Cave in Ballincolla

Explorer Tom Aghatubrid More’s walled garden smells like old roses and regret, according to my very reliable nose. It has a polygonal pavilion that probably thinks it’s the centre of the universe. See if you can spot the harbour view!

Explorer Tom Seamark in Aghatubrid More is part of a house trio that probably shares a group chat about who’s prettier. The Allen family built it, so it’s definitely showing off its Georgian windows. Bring wellies and your best flattery.

Explorer Tom Prison Cove inspired a bad poem once that rhymed 'cove' with 'love' in the most painful way possible imaginable. It still feels embarrassed about it whenever someone mentions the name, hiding behind its rocks to avoid the eye contact. Bring a flask of something warm and a story to swap.

Explorer Tom This Sitka Spruce in County Cork is stuck in a massive feud with the next tree over about who has the better view of the sheep. It’s been waving its branches at them for years like an angry old auntie. Bring your nan along; she’ll know exactly who’s right.

Explorer Tom Fulacht fia in Drombeg By.) sits right next to the famous stone circle, with a horseshoe-shaped bank and a cooking pit that dates back to around 109 AD. It’s got a roasting pit too, so they were definitely feasting hard. Mind the overflow drainage channel, it looks slippery!

Explorer Tom Drombeg Stone Circle has made a firm New Year's resolution to stop leaning so dramatically for the cameras. It claims seventeen stones is plenty of drama, even if two are missing and one looks like it gave up early. Look up, the best bit is always higher than you think.

Explorer Tom You might expect Drombeg's stones to tell you exactly what happened here. They are keeping their mouths shut, the clever things. Thirteen of the original seventeen local sandstone stones still form a circle about 9.3 metres across. Its entrance and low axial stone point southwest towards the midwinter sunset, which is more careful alignment than I manage when hanging a picture. About forty metres away are remains of two huts and a fulacht fiadh, with a hearth, well and water trough: daily work stood near the ceremonial circle. Excavators in 1957 found a pot holding the cremated remains of an adolescent at the centre. Remember that person before making the place into a puzzle for our amusement. Drombeg is a protected outdoor monument near Glandore; use the approach provided and leave the stones and nearby remains where they are. I will keep my grand theories to myself and let you watch the light.

Explorer Tom Raheen Castle in County Cork caused a massive parish argument back in the day because nobody could agree on whether it was built by a king or a confused farmer who liked big stones. The walls still stand with that 'well, actually' energy from the original debate. Bring curiosity, leave with a better story than mine.

Explorer Tom Raheen Castle is half-fallen but still standing proud on the rock, looking unimpressed by tourists. It hated the last visitor who brought a drone. Bring curiosity, leave with a better story than my disastrous picnic attempt.