NEIL SQUIRES uncovers some of the highlights of central Ireland

TEE TIME
In all, Ireland has more than 440 golf courses. County Meath has two of the best in Killeen Castle (www.killeencastle.com), designed by Jack Nicklaus, which has just hosted Europe’s dramatic victory in the Solheim Cup (the women’s version of the Ryder Cup) and neighbouring Knightsbrook (www.knightsbrook.com).

Both are less than an hour’s drive north-west of Dublin.

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LUNCH AND MONKS
Mix history with the signature buffalo wings at Luigi Malones, Dublin (www.luigimalones.com) where a table downstairs is within touching distance of what is left of the 13th-century city wall.

It subsequently became part of a notorious friary where in 1379 eight monks were accused of murdering Richard Dermot, one of their order.

They were cleared of the crime but found guilty of disposing of his body.

HIDDEN GEM
What do you do if you can’t stand your neighbours? Build a wall of course.

If you happen to be the eccentric Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere, build one 50ft high and 100ft wide in the style of a ruined medieval abbey.

The Jealous Wall at Belvedere House (www.belvedere-house.ie), Mullingar, County Meath, hides the house of his hated brother George.

There are two other intriguing follies in the grounds. Tickets £7.50 per adult, £4 per child.

BONE IDYLL
Stall the children with the promise of a look at a giant’s skeleton in Trinity College’s Old Library, Dublin (www.tcd.ie) while you see the masterpiece that is the Book of Kells.

The detail on this 9th-century Gospel manuscript is incredible.

The magnificent barrel-roofed Long Room houses the skeleton.

Tickets £7.50, under 12s free.

REST EASY
See Dublin on an open-top bus tour (www.citysightseeingdublin.com) with witty yet informative guides.

If you want to spend longer at any particular spot, just hop off and hop back on one of the regular services later.

There are two routes and 28 stops covering the city centre, all the way out west to Phoenix Park and Dublin Zoo. Nearby is Kilmainham Gaol museum.

Tickets, £14 per adult, two children (under-14) free with every full-paying adult.

SHIP OF HOPE
Learn about the 19th-century potato famine and the subsequent exodus from Ireland which halved the country’s population, inside a floating replica of the three-masted ship used to take 2,500 people across the Atlantic from Tralee.

On the River Liffey at Custom House Quay, Dublin, the Jeanie Johnston Famine Ship Museum (www.jeaniejohnston.ie) brings to life the story of those aboard the vessel which saw births but, unusually for those perilous times, no deaths on its 16 crossings. Tickets £7.50 per adult, £4 per child.

PAST IN THE PRESENT
The Neolithic monuments of Newgrange are so ancient they pre-date Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids (www.heritageireland.ie).

For 17 minutes around the winter solstice on December 22, the chamber is magically illuminated by the sun’s rays and 100 tickets are available each year to be inside when it happens.

Entry is via the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, Donore, County Meath. Tickets for the exhibition plus Newgrange tour £5 per adult, £2.50 per child.

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ANIMAL MAGIC

Ireland’s Natural History Museum in Dublin (www. museum.ie), or as locals jokingly refer to it, The Dead Zoo, is the eternal resting place of thousands of specimens.

Countless cabinets crammed with creatures are on show.

A highlight is the 70ft fin whale skeleton suspended from the roof.

Admission free.

THE KNOWLEDGE
Knightsbrook Hotel Spa & Golf Resort (dialling from the UK: 00353 46 948 2100/www.knightsbrook.com) offers doubles from £76 per night (two sharing), B&B.

Ryanair (0871 246 0000/ www.ryanair.com) offers return flights to Dublin from £42. Avis (0844 581 0147/www.avis. co.uk) offers daily car hire from Dublin Airport from £43.

Tourism Ireland: www.discoverireland.com