The house is located above Doonagore Castle and just 1km from the village of Doolin at the northern foothills of the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. The castle has a legacy of brutal treatment of Spanish Armada survivors in 1588.
Doolin is known as the capital of traditional music in Ireland, and most of the social activity in the villages four main pubs caters to this, with skilled musicians stopping for sessions as they pass through. County Clare is particularly home to the concertina.

photo - Gerald Tapp
This is also the nearest point to the Aran Islands and ferries depart from Doolin harbour regularly as well as sightseeing trips below the famous cliffs. Trips to the two smaller islands of Inisheer at 11km or Inishmaan are make for terrific days out, but to appreciate the cliff fortress of Dun Aengus, a stop-over on Inishmore makes sense.
Peaking at 213 metres high, and stretching south for nearly eight km, the dramatic Cliffs of Moher are probably the most visited tourist site in Ireland.

photo - Danny Burke
Built in 1835 by local entrepreneur Cornelius O'Brien, as an observation point for the hundreds of tourists who even then visited the Cliffs, the tower bearing his name is unmistakeable on the headland.
The Cliffs are home to enormous numbers and a variety of nesting seabirds, including the only mainland colony of breeding Atlantic Puffins in Ireland, a species on the decline elsewhere in Europe.
JRR Tolkien was enlisted in 1949 as an external examiner for The University of Galway, regularly staying over at Ballyvaughan.
Some say that it was this Burren landscape that was the inspiration for The Lord of the Rings writings.
Excavated in 1986, Poulnabrone Dolmen is probably the most photographed of some seventy Neolithic tombs across the Burren region. The bones of 18 adults together with 6 children were found, dating back to about 3,600 BC.
Lisdoonvarna, the next nearest main town, is home to one of Europe's largest annual matchmaking events. Attracting over 40,000 romantic hopefuls, bachelor farmers and accompanying revellers. The current matchmaker is Willie Daly, a fourth-generation matchmaker.