The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption.It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.The Giant's Causeway is today owned and managed by the National Trust and it is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland.Around 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleogene Period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred. Horizontal contraction fractured in a similar way to drying mud, with the cracks propagating down as the mass cooled, leaving pillarlike structures, which are also fractured horizontally into "biscuits". In many cases the horizontal fracture has resulted in a bottom face that is convex while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called "ball and socket" joints. The size of the columns is primarily determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools.The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleogene.

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The Aran Islands are a group of three islands located at the mouth of Galway Bay, on the west coast of Ireland. They constitute the barony of Aran in County Galway, Ireland. From west to east they are: Inishmore, the largest; Inishmaan, the second-largest; and Inisheer, the smallest. The 1,200 inhabitants primarily speak Gaelic, which is the language used in naming the islands and their villages and townlands. Most islanders are also fluent in English.

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The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption.It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 by the Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven or eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres high, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.The Giant's Causeway is today owned and managed by the National Trust and it is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland.Around 50 to 60 million years ago,during the Paleogene Period, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred. Horizontal contraction fractured in a similar way to drying mud, with the cracks propagating down as the mass cooled, leaving pillarlike structures, which are also fractured horizontally into "biscuits". In many cases the horizontal fracture has resulted in a bottom face that is convex while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called "ball and socket" joints. The size of the columns is primarily determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools.The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic plateau called the Thulean Plateau which formed during the Paleogene.The Causeway was without a permanent visitors' centre between 2000 and 2012, as the previous building burned down in 2000.Public money was set aside to construct a new centre and, following an architectural competition, a proposal was accepted to build a new centre, designed by Dublin architectural practice Heneghan Peng, which was to be set into the ground to reduce impact to the landscape. A privately financed proposal was given preliminary approval in 2007 by the Environment Minister and DUP member Arlene Foster.However, the public money that had been allocated was frozen as a disagreement developed about the relationship between the private developer Seymour Sweeney and the DUP.It was also debated whether a private interest should be permitted to benefit from the site – given its cultural and economic importance and as it is largely owned by the National Trust. Coleraine Borough Council voted against the private plans and in favour of a public development project,and Moyle District Council similarly signalled its displeasure and gave the land on which the previous visitors' centre stood to the National Trust. This gave the Trust control of both the Causeway and surrounding land. Ultimately Mr. Sweeney dropped a legal challenge to the publicly funded plan.

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Skellig Michael, or Great Skellig, is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, 11.6 km west of the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland.A Christian monastery was founded on the island at some point between the 6th and 8th century, and was continuously occupied until its abandonment in the late 12th century.The remains of this monastery, along with most of the island itself, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1996.Skellig Michael was uninhabited prior to the foundation of its monastery.Folklore holds that Ir, son of Milesius, was buried on the island, and a text from the 8th or 9th century states that Duagh, King of West Munster, fled to "Scellecc" after a feud with the Kings of Cashel, although it is not known whether these events actually took place.The monastery's exact date of foundation is not known.The first definite reference to monastic activity on the island is a record of the death of "Suibhini of Skelig" dating from the 8th century, however Saint Fionán is claimed to have founded the monastery in the 6th century.The site had been dedicated to Saint Michael by at least 1044, however this dedication may have occurred as early as 950, around which time a new church was added to the monastery (typically done to celebrate a consecration) which was called Saint Michael's Church.The monastery remained continuously occupied until the 12th or 13th century.During this time, the climate around Skellig Michael became colder and more prone to storms, and this, along with changes to the structure of the Irish Church, prompted the community to abandon the island and move to the abbey in Ballinskelligs.Skellig Michael remained in the possession of the Order of St. Augustine until the dissolution of the Ballinskelligs abbey by Elizabeth I in 1578.Ownership was then passed to the Butler family with whom it stayed until the early 1820s, when the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin purchased the island from John Butler of Waterville in a compulsory purchase order.The Corporation constructed two lighthouses on the Atlantic side of the island, as well as associated living quarters, all of which was completed by 1826.The Office of Public Works took the remains of the monastery into guardianship in 1880, and repaired certain collapsed structures, before purchasing the island from the Commissioners of Irish Lights.

