House in Brazil

Explorer Tom Post box in Brazil has an 'ER VII' monogram and a door replaced in 1925 with a harp on it. A fiddler played here all night until the mailman got drunk and joined in. Go on a wet day, it suits the mood of being slightly damp and confused.

Explorer Tom Knocksedan Bridge has a plaque about Fingal Volunteers from 1916 on it. It’s a single-arch stone bridge from around 1800. The tapered abutments look strong. I wonder if the volunteers used to hide behind it? Probably not, but it makes for a good story.

Explorer Tom Fish-pond in Brackenstown is actually a canal from the early eighteenth century, which is a bit cheeky of them to call it a pond. It’s used for horse riding now, so watch out for hooves and muddy boots.

Explorer Tom Glasmore Abbey is a square, enigmatic building with medieval insertions that survives to one storey height. It looks like a box made of limestone blocks in Mooretown. Bring curiosity, leave with a better story than mine about its purpose.

Explorer Tom Swords Round Tower heritage attraction in County Dublin was saved by a hero nobody remembers anymore, who probably just tripped over a rock at the right moment to stop a falling beam from crushing it. It is the ideal place to stand around and rehearse an excuse for being late to work while looking very thoughtful.

Explorer Tom Airside Retail Park in County Dublin smells like burnt toast, regret, and cheap coffee all mixed into one glorious, confusing cloud. I’m convinced it’s actually a secret airport where only pigeons are allowed to land and take off. Go now, before it gets famous.

Explorer Tom St Colmcilles Well in County Dublin is where a fox once took charge and appointed itself head priest for a week. It still expects respect from anyone who comes by to make a wish. Have a chat with it, nobody's watching you closely anyway.

Explorer Tom Swords Castle was built around 1200 for the Archbishop of Dublin. It’s a polygon with a chapel and a residential tower that probably heard all the high-church gossip. Take a mate and argue about what it was for.

Explorer Tom Swords Castle was built for an archbishop, which rather ruins my idea that clergy always favoured modest houses. The Dublin archbishops began this large manor enclosure in the early thirteenth century near the Ward River. It had fallen into disrepair in places by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, then found other uses as power changed around Swords. I would have offered to mend a wall; the stonemasons would have hidden the tools. Modern repair has been gradual, which helps explain why one part can look ready to welcome you while another still asks for patience. The site is protected and partly open under tour arrangements, so check current access rather than testing a closed door. Look for the scale of the enclosure before getting distracted by one tower. Even an archbishop needed more space than I would have guessed.