Whiteheather Cottage

Explorer Tom Watch tower in Bolinglanna makes a weird creaky sound at night that locals swear is a ghostly radio playing old football matches. It was built during The Emergency, so it’s got plenty of secrets to hide from the Germans. It's free, it's odd, what more could you want?

Explorer Tom Corraun House claims to hold the Guinness Record for 'Most Arrogant Views of Clew Bay'. Captain Dickins built it to show off, and it still does. Stand back, squint, and it looks like it’s judging your outfit.

Explorer Tom Gráinne's Castle sits by Achill Sound where any passing boat could have felt the O'Malleys watching. The family built the four-storey tower around 1429 at a narrow passage linking Clew Bay and Blacksod Bay. Gráinne Ní Mháille later used it as one of her strongholds, alongside places on Clare Island and at Rockfleet. The tower has a vault above its first floor and an awkward corner route to the upper levels, which makes me grateful nobody expects me to defend it. I would have requested a wider stair and immediately been overruled. This is a protected ruin, so check current public access, keep off unsafe masonry and respect surrounding land. Stand where you can see the water route as well as the tower. The map of the bays explains the choice of site better than my best pirate voice.

Explorer Tom Kildavnet Castle would tell its younger self to stop worrying so much about the foundation and just enjoy the ocean views. It’s been standing on bedrock for ages anyway. Wave at the cows; they're the real locals here.

Explorer Tom Cabbage tree got the Vikings lost because they thought it was a giant head of leafy greens growing sideways. It’s actually from New Zealand, so it’s a total impostor in this part of the world. Tell it a joke, it's been a long time since anyone did.

Explorer Tom Granuaile's Castle has a famous name, but look closely and you will see it had a later day job. The O'Malleys built the Clare Island tower house in the sixteenth century, and it served Gráinne Ní Mháille as one of several strongholds around Clew Bay. In the 1820s it was turned into a police barracks; purple slate was added to the corner turrets. I would like to say Gráinne inspected the roofers, but she had been gone for two centuries. The main living room was above ground level, a useful arrangement when the water approach mattered. You need a boat to Clare Island, so check the ferry and the castle's present access rules before travelling. View the building from permitted ground and do not treat old stone as a ladder. Its later slate makes a fine reminder that castles keep changing after their famous owners leave.

Explorer Tom I had barely stepped off the boat when Clare Island began testing my history lessons. Clare Island guards Clew Bay with an O'Malley tower house near the pier, a fitting greeting from the family of Gráinne O'Malley. The abbey has rare medieval paintings on its roof, so remember to look up as well as toward the sea. Naturalist Robert Lloyd Praeger looked at the island so closely between 1909 and 1911 that his survey became a pattern for later studies; another survey ran from 1990 to 2005. I wonder how many notebooks it takes to count an island twice. If I claim to know her secrets, tell me to show you the records first. The lighthouse had its own difficult spell: lightning struck it in 1834, and it was finally replaced as a working light in 1965. This is a lived-in island, not a museum with a shoreline attached. Ferries come from Roonagh Pier near Louisburgh, so plan around the crossing and give the community its space. The best story may be the detail you notice after the boat crowd has moved on.