The next 3-4 sites I visited were part of a bus tour that leaves from Downtown Dublin. It was a good way to see Newgrange Ancient Mounds and Tara Hill without driving. It left in the morning, after rush hour, I think, and took most of the day. The bus driver was knowledgeable about the tourist sites we visited in my case.
The two tourist sites on this page were a kind of "extra", but it turned out that Monasterboice had some of the best examples of high crosses I saw in Ireland. They did a good job of explaining them at Clonmacnoise. There is not much else there, however, and we visited for only a short time. At the Mellifont Abbey (ruins), it was a bit larger, and we stayed a little longer, but the time was also short compared to the next two sites.
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http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/05-monasterboice-mellifont/high-cross-ireland-003.jpg
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These photos were taken in 2004.