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Co. Clare · About 2 hours from DublinKillaloe and Lough DergIreland's great Shannon lake: a medieval bridge between two counties, a monastic island, kayak trails and lakeside pubs. A properly restful weekend.
Co. Kerry · About 5 hours from DublinValentia Island and PortmageeFossil footprints older than the dinosaurs, slate quarries, subtropical gardens and the Skelligs on the horizon. Valentia is the Kerry most people drive straight past.
Co. Tyrone · About 2 hours from DublinOmagh and the SperrinsEmpty mountains, Bronze Age stone circles, a brilliant emigration museum and some of the darkest skies in Ireland. Tyrone is the place to switch off and look up.
Co. Armagh · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinArmagh cityA small city with two St Patrick's cathedrals, an 18th-century library and a planetarium, plus apple blossom, cider and an ancient royal site. Armagh is a hidden gem.
Co. Monaghan · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinGlaslough and Monaghan townA castle estate with an eccentric past, a poet's landscape, quiet lakes and forest parks. Monaghan is the gentle, unhurried weekend you didn't know you needed.
Co. Cavan · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinCavan town and the lakesLakes in every direction, an island castle, the source of the Shannon and a limestone landscape on the border, plus some of the best food in the north-west.
Co. Roscommon · About 2 hours from DublinBoyle and Lough KeyA forest park on a lake of islands, a royal site where Samhain began, a coal mine you can go down and one of Ireland's great abbeys. Roscommon is full of surprises.
Co. Offaly · About 1 hour 45 minutes from DublinBirr and ClonmacnoiseA giant Victorian telescope, a monastic city on the Shannon, whiskey in Tullamore and a sculpture park on a bog. Offaly is the heart of Ireland, literally.
Co. Longford · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinLongford town and the Royal CanalIreland's longest greenway, a lake full of islands, pretty estate villages and an Iron Age road in the bog. Longford is the midlands at their most peaceful.
Co. Laois · About 1 hour 20 minutes from DublinAbbeyleix and the Slieve BloomsWaterfalls and forest trails, a castle on a rock, a Lutyens garden and a pub that hasn't changed in a century. Laois is the midlands at their best.
Co. Carlow · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinBorris and the Barrow ValleyA slow river lined with towpaths and old mill villages, a dolmen with a 150-tonne capstone and gardens that feel like a secret. Carlow is the south-east's quiet surprise.