Ireland

MV Plassey

A steam trawler with a whiskey-soaked history driven ashore in 1960 resides rusty but still standing on the shoreline

Winds howling at 60 mph, the inhabitants of remote Inis Oirr struggled against blinding sand and slick, seaweed covered terrain to rescue the men of the distressed MV Plassey. The steam trawler... »

Watery Wonders, Incredible Ruins | Edited by Rachel

An Leathros, Ireland

The Glen

A tiny microvalley etched into the side of Knocknarea Mountain hides another world

There are arboretums, and then there are herb gardens. There are mountains, and then there are hills. And in Ireland, there are glens, and then there is The Glen. If a glen is a small valley,... »

Geological Oddities, Extraordinary Flora | Edited by uwwtp, Rachel and others

Dublin, Ireland

Relics of Saint Valentine at the Whitefriar Street Church

The remains of one of the many St. Valentines resides in Dublin, Ireland.

John Sprat was an Irish Carmelite that was known for his abilities as a preacher and dedicated work with the destitute in the city of Dublin. While visiting Rome, his fame had apparently preceded... »

Relics and Reliquaries | Edited by Rachel

Lambay Island, Ireland

Lambay Island

Wallabies live naturally on this Irish island

Despite being 10,000 miles from their native land of Australia, a group of wallabies has made Lambay Island home for the last 25 years. In the 1980s, Dublin Zoo had a sudden and uncontrollable... »

Anomalous Islands, Fascinating Fauna | Edited by atimian

Great Skellig, Ireland

Skellig Michael

Perfectly preserved ancient monastery in an impossibly dramatic location on a rocky island in the Atlantic

"An incredible, impossible, mad place. I tell you the thing does not belong to any world that you and I have lived and worked in; it is part of our dream world." -- George Bernard Shaw Skellig... »

Natural Wonders, Anomalous Islands, Architectural Oddities, Curious Places of Worship, Incredible Ruins | Edited by humanist, Nicholas Jackson and 2 others

Dublin, Ireland

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Since 1030 AD, Christ Church has been an integral and intriguing part of Irish history

Founded in 1030 AD by the Hiberno-Norse king Sitriuc Silkenbeard and Dúnán, first Bishop of Dublin, the originally viking church has been a part of Dublin and Irish history ever since. The wooden... »

Curious Places of Worship | Edited by bradenh83

Dublin, Ireland

Natural History building, National Museum of Ireland

Dublin's "Dead Zoo" serves as a window to Victorian museum design

Since 1857, visitors to the Natural History building of Dublin’s National Museum of Ireland can see not only animals and minerals of Ireland but, as some say, a museum of a museum. Containing... »

Natural History | Edited by bradenh83 and Dylan

Rye Water, Ireland

The Wonderful Barn

Corkscrew-shaped barn in Ireland

Barns tend to be thought of as big, red, wooden and filled with hay and farming tools. Or at least that seems to be the American conception of the barn. In Ireland the Wonderful barn fulfills none... »

Architectural Oddities | Edited by Nathan_Risinger, Nicholas Jackson and others

Cill Dara, Ireland

Conolly's Folly

Obelisks and stone pineapples in the Irish countryside

Conolly’s Folly located in County Kildare, Ireland, is unique for a variety of reasons. It is not every day that you come across a large stone structure of no particular religious association... »

Eccentric Homes | Edited by Nathan_Risinger, Nicholas Jackson and 2 others

Birr, Ireland

Leviathan of Parsonstown

Behemoth, cannon-like telescope operated by generations of Irish earls

The real measure of a telescope's power is not how greatly it can magnify a distant object, but what portion of that object's light the instrument actually collects. It's easy if you think of... »

Inspired Inventions, Instruments of Science, Retro-Tech | Edited by Trevor, wythe and 3 others