Amazing heritage, natural wonders - and film sets!

Skellig, off the coast of Portmagee, Co Kerry, a favourite with fans of Star Wars.

We are singularly blessed in Ireland with echoes of the past, from the prehistoric (standing stones, dolmens, ogham carvings, burial mounds, stone circles) to medieval (ancient castles) and beyond.

Academics purr over these priceless relics, and visitors from abroad are enthralled by them. If we value our heritage, we should perhaps appreciate them better, visit more of them, find out what is known about their purpose.

Did you know that there is a tall, thin, and intricately carved rock on a hill near Bantry which has, among many other devices, the first known image of a boat on it? That’s the Kilnaruane Pillar Stone.

And that there is a huge stone circle up in Donegal which bears the name of Bealtaine or Beltany, showing that it was once used for the ritual ceremonies of druids at the start of the Irish summer? A strange carved figure on Boa Island in Lough Erne thought to depict the two-faced god Janus? The oldest known field system, dating back some 6,000 years, on a windswept Mayo headland?

And that’s only the start of it. Once you begin hunting for our prehistoric past, you will find it turns into a lifetime’s passion. And we won’t even try to list the top ten Most Romantic Ruined Castles – you probably have your own favourites anyway, even if you don’t know their individual history yet.

Don’t forget industrial archaeology either. The remains of huge old 18th century mills can still be seen, water wheels, factories which once gave employment to thousands, now deserted and shrouded by the enveloping bracken, brambles, and grass, but still bearing silent testimony to our past. Never pass by; always stop, look, ask questions, and find out.

Then there are the natural wonders in which Ireland abounds. The Slieve League cliffs in Donegal are the highest in Europe, three times loftier than the more-visited cliffs of Moher, and just about twice as high as the Eiffel Tower. Visiting that spot is literally a breathtaking experience.

The Burren, that strange moonscape of limestone pavement where deep fissures shelter rare wild flowers. Slea Head, with its unforgettable views of the Blasket Islands must be one of the most dramatic drives in the country. (Apparently it has now been made one-way for buses which might help with the stopping and starting on the narrow road.) Odd though it might seem, the Lakes of Killarney really are a natural wonder, best viewed from – where else – Ladies View on the road to Moll’s Gap.

What film director hasn’t taken one look at Ireland and decided to make films there? I Thank a Fool in Crookhaven, The Quiet Man up in Connemara, Ryan’s Daughter in Kerry, The Secret of Roan Inish in Donegal, Saving Private Ryan in Wexford, Michael Collins in Dublin and Wicklow, Braveheart in Meath, The Wind That Shakes the Barley in Cork, Star Wars, albeit briefly, on Skellig Michael.

Did you know Educating Rita was shot at Trinity College in Dublin? There is an endless list. Check them all online, and get planning. Go and see the location for your favourite, stand on the bridge, pose on the beach, climb to the top of the vertiginous, sea-girt crag (if you have the breath and the nerve) and live the movie vicariously. What a holiday to have!