I visited Ireland’s ‘ancient capital’ an hour from London – with seafront pubs and Viking experiences

I FEEL about six years old, hands and knees covered in thick mud, as I emerge from a tunnel only big enough to crawl through, first used by Christian settlers more than 1,200 years ago to escape Viking raids.

I’m at Knowth, the world’s largest passage tomb, just 20 minutes north of Dublin in Ireland’s Boyne Valley.

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The ancient sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Howth were built 5,000 years ago for the burial of around half a dozen “god-like” people.

Our tour guide explains that the monuments, older than the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge, were built like giant lasagnes, with huge stones piled one on top of the other.

Known as the birthplace of Ireland’s ancient east, the Boyne Valley is ideal for exploring Ireland’s history and tradition — without travelling too far from Dublin Airport.

After my ancient sites tour, I headed to Causey Farm in Fordstown, which offers groups of tourists the chance to “be Irish for the day” for as little as £12pp.

Arriving to the homely smell of a wood-burning stove, I’m shown how to make Irish soda bread, before moving on to a lesson on the traditional Irish drum, known as a bodhrán (pronounced bow-ran).

Next comes a tour of the animals — I get to meet a fluffy, ten-week-old border collie that melts my heart, as well as a slightly less charming (actually terrifying) pig, some alpacas and rabbits.

The visit finishes with farmer Matt Murtagh demonstrating how his sheepdog Crick effortlessly corrals a herd of sheep wherever he demands, at one point playfully running the herd inches from me.

The Boyne Valley is also ripe with history — it’s the setting for the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart and where the Battle of the Boyne was fought between deposed King James II and the newly crowned King William III in 1690.

At Trim Castle, a guided tour starts at just £2.50 and it is free to explore the grounds.

We get to climb right to the roof, stopping to see key rooms along the way, with walls covered in 18th century graffiti — a John Gibney marked his name in 1760.

We’re then shown the chapel where the priests’ ornate wash basin can still be seen, and there’s even a medieval toilet (read hole in the floor) — lucky us!

If history isn’t your thing, Park Beo, an adventure base in Wilkinstown, offers a “gateway” to the Lakelands Greenway — a cycle path stretching 18 miles along an old railway line from Navan to Kingscourt — as well as shops selling everything from cheese toasties to cherry bakewells produced by a local.

With a huge car park, it acts as space to service visitors who want to head out for a walk with a fresh takeaway coffee.

There’s also a bi- cycle hire office with bikes and e-bikes to rent from £8.30 an hour.

If you prefer a seafront amble, this region boasts miles of impressive coastline.

The village of Annagassan, a former Viking settlement, has breathtaking coastal views, with a dramatic tide perfect for razor clams.

Seafood banquet

You can sample them fresh at local joint, The Glyde Inn, a charming 18th-century pub with roaring fires and an award-winning restaurant with panoramic sea views.

For something extra special, the family-run Irish National Pub of the Year award winner offers a dinner-and-show style “Viking VR Experience” for £50pp.

Each ticket gets you a pint of Irish Pale Ale, brewed down the road, as well as a ten-minute VR show of what the area would have looked like at the time of the Vikings in 841 AD, when Bjorn the Great was in charge of the settlement there.

Then comes the main event, a seafood banquet of whatever has been caught that day.

I was served Carlingford oysters and crab and butter-coated razor clams to start, followed by a main course of black sole with wilted sea beech foraged just outside the restaurant’s patio doors, served alongside a creamy sea radish mash.

Try to book for late afternoon, as from 5.30pm to 6.30pm each day a live band plays traditional music.

It’s the perfect ending to any Irish adventure.