Ireland is called 'The Emerald Isle', and with good reason--blessed with the mild Gulf stream, its temperatures rarely stray beyond its 35-70°F range. In fact, Ireland's temperate clime is mild enough that you can find bamboo and palm trees in the southwestern parts of the country.

I remember my first flight over Ireland, when I was 14 and we were headed for Europe. The country appeared far beneath us, bright green in the morning sunshine, almost artificial-looking, probably seeming twice as colorful after the monochrome dreariness of the semi-frozen North Atlantic we'd just crossed. And while southern England and western France were green, too, they just did not share that gleaming, eye-poppingly shade of green that Ireland has.

For a country that is rich in preserved lore and legend, Ireland has little to none when it comes to creation mythos; most of the preserved Celtic lore speaks of human harmony with nature and gods, or the history of human invasion here. St. Patrick converted the Irish isles to Christianity around 420-460AD; sometime between the 8th and 12th centuries AD, Christian monks began transcribing the bardic lore of Ireland. These tales occasionally tell of the creation of specific geographically oddities--such as the charmingly romantic tales of Giant's Causeway. (Oh sure, there's a scientific reason--lava cooling and contracting, blah blah, but mythology makes places fun).

It may be hard to believe that this land once soared as high--if not highe--than the Himalayas, or that parts were once a desert. Although no major Jurassic (dinosaur) fossils have been found in Ireland, the land is rich in geological history and lesser fossils, which can be used to help date and trace major geological changes that have made Ireland into the rugged beauty you see today.

Most recently (in terms of geological history), the last Ice Age left its indelible mark on the island, easily identifiable with Ireland's U-shaped valleys and rounded mountaintops. To see some of Ireland's most striking geological features, head to the northeast, home of rugged cliff shorelines, such as found at the Cliffs of Moher, or the wild and rugged Burrens.

Quick Tips:

Some good websites to help you plan your trip:

- Heritage Towns and Houses, Castles and Gardens of Ireland : Ireland's most majestic homes and gardens are often set among striking scenery; these sites are a good place to start.

- National Trust (UK) : For Northern Ireland, The National Trust maintains historical houses of interest and natural geological sites (such as Giant's Causeway) of significant or historical interest.

- Irelands National Waymarked Ways : The Walk Ireland site is a great site for touring Ireland on foot. They include a listing of all Waymarked trails in the country; walking tips; and the walking "code."

- Tourism Ireland : National tourism board site; has lots of good information and plenty of links.

- Irish Filmboard & Northern Ireland Film & TV Commission : Fell in love with a location on film/tv? Use these sites to look up where it was filmed.

Best Way To Get Around:

Should you be unwilling to brave Ireland's roadways, Railtours Ireland offers a variety of 1-4 day guided tours throughout the country.

Or be adventurous--Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) offers a wide variety of passes at discounted rates for travelers.

Suggested readings before you go: McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland by Pete McCarthy; and Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks. Both are hilarious encounters of road trips around the Emerald Isle.

The legends state that the national folklore hero, Finn McCool - giant and Ulster warrior - built this causeway for one of two reasons. Either it was to bring his lady love across the sea from Staffa, or it was to resolve a conflict with a rival giant on Staffa. Either way, it is a charming story and a bit more colorful than the geological explanation.

The causeway itself is an oddity in nature, more than 40,000 basalt columns - mostly 6-sided, but some with 4, 5, 7 or 8 sides - packed tightly together that stretch from the shore to under the sea. The lava flows that created these rocks happened approximately 60 million years ago, and it was the rapidly cooling lava and variations in the cooling rate resulted in the hexagonal shapes.

The entire north shore of Ireland is well worth the drive, for the views are spectacular, but you will only see Giant's Causeway by going down to it; it is not visible from the road. From the visitor's center atop the cliffs, you can either walk the half-mile path down or take the shuttle. (If you possibly can, Get there first thing in the morning to beat tour buses.) I would recommend walking down – wear sneakers or other rubber-soled shoes! – and taking the shuttle back up. The walk takes approximately 15 minutes at a leisurely pace. Admission is free; there are guided tours for a very modest fee.

As the road winds down past coastal flora, it turns to the right and you get your first glimpse of the Causeway, waves beating across it and people climbing all over it. (Beware climbing on the rocks at high tide or in inclement weather, as they get quite slippery). Soon the columns begin rising beside the road and then you are at the end of the road with the rocks before you, which are strangely fascinating, and quite beautiful.

