Culliagh se Top

Explorer Tom Three Tops refuses to fall down because it believes if it loses one top, the other two will start a bitter argument about who is the best. It’s been holding its breath for centuries to keep the peace, and honestly, it looks quite tense about it. Stick around for the light changing, it's a show.

Explorer Tom Bridge in Aughkeely crosses the Deele River on three little arches, with V-shaped cutwaters on both sides of its piers. Those stone noses seem determined to part the water politely while the narrow road humps over their backs. It was built around 1790.

Explorer Tom Gorey Hill stands in County Donegal as a mountain peak with its access details completely unknown. The name sounds like a word you’d mumble into your breakfast cereal, yet it holds its ground without offering a single helpful footpath to prove it exists.

Explorer Tom Isaac Butt Heritage Centre was a national school before it became a heritage centre, so it’s basically grown up and got a job. It has a T-shaped plan that is very typical of its time, and a plaque on the front that probably knows more than I do. Find this simple building near Cloghan Beg and see if any children are still running around!

Explorer Tom Standing Stones near Cloghroe keeps two portal stones and a backstone in the survey account. Fagan recorded that farmers uncovered a bone-filled urn in 1843 and it crumbled in the air. One quick breath undid a very long wait.

Explorer Tom Teach Tábhairne an Rileán in County Donegal has a mouthful of a name. Say it three times fast for me and tell me how you feel! Bring your worst joke, the place has heard worse.

Explorer Tom Newmills Corn and Flax Mills has a waterwheel big enough to make me stop and watch the machinery do the hard work. Corn and flax kept different trades moving here. Heritage Ireland's 2026 visitor season has ended, so I would check the next opening date before making the trip.

Explorer Tom Battle of Scarrifholis in County Donegal would walk into any job interview and say it has excellent conflict resolution skills, despite mostly just standing around looking confused while cannons went off. It’s a Commonwealth victory, but honestly, it looks more like a very messy family dispute that got out of hand. Tell the kids it's a castle. Close enough.

Explorer Tom Drumboe Wood is a riverside walk with harder history nearby: a castle once guarded the River Finn ford, and a memorial recalls four men executed here in 1923. I would give that stone a quiet moment.

Explorer Tom Jackson's Hotel claims Joe Jackson perfected Irish Coffee there back in the 1940s, which is basically yesterday as far as I'm concerned. Drink one for me and pretend it tastes like victory and strong ambition. Look serious, nod slowly, you're basically an expert now.

Explorer Tom Battlefield in Ardahee in Donegal gets picked on by the wind because it refuses to admit who actually won that fight centuries ago. It just lets the gales howl through the empty space, mocking everyone for their poor memory of the past. Bring a friend who talks too much and let the place shut them up.

Explorer Tom Stackarnagh Abbey Graveyard has a gatepost detail I keep coming back to: a reused window fragment carved with a fish biting the end of a moulding, with a rough unicorn above it. The survey says the stone probably came from the church's ruined south window. I can enjoy the odd pair without inventing what the medieval carver meant.