Reginald’s Tower stands at the end of the quay in Waterford city, on the corner of the Viking Triangle, and has been in continuous use for over 800 years, the oldest civic building in the country. Inside is a compact museum of Viking finds, a sword from Woodstown among them, reached by a spiral of deliberately uneven stumble steps. It is the only one here you can walk to from a city street.
Three of the others sit west along the Blackwater and its tributaries. Lismore Castle is the Duke of Devonshire’s private Irish home, so the visit is the gardens, open March to October, with contemporary sculpture set among 17th-century yew walks. Lisfinny, above the River Bride near Tallow, is a Desmond tower house on a working farm, a roadside view rather than a visit. Templemichael, on the promontory where the Glendine meets the Blackwater, is a five-storey ruin with murder holes and ogee windows, always open and free.
Dungarvan Castle falls between the two ends, over the Colligan estuary, free and by guided tour only, pairing a rare polygonal shell keep with an 18th-century barracks. The Suir entry is the thread rather than a castle, a 53 km paddling trail and a flat 21 km towpath. Lismore is the one with a season; the ruins keep no hours.
Ireland's oldest civic building, still in use after 800 years, holding Viking finds at the top of a spiral of uneven stumble steps.
Gardens open March to October at the Duke of Devonshire's Irish home, with contemporary sculpture among 17th-century yew walks and a Burne-Jones cathedral in the town.
A rare Norman polygonal shell keep over the Colligan estuary, free to enter and by guided tour only, with an 18th-century barracks alongside.
Ruined 15th-century Desmond tower above the River Bride near Tallow, seen from the road, with a Land War siege in its history.
The largest of the Three Sisters, with a Blueway pairing 53 km of paddling and a flat, wheelchair-friendly 21 km towpath.
6 of 6 shown — tap a pin for the place.
The Quay, waterford
Ireland’s oldest civic building, in continuous use for over 800 years, on the quay in Waterford’s Viking Triangle. Inside is a compact museum of Viking finds – a stamped lead weight, a sword from Woodstown, a gold-inlaid brooch – reached by a spiral stair of deliberately uneven ‘stumble steps’.
Lismore, waterford
Lismore Castle is the Duke of Devonshire's private Irish home, but its gardens open to visitors from March to October, with contemporary sculpture set among 17th-century yew walks. The town also has a Burne-Jones cathedral and the story of the Book of Lismore, sealed inside the castle wall for almost two centuries.
Dungarvan, waterford
Standing over the Colligan estuary, Dungarvan Castle pairs a rare medieval polygonal shell keep with an 18th-century military barracks. Admission is free and by guided tour only, tracing the site from Norman stronghold to British barracks, Garda station and heritage attraction.
Lisfinny, waterford
Lisfinny Castle is a ruined 15th-century tower house above the River Bride near Tallow, one of five raised by the Earls of Desmond. You can't go inside – it stands on a working farm – but the roadside view takes in the tower where a local MP held off the police through the 1888 Land War.
Waterford, waterford
Rising on Devil's Bit Mountain and running 185 km to the sea at Waterford, the Suir is the largest of the Three Sisters. Its Blueway pairs a 53 km paddling trail with a flat, wheelchair-friendly 21 km towpath, threading Cahir Castle, Ormond Castle and Nash's Swiss Cottage along the way.
Templemichael, waterford
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