness might have something to do with the dining room itself, which is neither too stark nor too clubby, and edged by a glass wall overlooking the calm blue waters of the Celtic Sea. The hotel overlooks Ardmore Bay, 140 miles south of Dublin, and the spa’s impressive yoga program, indoor infinity pool, stone outdoor baths, and Jacuzzi can help guests counterbalance any evening’s indulgences.

Pass through the iconic arched doorway at College Green and enter the elegant quads, handsome architecture and verdant lawns of Trinity College, one of Ireland‘s most prestigious universities. Among its many attributes is the atmospheric 18th-century Old Library, whose most precious tome is the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells, a priceless illuminated manuscript. Also worth a visit are the college’s Douglas Hyde Gallery, devoted to contemporary art, and the thought-provoking Science Gallery.

What a safe and easy way to escape the city! From Dublin’s Connelly Street, you can be there in 20 minutes using the DART. It’s quick, easy and safe. I decided to venture out to this fishing village and I was not disappointed! Great down time, stunning views (great change from looking at all the city buildings) friendly folks and out of this world dining!!! Seafood is definitely the order of the day but I can’t guarantee that it was caught from off the nearby pier!

Glendalough, or Gleann Dá Loch in Irish (which means “valley of two lakes”), is a quiet, picturesque valley near the Wicklow Mountains. Its 6th-century monastic settlement founded by St. Kevin is one of the most important in Ireland, and it’s surrounded by dewy grass and heather, lush hills, mossy rocks, and an impressive variety of wildlife. Monastic City itself includes the remains of ancient stone churches, a priests’ house, a stone fort, and a 100-foot round bell tower. The cemetery is fascinating with its lichen-covered headstones tilted every which way amid unkempt vegetation. Generations of Irish family histories are contained in this small plot of land, which is an integral part of this site. Glendalough is about 90 minutes’ south of Dublin and makes for a worthwhile day tour that includes sightseeing and hiking followed by a visit to a cozy local pub.