Building in Ballisk

Explorer Tom Saint Patrick's Catholic Church in Ballalease West would say to the place that replaced it that it looks tired and needs more copper cladding on its spire. It has been standing there since 1860 looking like it is ready for a photo shoot that got cancelled at the last minute. Make a wish, it's had centuries of practice.

Explorer Tom An Dún in Ballalease West is holding its canted bay window out like it’s waiting for the weather to apologize for last Tuesday's rain. The pebble-dashed side walls are doing their best to look rugged, but the tooled limestone quoining is clearly showing off its superior status. Tell it a joke, it's been a long time since anyone did.

Explorer Tom Newbridge House near Donabate looks like a Georgian family has stepped out for tea and left an entire estate for the rest of us to explore. The house, farm and sweeping parkland all sit together, which is a rare trick when most grand homes lose their furniture or their grounds to time. I arrived prepared to admire a doorway and nearly missed the orchards. Architect James Gibbs designed the present house for the Cobbe family in the eighteenth century. Fingal County Council says it is his only completed work in Ireland. A 1985 agreement brought the demesne into public care while the family's pictures, furniture and documents remained in place; the family still has a connection to the house. Those rooms therefore tell a more complete domestic story than an emptied mansion could manage. Outside, the former estate became a regional park in 1986. Its walks run through pasture and woodland, with a deer park, old structures and the walled garden to seek out. The garden keeps Irish apple varieties, and the traditional farm shows animals and older farming machinery. I am ready to appoint myself chief apple inspector, but only if the real staff let me keep my hands off the harvest. The parkland is public, while visits to the house and farm follow their own ticket and tour arrangements, so check the current operator information before travelling. Donabate station and village are close enough to make a visit without a car practical. Give the house its proper time, then walk out into the demesne to see what that family home was part of. A doorway is a start; the whole estate is the story.

Explorer Tom Martello Tower in Balcarrick thinks the road leading to it is for amateurs who can’t handle its majestic height and history. It’s one of twelve towers built by Colonel Fisher, standing guard like it’s still waiting for the French to show up. If it's closed, admire it from the road like a polite stalker.

Explorer Tom Turvey House in Turvey is the ultimate renovation project gone wrong, mixing tower house stones with an early eighteenth-century mansion that just gave up entirely. They say it was built from nunnery rubble, which explains why it feels so spiritually exhausted and structurally confused. Have a look and decide if I was lying.

Explorer Tom Lanestown Castle has a hidden treasure that is definitely just an old biscuit tin from 1974. It’s sitting inside the gates of Newbridge House, looking very smug about its angle tower. The barrel vault is just there to keep the draughts out. Tell me if the gossip I made up is true.

Explorer Tom Donabate Beach, also called Balcarrick, faces the Irish Sea with a sweep of sand that makes a quick visit suspiciously difficult to keep quick. From here you can pick out Lambay Island, Howth and the Malahide Estuary, then lose track of time among rock pools. Tom has volunteered to count every pool; the tide is not waiting for his final figure. The strand runs for about two and a half kilometres along the Donabate coast. It slopes gently and has dunes behind it, giving walkers space to spread out without leaving the beach's character behind. Canoeing and shoreline walking are among the activities named by Discover Ireland. The pools reveal another scale of the place when the tide falls: tiny lives and trapped water inside a view that otherwise seems all sky and open sea. There is a longer outing at the north end. The Portrane Cliff Walk begins near Balcarrick and leads towards Tower Bay, offering another view of Lambay and the Burrow Peninsula. It is a separate cliff path, not a continuation of safe sand, so stay on its marked route and respect the edges. You can make an enjoyable day of beach first, headland later, without pretending the walk is compulsory. The official visitor listing notes free parking, toilets, summer lifeguards and dogs allowed on a lead. Look for the posted lifeguard times and current bathing advice before swimming, particularly outside summer. The dunes and rock pools deserve gentle feet, and the sea deserves attention whatever the weather. Take one last look towards Lambay before leaving; Donabate has a knack for turning the way home into another pause.

Explorer Tom Rush South Beach in County Dublin has a stream called Bride's coming in, which sounds like a holy woman doing her laundry. If you see her wringing out a sheet, wave politely but don't get too close.