The capital of the island of the Celts and Druids
Familiarity with the homeland of elves should begin withacquaintance with its capital. According to historians, Dublin was built by Vikings about 1000 years ago. It stretches around the Dublin Bay in the valley of the River Liffey. The city is replete with spacious squares, historic mansions, geometrically regular rows of Georgian-era houses, picturesque parks and squares. O'Connell Street is the main street of the capital, one of the most wide in Europe. Its main attraction is the Monument of Light. It is a steel monument 120 meters high, made in the form of a needle. It stands in the place of a monument to the legendary Admiral Nelson, who in 1966 was blown up by IRA fighters. The Dublin needle became a symbol of the new millennium and a special pride of the inhabitants of the country. The fascinating place of Dublin is the National Museum of Leprechauns - a fairy people, which has become a kind of symbol of Ireland. In the museum you can plunge into the original world of local folklore: to look for a place where a pot of gold is kept, to feel like a really small man, surrounded by huge pieces of furniture, to learn interesting stories from the life of leprechauns. No less exciting is the visit to the National Maritime Museum, which has existed since 1941. It stores 4,000 books that tell about the development of navigation in Ireland and displays images of sailors delivering food to the country during the Second World War. The most popular exhibit is the model of the ship Sirius, which for the first time crossed the Atlantic only in pairs. 
The main cathedral complex of the city
The largest Irish cathedral is also located inDublin. He bears the name of St. Patrick - the patron of the emerald island. The first mention of it occurs in 1191. In the cathedral you can see ancient frescoes, half-decayed heraldic flags of knights, the initiation rite, medieval stained-glass windows and many religious attributes of different epochs. In the central nave of the cathedral one of his deans is buried - the famous writer Jonathan Swift. In the temple there is an exposition consisting of works by the author of "Gulliver", his posthumous mask and some personal things.
Cliffs of Moher: the island's business card
The majestic and unapproachable Irish naturecan melt the heart of every tourist. Merry emerald meadows, gloomy sheer cliffs, the mesmerizing depth of the sky and the sea, gray mountains and winding bays - everything looks like hundreds of years ago, when the followers of St. Patrick erected the Celtic stone crosses on the hills and built monasteries. Those who were fascinated by Ireland, are advised to visit Clare County to enjoy the incredible spectacle - the cliffs of Moher. This business card of the island of green Eirin is a series of sheer cliffs about 200 m high, which wash the cold waters of the Atlantic. The 8 km long ridge attracts about a million tourists annually - just so many people want to admire the breathtaking scenery that opens up from terry cliffs. On clear days, they can see the contours of the Connemara valley and the Aran Islands. The place looks so fabulous that Hollywood directors chose it for the actual filming of the Harry Potter movie. 
Newgrange - Temple of the Sun
The oldest structure on the planet that is older thanthe great Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge, is located 40 km from Dublin. This burial chamber, located inside a mound in the height of 13.5 m, it leads a 19-meter corridor. Inside the chamber there is a ritual bowl, in the walls - decorated with stone carving niches. This cult building is called the temple of the Sun, in the dark depths of it, Light has been born for 5,000 years. The sacrament takes place on the days of the winter solstice: at sunrise a sunbeam penetrates through the small entrance to the dark darkness of Newgrange; he slinks fearfully along a narrow underground corridor, the height of which gradually increases, and reaches the upper room - a crypt, in the form of a shamrock. The rising sun ray for 15-20 minutes illuminates the altar stone. To see this enchanting sight can not all: to get on the list of lucky ones, you need to win in a special lottery.
Castle Cair: the most impregnable fortress
Irish Castles - a separate directiontourist pilgrimage. In some of them there are luxurious hotels, in other buildings the heirs of the famous ancient families still live. In these historical sights you can see firsthand all the elements of castle architecture - massive watchtowers, blocking gates in the gates, weapons chambers, lancet windows and ancient bridges. The largest castle building in Ireland is the Castle of Kair in the county of South Tipperary, built in 1142 by King Thomond. It seems to have come down from the pages of a history textbook: the main tower of the Donjon, six watchtowers on the fortress walls, the grate that falls behind the gates, the unexploded nucleus left in the fortress wall. Elizabeth I called this stronghold the most impregnable. 
Valley of the Great Kings
The Valley of the Great Kings in Ireland is called Tara,a low long hill near the Boyne River (Meath County). According to Celtic legends, here you can find traces of druids. In the old days, the "feast of Tara" was a ritual marriage between the High King and his land. In the center of Tara is the stone of the Fall, known for his shouting under the High Kings. According to historians, the legendary stone symbolized chaos, and his cry - the resistance of chaos to the process of ordering, which the kings embodied. If you look at the terrain from a height, you can see two connecting spirals from earthen ramparts, each of which consists of 7 circles. In the center of their intersection was the royal palace, in which the central place was occupied by the Honeymoon. 4 additional rooms of the palace were oriented along 4 sides of the world, they represented the whole of Ireland, namely, its four main kingdoms. As you can see, the sights of Ireland can be called not only medieval monuments of architecture, but also many amazing places that make up this country's pride. These include gorges and lakes, cliffs and heathlands, barrows and islands. The sights of Ireland are a variety of impressions, changing after every turn of its winding roads.