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Newcastle is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,444 people recorded in the 2001 Census. The seaside resort lies on the Irish Sea coast at the base of Slieve Donard, one of the Mourne Mountains, and is known for its sandy beach and the Royal County Down Golf Club. The town lies within the Down District Council area.The town aims to promote itself as the "activity resort" for Northern Ireland and its most special attribute is its location at the foot of Slieve Donard. The town has benefited from a multi million upgrade which makes it a high quality seaside attraction. The town is twinned with New Ross, County Wexford, in the Republic of Ireland.The name of the town is thought to derive from a castle built by Felix Magennis in the late 16th century which stood at the mouth of the Shimna River. Although it is mentioned by the name of Newcastle as early as 1433, so it is likely that another castle had previously stood there.In the 17th century Ulster ports began to rise in prominence. In 1625 William Pitt was appointed as Customer of the ports of Newcastle, Dundrum, Killough, Portaferry, Donaghadee, Bangor and Holywood.On 13 January 1843, boats from Newcastle and Annalong set out for the usual fishing stations, and were caught in a gale. 14 boats were lost in the heavy seas including a boat which had gone to the rescue. Only two boats survived, the Victoria and the Brothers.76 men perished, 46 of whom were from Newcastle. They left twenty seven widows, one hundred and eighteen children, and twenty one dependants. A Public Subscription was raised and the cottages, known as Widows Row, were built for the widows and dependants. A local song about the disaster says "Newcastle town is one long street entirely stripped of men"In 1910 Harry Ferguson flew a small plane across Newcastle beach in one of the first engine powered flights by aircraft in Ireland. He completed the flight in an attempt to win a £100 prize offered by the town for the first powered flight along the strand. His first take off ended badly, but according to a modern newspaper report 'He flew a distance of almost three miles along the foreshore at a low altitude varying between fifty and five hundred feet'. This event is recorded by a plaque on the promenade.The town's history is poorly recorded and is held mostly by local people and their stories of the past. Information on the town is available on signs throughout the forests and hills. The Mourne Mountains is the setting for many local myths and legends. There are stories of 'The Blue Lady', a woman abandoned by her husband whose ghost still haunts the mountains, and more recently the idea of a wild cat living in the Mournes. Many of the stories although have true origins are only folklore and give many of the towns attractions their names, such as Maggie's Leap being named after a local girl called Maggie, who leapt over the impressive chasm to her death while fleeing soldiers with a basket of eggs. Many other places in the Newcastle area get their names from other sources, 'The Brandy Pad', a path through the mountains, is named so because of the illegal brandy smuggling that took place through the area. Another example is Bogey Hill just above the harbour at the Southern end of the town, which is named after the carts that carried Mourne granite from the quarry on Thomas' Mountain down to the harbour. In 1897, T.R.H the Duke and Duchess of York, grandparents to Elizabeth II, visited Newcastle to open the Slieve Donard Hotel. Afterwards they visited Hugh Annesley, 5th Earl Annesley at Castlewellan Castle.Newcastle was fortunate enough to escape the worst of the Troubles and its residents both Catholic and Protestant lived in relative peace with each other though there has been considerable objection to loyalist band parades in the town.

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The A2 is a major road in Northern Ireland, a considerable length of which is often referred to the Antrim Coast Road because it follows the scenic coastline of County Antrim.Mainly a single lane in each direction, the road follows most of the coastline of Northern Ireland. It is connected in several places to other major roads.The road begins in the town of Newry, County Down and heads North-East through the fishing towns of Warrenpoint, Rostrevor and Kilkeel.After Dundrum the road continues via Ardglass to Strangford, where traffic wishing to stick to this route can take a car ferry to Portaferry. From there it meets the Irish Sea coast of the Ards Peninsula at Cloughey, and follows it through Portavogie, Ballyhalbert, Millisle and Donaghadee to Bangor, County Down, from where it becomes a major dual carriageway leading to Belfast.After its intersection with the M3, it continues through Belfast City Centre's complex one-way system via the Queen's Bridge and Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, past the Custom House and on along Corporation Street, eventually joining York Road. Along this stretch and further out the Shore Road, the main route runs along the line of the M2 and M5, to a point where the M5 ends in Newtownabbey in the northern suburbs of Belfast.

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Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland.The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Daire or Doire meaning "oak grove".In 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and the "London" prefix was added, changing the name of the city to Londonderry. While the city is more usually known as Derry,Londonderry is also used and remains the legal name.The old walled city lies on the west bank of the River Foyle, which is spanned by two road bridges and one footbridge. The city now covers both banks.The city district also extends to rural areas to the southeast. The population of the city proper was 83,652 in the 2001 Census, while the Derry Urban Area had a population of 90,736.The district is administered by Derry City Council and contains both Londonderry Port and City of Derry Airport.The Greater Derry area, that area within about 20 miles of the city, has a population of 237,000.This comprises the districts of Derry City and parts of Limavady district, Strabane district, and East Donegal, along with Inishowen.Derry is close to the border with County Donegal, with which it has had a close link for many centuries. The person traditionally seen as the 'founder' of the original Derry is Saint Colmcille, a holy man from Tír Chonaill, the old name for almost all of modern County Donegal.In 2013, Derry became the inaugural UK City of Culture, having been awarded the title in July 2010.

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Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral,is a cathedral of the Church of Ireland in Cork city, Ireland. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Begun in 1863, the cathedral was the first major work of the Victorian architect William Burges. Previously the cathedral of the Diocese of Cork, it is now one of three cathedrals in the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross.The competition for the building of St Fin Barre's was held in 1862. In February 1863, Burges was declared the winner.His diary records his delight; "Got Cork!", whilst the cathedral accounts record the payment of the winning prize sum of £100.Building work took seven years before Divine Service was held in the cathedral in 1870. Building, carving and decoration continued into the 20th century, long after Burges's death in 1881.The style of the building is Early French, Burges's favoured period and a style he continued to favour throughout his life, choosing it for his own home, The Tower House, in Kensington. The stipulated price for construction was to be £15,000,a sum vastly exceeded. The total cost came to well over £100,000.Burges was unconcerned; his own words, in his letter of January 1877 to the Bishop of Cork, sum up his approach, a viewpoint which made him a very expensive architect to employ: " the whole affair will be on its trial and, the elements of time and cost being forgotten, the result only will be looked at. The great questions will then be, first, is this work beautiful and, secondly, have those to whom it was entrusted, done it with all their heart and all their ability."As was usual, Burges oversaw all aspects of the design, including the architecture of the building, the extensive statuary, the stained glass and the internal decoration. The result is "undoubtedly Burges's greatest work in ecclesiastical architecture"with an interior that is "overwhelming and intoxicating. To enter St. Fin Barre's Cathedral is an experience unparalled in Ireland and rarely matched anywhere.

