30 free things to do in Ireland

1. Journey into the heart of Winterfell, Dragonstone and Vaes Dothrak in Northern Ireland, otherwise known as Game of Thrones® Territory.

2. Welcome a magnificent fleet of tall ships as they sail into port for the Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival in May.

3. Discover the Little Ark of Kilbaha in County Clare, a tiny mobile church used by an ingenious priest to celebrate mass in the 19th century.

4. Taste your way through Dingle Food Festival in County Kerry in October, which includes a cookery demonstrations, food trails, and over 50 market stalls

5. Shake off those cobwebs and take a walk with Bambi… watch from a safe distance the rare white deer in Parkanaur Forest Park, County Tyrone, or the fallow deer in Dublin’s Phoenix Park.

6. Go snorkelling in the super-clear waters of Trá an Doilín (the coral beach), Carraoe, County Galway.

7. Get lost among ancient books, scrolls and objects d’art in Dublin’s Chester Beatty Library, described by Lonely Planet as “one of the best museums in Europe”. While in the city, don’t miss the National Gallery of Art, the three National Museums, and the National Library, all of which are free, too!

8. Hunt for the Giant’s Grave in the countryside around Clonmel in County Tipperary – a massive pillar of stone with crosses carved on two of its faces. 

9. Visit the evocative Titanic Pier in Cobh, County Cork, where the doomed liner took on its final passengers. 

10. Explore the Deserted Village and 5,000-year-old megalithic tombs on the slopes of Slievemore on Achill Island, County Mayo.

11. Get on the screen trail: discover the real-life locations behind films and TV shows such as Harry Potter, Disenchanted, Derry Girls, Star Wars, Brooklyn and more.

12. Enjoy talks, music and theatre at the Cork Midsummer Festival in June, in Cork city

13. Get gory and track down St Oliver Plunkett’s head at St Peter’s Church in Drogheda, County Louth. Plunkett was born in County Meath in 1625 and was the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. He was canonised in 1975.

14. Spot the shimmering solar phenomena known as the Northern Lights as it appears over the Wild Atlantic Way in County Donegal.

15. Put on your purple at the Wexford Lavender Farm in County Wexford, where you can learn about the history of lavender and its many varieties and colours.

16. See what inspired CS Lewis to create his magical wonderland of Narnia with a hike through the Mourne Mountains in County Down.

17. Take a trip around the Viking Triangle in Waterford city. Waterford is one of the island’s oldest cities and was founded by Vikings back in 914AD.

18. Do a full circle of one of Europe’s finest fully-walled cities and delve into a bit of 17th-century history in Derry~Londonderry.

19. Explore the life and work of one of Ireland’s most important poets, WB Yeats, at the Yeats Room at the Sligo County Museum.

20. See if you can spot the Lough Ree Monster on the mystical Lough Ree in County Longford. 

21. Watch the super-surfers at Bundoran in County Donegal, hailed as one of the World’s Top 20 Surf Towns by National Geographic. 

22. Spot passing sea-life, such as seals, porpoises, dolphins and even whales all across the island of Ireland. Land-based whale watching is all about patience!

23. Visit Lough Derg in Killaloe, County Clare, and explore its 3 heritage centres: Brian Boru Heritage centre, all about Ireland's greatest king; Nenagh Heritage Centre which is located in a 19th century prison, and Woodford Heritage Centre in Portumna, where you can find the Irish Workhouse Centre.

24. Explore Fore in County Westmeath, site of a 7th century abbey, and home of the seven wonders of Fore, including the tree that won’t burn and the water that flows uphill.

25. Retrace the footsteps of James Joyce’s greatest literary character, Ulysses’s Leopold Bloom, and swim at the 40ft, in Sandycove, Dublin, which featured in the opening chapter of Ulysses.

26. Climb scree-covered Croagh Patrick in County Mayo and stand atop the holiest mountain in the west of Ireland where St Patrick is believed to have fasted for 40 days in 441.

27. Hear thrilling tales of pirates, lost love and Ireland’s famous Claddagh ring at Thomas Dillon’s Claddagh Ring Visitor Centre in Galway city.

28. Shudder at the thumbscrew, a gruesome medieval instrument of torture, on view at the award-winning Monaghan County Museum.

29. Behold a pre-Christian god (or statue of one at least) with a contentious past on Boa Island on Lough Erne, County Fermanagh. Is he Roman? Pagan? Some call him an alien!

30. Feed your soul with a visit to the Limerick City Gallery of Art to contemplate works by Jack B Yeats and Sir John Lavery.

So there you have it… start your free adventures in Ireland this summer. How many will you tick off the list?