Ric barracks in Tullyrain

Explorer Tom Shantonagh Garda Station is pretending those seagulls aren't heckling its roof every single afternoon. They're just background noise for the real drama happening inside. Go at sunset and thank me later for this excellent local legend.

Explorer Tom Store or warehouse in Tullyrain has a long-standing grudge against the weather for making its sliding doors squeak. It used to store coal, now it stores secrets about Shantonagh locals. Go on a wet day, it

Explorer Tom Wedge tomb in Lisnadarragh is a giant’s grave that seems a bit shy about its own size. It’s been trying to outdo Newgrange for centuries but just can’t get over its own hump, literally or figuratively. The locals probably think it’s a very serious piece of furniture that fell off a truck. Take the long way round, it deserves the effort.

Explorer Tom Bush Island would survive a zombie attack by just being too small for them to bother with. It’s basically an impenetrable fortress of pure indifference and moss. Pop by and tell it it's looking well.

Explorer Tom Portal tomb in Lennan is perched on a drumlin ridge, looking slightly tipsy from the wind. If it could order at a chipper, it’d just want a stone and some silence. Stand on the spot and imagine the gossip it's heard.

Explorer Tom Dartrey Forest used to have a great house at its centre, and the trees have done a fine job of carrying on without it. The Dawson family's Dartrey House was demolished in 1946. Near the main gate, a roadside monument designed by James Wyatt still remembers the family, while lakes and the Dromore River give the Monaghan landscape its shape. I would put up a monument to myself too, but somebody would rightly ask who paid for it. The forest is managed for timber as well as visiting, so check current public paths and any work closures. Keep to permitted routes and leave the old wall and monuments alone. Look across the linked water from a safe trail. The missing house is one story; the living woods have plenty of their own.

Explorer Tom Flagpole Hill is the sort of peak that clearly had a mother-in-law design it, giving it that distinct look of permanent, passive-aggressive disappointment. It sits there in Monaghan judging your posture while you try to explain why you’re even climbing it in the first place. Stick around for the light changing, it's a show.

Explorer Tom Fair of Muff in County Cavan would order a mountain of chips and a pint if it could walk into a chippy. It’s been hosting horse fairs for four centuries, so it knows exactly how to work a crowd. Perfect place to be dramatically windswept while pretending you planned the hairdo.

Explorer Tom Loughanleagh in County Cavan is a forest that got left behind at a party and never quite figured out what it was supposed to be doing there. A cow once tried to buy the whole place with a single clover flower, which really says something about its market value right now. Bring wellies and low expectations, leave delighted.