The Mourne and Cooley Mountains are quite simply a hiker's paradise. The highest and most dramatic mountain range in Northern Ireland, the Mournes hug the County Down coastline in a compact region designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Cooley Peninsula – a finger of land in County Louth bounded in the north by the spectacular Carlingford Lough – is one of Ireland's best kept secrets. These exhilarating walks will take you to the highest point in Northern Ireland. Trek through the picturesque woodland trails of Castlewellan and Tollymore. Discover the highest passage tomb in Ireland. Walk along an old smuggler's route, tranquil reservoirs and the sand-dunes of Murlough Nature Reserve. The more ambitious will relish the Mourne Wall challenge, and some summits include optional scrambles to the top of dramatic granite tors or rocky outcrops. Each graded route is illustrated with photographs and specially drawn maps. Snippets on the rich flora, fauna, geology, history, heritage and folklore of each area are included throughout. So, get your walking boots on and discover the impressive landscape that spawned the legend of the Táin Bó Cúailnge and inspired C. S. Lewis' magical world of Narnia .

The only guidebook for the Mourne Mountains written by a County Down local hiker: 30 handpicked routes. The only guidebook for the Mourne Mountains with Real 1:25,000 Maps: this makes navigation easy and saves you money: no need to carry additional maps. Also includes: - Game of Thrones film locations - Numbered waypoints linking maps to text - Quick Reference Route List: enabling you to plan an itinerary to match your ability and schedule. All difficult calculations of time, distance and altitude gain are done for you - Everything the hiker needs to know to plan routes: route descriptions, difficulty, weather, how to get there, and more - Accommodation section - Information on Wildlife, Plants & Geology - History of the Mourne Wall - List of Irish Place Names - Edge to edge colour: the most modern and beautiful Mournes guidebook The Mourne range comprises the highest mountains in Northern Ireland. It is a stunning wilderness which is popular with local walkers but is relatively unknown to those outside of Ireland. The highest mountain in the range is Slieve Donard (849m), Northern Ireland's highest point, which sweeps majestically down into the Irish Sea at the pretty seaside town of Newcastle. This proximity to the sea is a characteristic of the Mournes, often creating a mysterious atmosphere, as frequently the high peaks can be seen rising dramatically out of a blanket of sea mist. The Mournes have everything you would expect from a mountain region on the Emerald Isle: beautifully long ridges, magnificent summits and vibrant heather and gorse covered slopes. However, there is one key thing which sets it apart: uniquely, the whale-backed slopes of the highest peaks are completely encircled by the lovely dry-stone 'Mourne Wall'.

Ingenious Ireland takes readers on a magnificent tour of the country's natural wonders, clever inventions, and historic sites. Richly illustrated and meticulously compiled, Ingenious Ireland introduces readers to the complete history, culture, and landscape of all thirty-two Irish counties. Mary Mulvihill unearths Ireland's treasures and divulges her secrets, such as the oldest fossil footprints in the Northern hemisphere, the advent of railways, the invention of milk of magnesia, and why the shamrock is a sham. Fascinating and comprehensive, Ingenious Ireland unravels the mysteries and marvels of this remarkable country.

The Committee's report examines the nature of tourism in Northern Ireland, its impact on and importance for the overall economy, and the effectiveness of measures taken by Government and other relevant agencies to develop, promote and support the marketing of Northern Ireland as a tourist destination. The Committee's recommendations are addressed to the Northern Ireland Office (which took back responsibility for tourism in Northern Ireland when the power-sharing executive was suspended in October 2002) but if a power-sharing executive is re-established then responsibility for tourism will revert to the restored Executive and, accordingly, responsibility for scrutiny of this policy area would revert to the Committees of a restored Assembly. The Committee's report makes 27 recommendations to help Northern Ireland maximise its tourist potential, and concludes that if government recognises the enormous economic impact of tourism, and if private enterprise in co-operation with statutory bodies can develop this recognition into a coherent strategy, there is no reason why the success of tourism in the Republic of Ireland should not be replicated in Northern Ireland to the advantage of the whole island of Ireland and with Northern Ireland itself enjoying an equivalent status to Scotland and Wales as a UK tourist destination.