Two of Ireland’s most extraordinary historic places have attained UNESCO World Heritage Site status.

Skellig Michael is a magnificent island monastery, one of the earliest monastic foundations in the country. The beehive-shaped huts made of stone in which the monks of St Fionan lived, prayed and slept remain intact, perched on the summit of an awe-inspiring rocky island that dominates the surrounding seascape.

The fabled Brú na Bóinne, is Ireland’s richest archaeological landscape. It is the location of the ancient ceremonial passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, built some 5,000 years ago. The archaeological significance of these sites cannot be overstated. Containing the largest collection of megalithic art in western Europe, they are among the most important Neolithic sites in the world.