The Emerald Isle

: Morning tea beckons at the Aghavannagh Barracks country house in County Wicklow.

: Mark Boyle, the former “Moneyless Man,” lives like a modern-day Thoreau in an off-grid cabin he built in County Galway.

: In 2012, after growing increasingly concerned about climate change, big-wave Irish surfer Fergal Smith (left) gave up professional surfing to start Moy Hill Community Farm near Lahinch with Cornish surfer mates Matt Smith (right) and Mitch Corbett. In 2016, at age 28, Fergal ran for the Green Party to put environmental issues on a larger stage.

: A glimpse of Kells Priory through an arrow slit in the stone wall. The Augustinian monastic community was founded in 1193 in County Kilkenny.

: O’Brien’s Tower stands watch over the Cliffs of Moher, like it has since the 19th century.

: Windswept beaches stretch for miles on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal.

: Oonagh O’Dwyer of Wild Kitchen stops to smell an elderflower during a foraging tour of the County Clare coastline near Lahinch.

: Ireland’s lesser-known Slieve League cliffs in the northwest are among the tallest sea cliffs in Europe.

: The Poulnabrone Dolmen portal tomb, built high on a limestone plateau of the Burren, is the oldest dated megalithic monument in Ireland.

: The geranium sanguineum, or bloody cranesbill, is one of 1,100 plant species that grows in the rocky Burren region of County Clare. Seventy percent of Ireland’s wildflowers grow here.

: One of the residents of Aghavannagh Barracks, a military fortress turned country retreat in County Wicklow.

: The Emerald Isle gets its deep green color from up to 50 inches of rain a year.

: Kevin blends into the scenery of Malin Head, on the Inishowen Peninsula of County Donegal.

: The mighty Cliffs of Moher might be even more impressive by boat.

: Faded colors and patterns in County Mayo.

: Making friends with the neighbors on the Inishowen Peninsula.

: Over coffee at the Roadside Tavern in Lisdoonvarna, the pub’s owner Peter Curtin philosophizes about the local herbs he’ll feature in his upcoming round of grut beers.

: Horse riders enjoy an afternoon gallop at Brittas Bay, about an hour south of Dublin. Horse culture is so strong here that phrases such as “go horse” remain in the national lexicon.

: The barren limestone landscape of the Burren is the result of glaciation during the last Ice Age.

: According to legend, this striped sea stack, Dún Briste (broken fort), was cut off from the headland by St Patrick when a pagan chieftain refused to convert to Christianity. St Patrick struck the ground with his crozier, splitting off the landmass with the chieftain on top.

: Kevin braves the Dark Hedges of Northern Ireland, a famous film location from Game of Thrones.

: A statue of St Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, marks the remnants of a church he founded at Downpatrick Head in County Mayo.

: The first Irish distillery to open in 125 years was launched in Dingle in 2014. Head distiller Michael Walsh makes uisce beatha (whiskey, or literally “water of life”) using small-batch processes that respect the island’s whiskey heritage.

: An abandoned creekside cottage in the Wicklow Mountains near Lough Tay.

: The colorful village of Doolin, famous for sweater shops and traditional music, in County Clare.

: Admiring the Chimney Stacks along the Causeway Coast of Northern Ireland.

: The fossil-laden Flaggy Shore, on the northwest edge of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark, has inspired poetry from Seamus Heaney as well as this Finavarra man.

: Happy chickens at the Moy Hill Community CSA farm near Lahinch.

: The end of winter at Lough Dan in the Wicklow Mountains.

: Soaking up the sun on the Howth Peninsula with Dublin’s Poolbeg Chimneys in the background.

: The UNESCO-heritage basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway were formed by volcanic activity 50 to 60 million years ago.

: The road from the Chimney Stacks to the basalt pavement of Giant’s Causeway, named after a legend about a giant striding from here to Scotland.

: Ekotree in Doolin spins natural fibers into modern sweaters, hats, and shawls using thousand-year-old Irish patterns.

: It’s hard to bear left on the narrow country roads of the Wild Atlantic Way, given the stone walls and stunning views.

: Morning fog rolls over the Blasket Islands in County Kerry.

: Paul, “the Poetry Postman,” searches for his black lab Leo who’s hiding in the grassy sand dunes of Brittas Bay.

: One of the many Irish politicians and thinkers memorialized in stone inside the Trinity College Library.

: Knocking on heaven’s door in County Kilkenny.

: History and adventure flow through the South Pole Inn on the Dingle Peninsula, founded by Antarctic explorer Tom Crean.

: Light amid the storm in Doolin, County Clare.

: There are more sheep than people at horseshoe-shaped Silver Strand beach in Donegal.

: A sub-tropical, gulf-stream climate allows exotic plants and flowers to flourish around Garnish Island in County Cork.

*Theme song: “Prayer Before a Voyage” by Interference