I put the tour of Clonmacnoise in the Galway section because, although it is about one third of the way across Ireland towards Dublin, it still is a reasonable day trip if you are in Galway. It's got all the celtic irish stuff you'd want at a tourist site. The high crosses, the ancient monestary and tales of invaders, suffering, etc... There are guided tours, a display center and a coffee shop. The Clonmacnoise monestary buildings were getting some major renovation work done in 2004.
IRE 12 clonmacnoise
clonmacnoise-001.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-001.jpg
clonmacnoise-003.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-003.jpg
clonmacnoise-004.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-004.jpg
clonmacnoise-005.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-005.jpg
clonmacnoise-006.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-006.jpg
clonmacnoise-008.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-008.jpg
clonmacnoise-010.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-010.jpg
clonmacnoise-011.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-011.jpg
clonmacnoise-012.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-012.jpg
clonmacnoise-013.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-013.jpg
clonmacnoise-014.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/clonmacnoise-014.jpg
high-cross-002.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/high-cross-002.jpg
high-cross-007.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/high-cross-007.jpg
high-cross-009.jpg
http://kimbriggs.com/images/europe-etc/ireland/12-clonmacnoise/high-cross-009.jpg
These photos were taken in 2004.