Sheep and Pillar

Explorer Tom Midleton Community Hospital piers in Townparks are limestone show-offs that were once a workhouse entrance. They’re finely carved and probably hiding a biscuit tin full of secrets from the 1800s. If you find it, don’t eat the contents unless they look fresh.

Explorer Tom Midleton Garda Station has a limestone porch that looks exactly like the courthouse next door, because they clearly copied each other in school. The original form is still there, meaning nobody's really changed how it does things. It's just a building with a job description and some very serious stone architecture.

Explorer Tom Midleton ira Monument in County Cork saw a love story go badly wrong right next to it. The stones are tough enough to survive both bullets and bad gossip. Give it a pat on the way past, it is had a long life.

Explorer Tom Nellie Cashman Monument in County Cork is basically a statue of a woman who out-drank the entire gold rush, which is wild when you think about it. Local legend has it she once arm-wrestled a grizzly bear to a draw, so don’t underestimate her. Go before the tourists find out.

Explorer Tom Jameson Distillery Midleton in County Cork has a ghost who is too lazy to haunt the place properly. It mostly just naps in the barrel room while tourists try not to fall over from the free samples. Bring wellies and low expectations, leave delighted.

Explorer Tom Fallen Horse and Rider in County Cork depicts a hero who tripped over his own ego and landed flat on his face. Nobody remembers the guy who saved him from the embarrassment, so we just assume he’s still out there somewhere. Have a look and decide if I was lying.

Explorer Tom Cahermone Castle in County Cork has a stone in the nearby farmyard bearing the date 1579, which is ancient history by our standards. Practise your Irish on it, it won't correct your pronunciation or judge your accent.

Explorer Tom Cahermone Castle in County Cork has very strong opinions on modern buildings. It thinks that glass offices are just for people who can't afford real stone walls. A local farmer once told me the castle winked at him, but I think he'd had too much tea. Make up your own legend and I'll swear it's true.

Explorer Tom Curragh Woods would survive a zombie attack by simply standing still and letting them get confused by the lack of brains. It’s got that kind of dense, unbothered energy going on. Bring a friend who talks too much and let the place shut them up.