There are three places, in particular, that are very close to my heart and all are within a pleasant open-top hop from home.

Two are avowedly Christian and the third one has Pagan roots but that was put right by a turbulent visit of none other than St Patrick.

I, along with Mrs P, visit all three places many times during the year. They give me peace, sometimes to a troubled mind, maybe as a full week’s worth of anxieties build up on a Sunday afternoon.

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I’d be very happy for any one of these three sites to become my final resting place, but I think I’ll rest beside another much-loved river and very close to home on the banks of the Trimblestown river, just before it joins the Boyne.

But all this is becoming a bit morbid ahead of Christmas week, which wasn’t intended, so we’ll quickly return to the land of the living and my three favourite places.

In no particular order, the abbey and tiny village of Fore, beautifully nestled in a hidden Westmeath valley, is one of my special places. The very ancient abbey dates back in part to the sixth century where St Féichín assembled a brotherhood of learned men who worked tirelessly to spread the Christian gospel by word and written work.

Now, 1,500 years later, the community has done much to capitalise on the intrinsic beauty and peacefulness of this place. There’s a hard-surfaced walk, both uphill and down, that can be done in all weathers, with a different view each time.

I’ve been visiting Fore since childhood and I’ll never tire of it. You can also get coffee and cake in nearby Barrell and Bean.

Next place is Clonmacnoise, which by way of contrast is in the flat Shannon callows a few miles downstream of Athlone. It too is an ancient monastic site complete with two round towers.

A walk across the rising ground overlooking the Shannon and to the 12th century Nun’s church is a short pilgrimage, but one of great peace and beauty.

I’m drawn back time and time again, but it’s a good hour’s drive from home. Maybe therein lies its beauty and attraction for me. But the coffee shop is now closed.

Much nearer home is the Hill of Tara, a place of huge historical importance in pre-Christian times and since – perhaps culminating in Daniel O’Connell’s monster meeting in the 18th century. It too is a special spot but, in contrast to the previous two places, is always busy with tourists.

Earlier this year, I had an idea that I’d like to celebrate the first frosty morning of winter with a visit to Tara where, additionally, with a clear blue winter sky, the view would be amazing. As it happened, this was on Wednesday 19 November. This is a special day as on this morning 65 years ago I began the joy that is living and long may it remain so.

For me and Mrs P, no visit to Tara would be complete without a visit to Michael Slevin’s antiquarian bookshop. Michael is very well known to the horse fraternity, not least because for more years, up until recently, he had written a column in the Irish horse section of the Irish Farmers Journal

I would call Michael a friend but he’s much more than that. He’s a national treasure and extremely knowledgeable on both equine matters and Tara, having written many books on both.

Michael has inspired many a column of mine with recommended reading and I hope to carry on writing this column for at least half as long as Michael did his.

May I wish you a peaceful Christmas.