Sunday 8 May 2011

Ireland In Ruins. Welcome! Blog Introduction.

IIII above: Rock Iage Above: Rock of Cashel, Co. Tipperary

Welcome! Thanks for checking out Ireland In Ruins. The Countryside of Ireland is dotted throughout with many remnants of it's long history.There are Castles dating back to Norman times, old Churches and many, many Abbeys most of which over time have fallen into ruin.
Quite a few of these sites are in the care of the Office of Public Works (OPW) and are quite accessible to the visitor, but the vast majority have found themselves either surrounded by private land or incorporated into more modern buildings.
We, being amateur explorers, will endeavor to show you some of the best or most unusual ruins, mostly off the beaten track and the easiest way to access them. We have decided to feature mostly ruined sites and not as many restored or intact buildings as sometimes these have been modified and somehow have lost their individuality and charm. A few exceptions aside lets face it, it is far more exciting clambering over an interesting ruin than admiring the decorative wallpaper of some stately pile!
Along the way we will also feature some of the ancient and sometimes mysterious megalithic sites that we have come across on our travels.
Any site featured we have personally visited and photographed. (click on the images to enlarge them) Access can sometimes be difficult but we will always try to overcome this to get a good look at these amazing places.

All Images © G Hill with S Hill & L Hill 2011-2021 (unless otherwise stated) All Text © G Hill 2011-2021

Please feel free to comment on the site and especially if you found it useful in your own visits.



UPDATED VISITS.  Going forward I will list any updated posts below:


March 2021: Second visit to Grange Castle. See post - Grange Castle Co. Dublin

21 comments:

  1. Congratulations on a brilliant site. It`s so full of detail.

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  2. Am thrilled to have found your blog! I'm a Kiwi gal heading to Ireland in March 2012. I'm sure I'll find some gold nuggets here to add to my itinerary.

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  3. Wonderful blog. A treasury of photos and information.

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  4. Wow, this site is amazing!!! My son and I are going to Ireland in March 2012 as well and your blog gave us a lot more to see while we are there!! Thank you so much. Have you ever been to Dunhill Castle in Co. Waterford? That is a beautiful ruin!!

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  5. There are an amazing amount of significant ruins for such a relatively small island! Thanks for your work in revealing some of these. I hope you time and resources allow you to find most of them. They are all important!

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    1. Thanks Keith for your kind comments. I'll keep on going till I drop! There's so many places yet to enjoy. Thanks for finding the blog and I hope that my directions will be of use to you in locating these wonderful sites.

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  6. Thank you so much for all your hard work and amazing photos and descriptions! I grew up in Ireland and visit yearly... Looking forward to hunting down some of these ruins next summer thanks to you!

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  7. Hi Dublinrina, Thanks for your kind comments I hope I can continue to help find some interesting places for you to visit.

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  8. While looking for ruined castles and abbeys I found your amazing blog - just at the right time! In two weeks I will go to Ireland for another fotographic tour.
    Thank you very much for your work!
    By the way, if this is ok for you, I added a link to your site at my blog (http://fotokaffee.blogspot.de/).

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    1. Hi Mario

      Thank you for your kind words. Please feel free to add the link and have a great time in Ireland!

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  9. I'm so thrilled to see you have made it onto the nomination list of the Blog Awards Ireland 2013 in the Best Personal Blog category! http://www.blogawardsireland.com/category/long-list-2013/

    Good Luck. This fantastic blog is well worthy of its nomination.
    Paddy

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    1. Thanks again Paddy for your encouraging words and good wishes. They are really appreciated

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  10. I want to thank you for this site. We have been living in Ireland for 2 months and have visited many of these ruins thanks to your blog. We are having an amazing time and would have never known about these places without you. Extremely grateful.

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    1. Hi
      Thank you for your kind words! I am delighted that you are enjoyng the blog and hope you are having a great time visiting these treasures that Ireland holds. Happy ruin hunting and thanks again.

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  11. Great blog with lots of detail. I go on cycling trips from Dublin and I'm starting to work through many of these ruins. Many thanks.

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    1. Hi Adrian, Thanks for your kind comments. I hope you enjoy the trips as much as I did. safe journeys.

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  12. Absolute fantastic site and photographs, stumbled upon it whislt doing research for family from abroad. They want to photograph some ruins when they are here, it possible to just access these or do you need appointments etc? any help would be much appreciated. thank you

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and liking the site Robert.As much as I can I have detailed in each of the posts how to get to the ruins and their accessibility. Many are on private land but easily to get to others are a bit further out of the way and the best way to view them is with the landowners permission. In general if there are no private property signs I tend to just head right in, besides I'm only taking photographs.A lot of the larger ruins are in the care of the OPW and you will find them easy to access. Hope you're family enjoy their trip.

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    2. Thanks for your speedy reply. Keep up the good work

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  13. Great site. I am retired now and do a lot of cycling, somethimes in conjunction with a train or car. Wherever I go, I try to hit some of the sites in Ireland in Ruins. Great details, descriptions and photographs. Many thanks for all the good work.

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    1. Hi Adrian, thank you for your kind words. I'm glad that the site is bringing pleasure and interest in our great historical sites. If you are enjoying it then my job is done. Thanks again!

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