Ireland
The first great period of civilisation in Ireland goes under the name of the Mesolithic age. The population wouldn't have amounted to more than a few thousand people. The first settlers more than likely came to Ireland to modern day County Antrim from Scotland and lived as hunter-gatherers. Archaeologists have found the sites of theses first people - Mount Sandel in Derry where they found huts and the remains of fires. Tools made of flint were found around the Shannon estuary. These first people depended heavily on nature.This is a land of blue mountains and forest parks, mazy lakes and windswept moors, white Atlantic sands, an inland sea. In fact, it's a country that is just pretending to be small. Dozens of small towns are hidden away down among the green places of the countryside, and fishing villages string out along the shores. The towers and steeples of parish churches mark the high ground beyond trimmed hedgerows. The country's turbulent past, which still resonates today, has also helped shape the landscape.
The weather can be fickle but the rain keeps the land a magical emerald green and, when the wind blows the clouds away to sea, the sky like the mountains is blue. The air is clean - and so sweet that you will want to open the car windows to let the breezes in.