The Slea Head Drive

Derrynane House is the ancestral home of Daniel O’Connell, and showcases memorabilia from the life and career of this famous statesman. Known as "The Liberator", O'Connell promoted Irish Emancipation and is a key figure in 18th-19th century history. Situated in Derrynane National Historic Park, the grounds boast 120 hectares of parklands and 1.5 km of coastline.

In 1983, a wild Bottlenose Dolphin named Fungie chose Dingle Harbour as its home. Boat trips leave Dingle Pier all day, every day, in order to see this very friendly dolphin wild and free in its natural habitat.

Off Slea Head – the most westerly tip of the Dingle Peninsula – lies a deserted archipelago with a poignant past: the mystical Blasket Islands, now an emblem of the Irish history of emigration. You can anchor a boat in the Blasket Sound on the edge of Europe, climb to the top of An Blascaod Mór, and explore the remote wilderness of this fascinating place. In Dingle, you can visit the Blasket Centre, an interpretive centre with a long, white hall ending in a wall-to-ceiling window overlooking the islands.

Further west of Ireland, out to sea, is an extraordinary, far-flung place of pilgrimage: Skellig Michael. 1300 years ago, early Christian monks built a remarkable hermitage at the top of this jagged ocean crag – then at the furthest limits of the known world. This mysterious and awe-inspiring place, described by George Bernard Shaw as “part of our dream world”, is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It can be reached by the adventurous on a small boat, only when the weather allows, from the small picturesque fishing village of Portmagee. Portmagee was the winner of Ireland’s first ever Tourism Town in 2012, and once you arrive it’s easy to see why. You can really get to know people here. There are small family-run businesses, local food producers, artists and craftspeople, pubs with peat fires and traditional music sessions. Across the bridge there is the Skelligs Experience Visitor Centre, where you can follow an audio-visual tour recreating the magic of the Skellig region and enjoy its history.