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Clifden Castle is a ruined manor house west of the town of Clifden in the Connemara region of County Galway, Ireland. It was built circa 1818 for John D'Arcy, the local landowner, in the Gothic Revival style.Uninhabited after 1894 it fell into disrepair. In 1935, ownership passed to a group of tenants, who were to own it jointly, and it quickly became a ruin.John D'Arcy , founder of Clifden, had this house constructed for himself and his family even while he was busy building up the town. The Castle dates from around 1818 and served as the main dwelling of the large D'Arcy family for the next decades. The land surrounding it was among the first drained and reclaimed in the Clifden area by D'Arcy.In 1839, John D'Arcy died and his oldest son, Hyacinth, inherited the estate. However, Hyacinth was not as adept as his father at running the family properties and at dealing with his tenants. More disastrously, in 1845 the famine struck. Hunger, starvation and fever incapacitated large numbers of people as the potato crop failed. In desperation, many emigrated. As a consequence, rent income of the D'Arcy's plunged.11–15 On 21 September 1846, Hyacinth D'Arcy's tenants gathered en masse on his front lawn, begging for work or food.In the end, the D'Arcy estate went bankrupt and Clifden was one of several D'Arcy properties put up for sale on 18 November 1850.15 Thomas and Charles Eyre, brothers from Bath in Somerset and London, bought the Castle, most of the town and surrounding lands for 21,245 pounds.15 They had been the mortgagees of the estate since 1837, shortly before John D'Arcy's death.The Eyre family used the Castle as a holiday home.In the 1850s, a new roof was added and the facade altered to suit the taste of the new owners.130 Thomas Eyre eventually bought Charles' share and on 16 July 1864, two years before his own death,[4] gave the Castle and the Clifden estates as a present to his nephew, John Joseph Eyre of Saint John's Wood, London.The Eyre family were absentee landlords, but used Clifden Castle through John Joseph's death on 15 April 1894.After his death, a trust was set up to administer his estate,which included considerable holdings in Britain and elsewhere.The trust ran the estates and John Joseph's six children and their descendants received the income from them. There was no individual owner of the Demesne after 1894, running the Clifden estate was left to agents. The Castle fell into disrepair, the Demesne was leased out for grazing to locals as attempts by the agents to sell the property were unsuccessful.All lands except the Demesne were eventually purchased by the Congested Districts Board or later the Land Commission.Clifden Castle viewed from the west with the gateway in the background.In 1917, J.B. Joyce, a local butcher, purchased the Castle and its lands. However, this sale resulted in great controversy. The Demesne, or castle lands, of Clifden Castle was around 200 acres.Numerous former tenants of small scale farms in the area who had purchased their holdings via the Congested Districts Board had coveted the land of the Clifden Demesne to expand their own farms. In 1913, the land was offered to the Congested Districts Board at the price of 2,100 pounds. The farmers were interested in the purchase, but no decision was taken. Then in 1917, Joyce bought the land. The local Catholic priest, Canon Patrick McAlpine started a "severe and sometimes violent"campaign against "the underhanded way" of the purchase. From the pulpit, McAlpine denounced Joyce as a 'land grabber' and said he "had passed the graves of grabbers and within six months he would pass the grave of the Clifden Grabber and there would be six feet of clay over him".The whole town of Clifden turned against Joyce, although Sinn Fein supported him. Farmers drove Joyce's cattle from his land, put their own stock on his fields and barricaded the gates against him. A town meeting on the issue resulted in a scuffles, stones thrown at the police and injured policemen.Legal action went on until January 1920, when the judge confirmed Joyce's ownership. However, the tenants did not accept that and his cattle was once again driven off. Only after a Sinn Fein arbitration court suggested an agreement in September 1920 did Joyce agree to sell the land. It was purchased for 2,300 pounds plus legal costs plus 150 pounds for damages by trustees who were to set up the 'Clifden Cooperative'. The agreement postulated that the wood and castle were to be 'preserved as the property of the Clifden people'.The Cooperative was established in November 1921. Although it held the official title, in fact the tenants divided up the land among themselves. In May 1935, the Land Commission purchased the land from the Cooperative and passed on ownership of Clifden Castle to the tenants, to be held jointly. The contents of the house had been previously auctioned off, but now the roof, windows, timber and lead were stripped away. Without a roof, Clifden Castle soon fell into ruin.

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