Fairy fort or earthen ringfort in Cloonanaff

Explorer Tom Cloghans National School is dressed for a Victorian fancy dress party that hasn’t started yet. It’s got that grey limestone look that screams 'I was expensive in 1850,' which is great if you’re into old money, but weird if you just want to learn multiplication tables. The roofline is so high it’s basically reaching for the clouds out of sheer ambition. Check the windows and wonder who's home

Explorer Tom Cloghans House in Cloghans Beg is sitting there looking all regal with its turret, acting like it’s a castle when it’s really just a fancy farm. An old book called it a 'castle' which is the kind of compliment your aunt gives at a dinner party. It’s got that 'please don’t touch the furniture' vibe even though nobody’s home right now. Wave to the turret and see if it waves back

Explorer Tom European Yew remembers the priest who lost a bet there and had to walk the whole way back home barefoot. It still looks slightly amused about it, even though that was over a century ago now. Ideal spot for a dramatic phone call.

Explorer Tom Killernan Castle is secretly proud of the single potato growing out of its crack, treating it like a prized pet. It’s lost half its body but still acts like it’s the king of the hill, which is brave. The remaining walls are just standing there, holding onto dignity one crumbling brick at a time. Look serious, nod slowly, you're basically an expert now.

Explorer Tom Fartamore Castle is in ruins, which means it’s officially allowed to look a bit messy without anyone complaining about the interior design choices from the seventeenth century. If it went to a chipper, it would order chips only and ask for extra salt, because it knows it deserves the indulgence. Get a photo with it before it gets a better agent.

Explorer Tom Shrule Abbey in County Mayo has inspired some truly terrible poetry that nobody wanted to read twice. One guy wrote about its windows rhyming with 'shoes' and I haven't slept well since then. Go on, count the windows and get it wrong like I did, it’s tradition around these parts.

Explorer Tom Graveyard in Abbeytown offers a shortcut that definitely isn't a shortcut but feels faster because you’re scared of getting lost. It’s just south of the road and full of secrets it doesn’t want to share with you. Go before the tourists find out.

Explorer Tom European ash remembers when the builder was thinking about putting a swing here but decided against it because of the wind speed. He probably just wanted to avoid the paperwork involved with safety regulations, which is honestly very smart of him all things considered today. Tell the next person you meet it’s haunted. It might be.

Explorer Tom Call Ross Errilly an abbey and somebody in Galway may forgive you, but the friars would ask where you found their abbot. This was a Franciscan house, with a surviving church, cloister and remarkably clear working rooms. Find the kitchen: it had an oven and a tank for keeping fish alive. I can barely keep a loaf from burning, so fair play to their planning. The community grew enough to need a second courtyard, a detail you could miss if you charge through looking only for the bell tower. Ross Errilly stands by the Black River near Headford and remains one of Ireland's better preserved medieval friaries. Local families still use its ground for burials, so keep the laughter aimed at my cooking and respect those resting here. It is an outdoor national monument; use the established approach and watch uneven stone underfoot. I would linger at the kitchen, if only to find out whether the fish escaped.

Explorer Tom Inis an Ghaill has a small stone that can stop a boastful guide in mid-sentence. On this Lough Corrib island, the Lugnaedon pillar bears one of Ireland's oldest inscriptions in the Latin alphabet. Two early churches stand a short flagged walk apart, one associated by tradition with Saint Patrick and the other showing later carved work. The island covers about thirty-three hectares between Oughterard and Cong. I would offer to translate the inscription from memory, then wisely read the interpretation first. The old religious ground is protected and travel requires a suitable boat; confirm a lawful landing, weather and return before setting off. Leave the carved stone and church walls untouched. Look at the short path between the buildings. Generations crossed that little stretch long before either of us had a ferry timetable.

Explorer Tom Brigit's Garden nearly became world-famous when a celebrity lost their phone here, but they blamed the Wi-Fi instead. Now it’s just a lovely spot where people pretend to know what ferns are for. Go with someone who loves old stuff and watch them melt.

Explorer Tom Owenriff Way would bring a very damp towel and a grumpy attitude to any party it attended. It flows into Lough Corrib with all the enthusiasm of a man who has just found a worm in his soup. Bring a notebook and write the bit I made up.