TRAVEL SPECIAL: Rediscover Ireland's Ancient East

5,000 years of history sweeps the length of the country, gathering more stories as it goes.

Ireland’s ancient east is a region of Ireland that is brimming with history, culture, tradition, stories and storytellers. It’s waiting to be discovered and re-discovered.

Stretching from Carlingford in Louth to Cork and from Cavan to Carnsore, Wexford it manages to gather together food, festivals, history, nature, sport, the sea and land, battles and peaceful gardens and much more in one attractive, adventurous package. Ireland’s ancient east is 5,000 years of history, as typified by the Brú na Bóinne UnesCO World Heritage site at Newgrange and Knowth, and countless other treasures that lend the area its distinct character.

This is a place where five millennia of history reverberate to the present day, where the wonders of the megalithic Brownshill dolmen in Co Carlow continues to cast its spell. A place where Enniscorthy Castle and Clonmacnoise and the Waterford Viking Triangle speak of an Ireland both past and present, and where memories are made among the ruins of st Kevin’s monastery at Glendalough and the stunningly located rock of Cashel.

Stories are everywhere in Ireland’s ancient east. At Belvedere House & Gardens, in County Westmeath, you can hear tales of cruel Robert Rochford who kept his wife imprisoned for over 30 years and who also built Ireland’s largest folly ‘The Jealous Wall’. And if you thought there was no more you could discover more about the most famous ocean liner of them all, you will be surprised at what else there is to uncover at the Titanic experience Cobh.

Each time you visit, you will unearth a different set of secrets and in turn have your own unique experiences to share. Ireland’s ancient east gives us an opportunity to wander through 5,000 years of history, a place of conquests and rebellion, and community and family kinships.

But it’s also a wonderfully diverse region of stunning natural beauty like the beautiful bogland in the flat central plains of Offaly and Longford, golden beaches in Wexford and Waterford and lush pastures in Tipperary and Kilkenny.

It is dotted with great buildings like Powerscourt’s restored Palladian mansion and glorious gardens such as the 18th Century landscaped park at emo Court in laois. This is a region whose attractions can be as much off the beaten tourist track as on, like the ancient ruin of the rock of Dunamase in Co Laois or the surreal Victoria’s Way park near Roundwood in Wicklow.

It’s a place to be spooked at leap Castle in Offaly and taken back in time in the atmospheric fortress of Athlone Castle. It’s also a place to go mountain biking along the Barrow Way in Co Carlow or to zip-line among the trees at Oldcastle, Co Meath.

It’s about experiencing some of the best festivals the country has to offer - from the internationally renowned electric Picnic in Stradbally Co Laois, to events of a quirkier hue, such as the Trim Haymaking Festival in Co Meath.

Ireland’s ancient east is about reacquainting ourselves with what it means to be Irish, just waiting to capture the imaginations of young and old into the summer and beyond, and it’s all just a short journey away no matter where in the country you live. It’s waiting for you.

For more information on this exciting new initiative, see here

For more articles like this one, have a read of our Summer 2016 Your Ireland Tourism Magazine