As the columns have broken off and become weathered over the years, they seem to have formed "steps", which makes it relatively easy to climb over them. There are two main arms of these columns jutting out into the sea. A variety of particular formations have been given names since the first documented visit in 1692, such as the "the Pipe Organ" and "McCool's chair," where the legendary hero sat, looking out to sea. On a clear day, you can see to Scotland.

I hope to return to Giant’s Causeway one day – it was very wild and beautiful, quite peaceful.

The name of the bridge, "Carrick-a-Rede" ("Carraig-a-Rade") means "rock in the road," with the road in question being the route that the salmon migrate along the north coast. The seas here are quite rough at times, often too rough for small craft, so the bridge allows fishermen to cross to the smaller island, which sits firmly in the midst of the migratory area. The bridge is open from mid-March through the end of September; fishermen can still be found here, as well as birdwatchers and many tourists.

The bridge itself is a half-mile walk from the parking lot. The path is of good quality to the viewpoint (approximately 300 yards); after that, you will definitely want sturdy footwear, especially for the flights of stairs down to the bridge. I highly recommend bringing along a bottle or two of water, especially in warm weather; there is a small tearoom in the parking lot if you have not thought to bring your own. If you are not in shape for a mile walk and a bit of climbing up and down stairs, you may find the walk long.

The walk to and from the bridge is quite pretty, with lush green hills, lots of cows on one side, and the dramatic limestone cliffs on the other. On clear days, you can easily see across the North Channel to Scotland. It should be noted that Larrybane headland was once much more prominent, and a fort dating to approximately 800 A.D. once stood atop it. Unfortunately, due to limestone demand, much of the head was quarried and blasted, thus removing a sizeable chunk of land - as well as destroying the fort. The views are still stunning, however, and you can take a walk down to some of the quarry caves if you like.

The bridge itself is not the riskiest version of the bridge to have existed; at one time the bridge was little more than a string of planks and a single rope for a guard rail. The current "caged" version of the bridge was installed in 2000 and is quite safe in comparison, although crossing it still requires sensibility and paying attention to where you walk – although there are no known casualties to have happened here.

It’s quite fun to watch folks daring each other to take the walk, but the best thing to look at here is the scenery, and it’s quite lovely. If you don’t mind the walk, then I highly recommend taking the time out to take in this attraction!

The Cliffs of Moher stretch for roughly 8km between Liscannor and Doolin on the west coast of Ireland, an easy drive from Galway, and a short distance from one of Ireland's most famous golf courses, Lahinch.

We were doing a large loop tour of Ireland, so although the day dawned drippy in Lisdoovarna, we had little choice - the Cliffs were on our itinerary for the day, and there would be no coming back - so it was on through the rain. We passed through the colorfully interesting Liscannor, a holiday town, and followed the stream of cars to the car park labelled for the Cliffs, arriving in the footsteps of tourists who have visited here for nearly 200 years.

The rain looked as if it were drying off, so we spent a few minutes nosing around the gift shop, which was surprisingly well stocked. Sadly, most major Irish attractions have cookie-cutter things to buy: the same pins, the same chocolates and liquors and shamrock-laden trinkets, and worse than that, it is not the quality I dreamed of finding when we booked our trip! Considering the major draw here was a bunch of rocks, there was an impressive range of things available, but after buying a few postcards, we trundled out into the mist and towards the cliffs.

Just in case you are foolish about the dangers that await you should you take the plunge off the 200+ meter (600+ feet) cliffs, a large sign proclaims "PLEASE EXERCISE CAUTION BEYOND THIS POINT" in three languages. Well noted, we looked on with fascination at the folks who were brave enough to walk the edge in this windy weather, some even sitting at the edge, legs dangling over. I don't have a problem with heights, mind you, it's dangling myself freely over them that sometimes worries me!

There is a short uphill walk to O'Brien's Tower, which was built by Cornelius O'Brien in 1835 as an observation point for the crowds of visitors who were coming here, even in those days. Some locals say more colorfully that O'Brien built the tower to "impress the ladies," but I would think that if that were the case, he would have built it bigger. At any case, you follow a path lined with the lovely Moher flagstones, which have the fascinating imprints of fossilized eels on many of them, up to the Tower. There is a minor admission charge for the Tower, but my father said it wasn't really worth the extra cost to climb up inside.

From the top of the cliffs, you get a striking view along the coast. On a clear day you can see south to the Kerry peninsula, and on most days you can easily spot the Arun islands - Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Inisheer - across Galway Bay to the northwest. These cliffs take on the brunt of the Atlantic currents and winds - it is reputably "best" to come here at sunset, especially on a windy day. We had the windy day, and waves broke beautifully against the cliffs below us, but alas, the sun barely shone through the clouds. The overcast day made the dark-colored cliffs particularly brooding. One could almost picture Heathcliff, walking the cliff paths.

The Cliffs of Moher are heavily stratified, showing what geologists would consider good faulting and slumping in the Namurian sandstone shale and sandstone. Additionally, the Cliffs are a "Special Area of Conservation," being an important breeding ground for the visually striking razorbills. Vast colonies of birds and gulls make their homes here. There is concern over what impeding tourism development could mean to pollution in the area and how it could affect these breeding grounds. Although you will not see as many of these birds from the clifftops, there are local boat tours that highlight the Cliffs.

In all, I enjoyed our stop at the Cliffs of Insanity... err, the Cliffs of Moher, although our time spent there was short. Definitely worth a stop if you are in the area!

Most visitors tend to base their trips in this area from the town of Killarney, a fairly sizeable town located just east of the peninsula, and which has several tourist attractions in its own right. However, we passed up Killarney - with its inevitably inflated-for-the-tourists hotel prices - and found lodgings at the lovely Ocean Wave House, located just east of the village of Glenbeigh.

It should be noted that generally, travellers are advised to journey the Ring of Kerry in a counter-clockwise direction, particularly as some parts of the road are quite narrow. Glenbeigh, therefore, is a great place to spend the night - and that way, you can get a jump on the tourist buses first thing in the morning. We enjoyed our stay at Ocean Wave, and went down to the local pub at The Towers Old Bar in the heart of town. The Old Bar is a wonderful Irish pub experience, with a ring of rugged locals around the bar, and sun-kissed young adults fresh from the waves at Rossbeigh - the very scenic beach at Glenbeigh, located on Dingle Bay, and a perfect area for watersports. Glenbeigh is very picturesque, with brightly painted houses and lots of flowers. The climate here is decidedly mild, with year-round breezes from the jet stream.

Unfortunately for us, the day dawned overcast, and I think the main reason we choose to actually still do the drive was that we were there and therefore, it was going to be done! Views of Dingle Bay were lovely, though clearly not as striking as they'd be under sunny skies like we had had the night before.

Near Glenbeigh, you can see the Bog Village, a small cluster of buildings restored with their thatch roofing, and worth a look if you've never seen thatching.

A few miles down the road from Glenbeigh was the Church of St. Finian. As my father filled up the gas tank, my mother and I scrambled over to wander through its graveyard, thick with a jumble of Celtic crosses, newer headstones, and graves marked with hand-placed stones. We loved being able to explore graveyards like this across Ireland.

On the western side of the Ring lies the road to Portmagee, and the Skellig Heritage Centre. If the weather had been good, this would have been a primary stop; the Skellig Centre is located on Valentia Island, which is home to a wildlife sanctuary as well. At the visitor's center (open daily at 10am), you can explore the history and information about nearby Skellig Michael, where one of the best-preserved monastic outposts of the Early Christian period can be found. Michael Skellig and its sister island, Small Skellig, rise from the Atlantic waters like a pair of dreadnaughts on the near horizon. It is hard to imagine what compelled the monks to choose such a lonely outpost, 600 rocky feet above the sea. If you plan to visit Skellig Michael itself, try to work out (Stairmaster!) before you go, because you will have to climb from your boat to the ruins.

One of the most thrilling views we got the whole trip around the peninsula was when the clouds broke briefly and a shaft of light fell from the sky, directly onto the Skelligs and across the heavily surging Atlanitc waters, making them glow like a halo, and the turgid ocean reflecting playfully around them. I could've stayed in that spot for ages, gazing in admiration at the random beauty of creation, but a bus blew by us in the opposite direction, its wake leaving our car shaking for a moment - the spell broken, I gazed back towards the islands, but the sunlight was gone. Unfortunately, too, there are not many places to be able to just pull over and enjoy the view a little, and by the time we'd found a spot to turn around, it had begun to rain once more.

The rain dampened our spirits for the Kerry Penninsula, so we did not stop for much else here, nor did we make it on to Kenmare, which is famous for its lace. The tourist shop at Sneem was a decent stop to grab a bit of grub and a few souvenirs; they had a very nice selection of woolens.

Some day when I visit Ireland again I will definitely make it around the Ring again, next time under sunnier skies, and maybe stay an extra night or two in the area to better enjoy it. There is too many interesting things we missed: the Iron Age Staigue Fort near Castlecove; Muckross House and traditional farm; Ross Castle; the Ogam Stones (which show off some of the earliest form of writing to appear in Ireland) near Beaufort village; the stone circle near Lissivigeen; the well-preserved Muckross Abbey ruins; and of course, the Skelligs. Ireland is far too interesting to be seen at 60kph!