This is probably one of the more surprisingly under-visited sites in Ireland. A portal tomb or dolmen dating back to between 4,000 and 3,000 B.C., it has what is believed to be the largest capstone in Europe weighing over one hundred tonnes. Even though it’s as old as Stonehenge, there aren’t the crowds visiting it that throng to Stonehenge- and at Brownshill, you can actually walk over and touch the stones. It’s likely that religious rites and possibly a burial occurred at the Brownshill Dolmen, but as it’s never been excavated little information exists about the history and usage of the site. Situated on a small hill about 3km outside Carlow town on the Hacketstown Road (technically the R726, though no one will know it by the number) on the right-hand side if travelling from Carlow town, it’s well worth a visit.

The village is situated in the foothills of the Cooley mountains, where the lough after which it is named meets the sea. The meeting of mountain and sea not only sculpts a beautiful vista for scenery-junkies like myself – it also makes Carlingford one of the more fun places to go if you’re into adventure sports. The village boasts one of Ireland’s best adventure centres, and it caters for families, groups, and couples.

Foodwise, the narrow medieval streets are filled with nice little places to get food, and plenty of good pubs. Personally, I always stay, and eat, in the Village Hotel. It’s filled with character, and with characters.

All in all, this is a place steeped in history, and soaked with beauty. It’s ideal for a romantic weekend. It’s great for a few days team building. If you like hiking, you’ll be both challenged, and rewarded. If you like scenery, you’ll find little better. When you think of Ireland’s nicest places, Carlingford doesn’t jump out at you, I suspect. But go on, give it a go. You won’t be disappointed.

After the parade, of course, you’ll want to get out of town before it gets too messy – unless you plan on a slightly rowdy night yourself in crowded pubs. I noticed this year that the Viking Splash Tours were running on St. Patrick’s Day, and of course visits to Howth, Malahide, Dun Laoghaire or Dalkey are always a good idea and might be less hassle than hanging around town for the evening.

From the 2010 parade:

Watching the parade:

More photos of the 2010 parade here.

Jerpoint Abbey is a spectacular Cistercian abbey dating back to the 12th century, and a wonderful place to have a good wander around. Founded around 1158, the original settlement at the abbey was set up by the King of Ossory, Donal MacGillapatrick, for Benedictine monks. By 1180, the Benedictines had lost favour, and Cistercian monks were brought in from Baltinglass to take over the abbey. The church with its Romanesque details dates from this period. According to our guide, the Cistercians were essentially a breakaway group from the Benedictine monks who felt that the Benedictines had gotten a bit too materialistic and wanted to follow more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict, with self-sufficient settlements depending on agriculture, etc.

The Abbey tells a story of a community of people who, from humble beginnings (in accordance with their Cistercian beliefs) soon grew into a thriving, wealthy settlement that even had to have murder holes over the doorway of the main abbey to defend the settlement from intruders, and had a fresco (which would have been an expensive undertaking at the time) in the main part of the nave of the church (partially depicting benefactors), parts of which can still be seen today:

The central tower of the abbey was added in the 15th century. In 1228 there were 36 monks and 50 brothers in the abbey; by the time of the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540, the lease granted to the Earl of Ormond included 6,000 hectares of land belonging to the Abbey, watermills, cottages, weirs, fisheries and a castle.

Jerpoint Abbey is a gorgeous spot to visit, it must be said. There are fascinating medieval carvings on the restored cloister piers, a carving of no-longer-saint Christopher near the nave of the church, and a walk up wooden stairs that follow the same position as the night stairs of the abbey will bring you up to where the dormitories would have been where the monks slept. Today, it provides excellent views across the abbey and surrounding countryside.

Jerpoint Abbey is roughly 2.5km (about a mile and a half) south of Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, on the N9, and is accessible by car and coach (Bus Eireann actually has a bus that runs on Thursdays between Thomastown and Waterford, stopping at Jerpoint, and it appears a couple of buses between Dublin and Wexford/Waterford may also stop at Jerpoint, or of course there’s always the Dublin-Waterford route run by JJ Kavanagh buses, which appears to pass Jerpoint Abbey on the N9 (and would most likely stop there, if requested)). For the princely sum of €3, you can have a good wander around the Visitor Centre, and if you choose you can have a guided tour of the abbey (the guides are lovely- highly recommended!), or just have a good nosy around it yourself.

And no, the grave of Santa Claus is most likely not at Jerpoint Abbey. Our guide suggested that there was an infinitesimally small possibility that a relic might be at the nearby church at Newtown Jerpoint, but in addition to the extreme unlikelihood, apparently the farmer is not exactly tourist-friendly. Probably for the best – it got us to the abbey, and it was well worth the trip…

Opening Hours

Early March – 31 May: Daily 10.00 – 17.00
June – Mid Sept: Daily 10.00 – 18.00
Mid Sept – 31 Oct: Daily 10.00 – 17.00
Nov – Start Dec: Daily 10.00 – 16.00
Dec – Mar: Pre-booked tours only.

Closed for the Christmas period.

Admission Fees

Adult: €3.00
Sen/Group: €2.00
Child/Student: €1.00
Family: €8.00

Once a small fishing village near what is now the west pier, Dun Laoghaire (Dunleary in the 18th century and Kingstown between 1821 until renamed Dun Laoghaire in 1920) village as it is today was really begun in the 1820s after work commenced on the harbour in 1815. A previous small pier to service the local fishing fleet had been completed in 1757; the new harbour and pier was provided for in an Act of Parliament dated 20 June 1816, granting the project £505,000. In the 1820′s, the City of Dublin Steampacket Company, and the Government mail service both made Kingstown their Irish mail terminus. The opening of Ireland’s first railway linking Westland Row and Kingstown harbour ensured the growth of Kingstown as a social and commercial success, and the population of the village increased rapidly. The harbour itself encompasses some 251 statute acres, and today is home to six yacht clubs.

The west pier is less well-paved than the east, and tends to be less crowded, as more people head for the expanse of the well-paved east pier. There are some spectacular views of Howth and the Irish Sea, and there are plenty of benches on which to sit and watch the water, if one is so inclined. It’s also an excellent spot for bird-watchers, and there’s even helpful signage indicating what you might see around the pier.

The village itself, of course, has shops and cafes aplenty, and if you have a full day it’s also a short journey to nearby Dalkey (home of Dalkey Castle) and Killiney, which has a beautiful beach.

Further information on the history of Dun Laoghaire can be found at the Dun Laoghaire Harbour website or at dun-laoghaire.com.

Blennerville was once the port for the town of Tralee in the 19th century, and in addition to handling shipping requirements for the area (both import/export of goods and the emigration of people from 19th-century Tralee and its environs) this small village was where many ships were built over the years, including the tall ship the Jeanie Johnston. (Sidenote: when the replica famine ship was being built in Blennerville about 10 years ago, locals were taking bets as to how far out of Fenit she would get before she sank, given who from the locality was involved in the building. I’m pleased to note she still floats, and is currently docked in Dublin’s Docklands). If you visit the Blennerville Visitor Centre, just down a small road to the left of the light-yellow visitor centre building is the windmill, and a bit past it is the old limestone quay where scores of people left in the late 18th and early to mid-19th century in search of better lives elsewhere.

The Blennerville windmill was built c. 1800 by Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, when there were more than 100 windmills in Ireland. Nowadays, there are only 2 within the Republic – the windmill at the Visitor Centre in Blennerville, and one at Tacumshin, Co. Wexford, where according to the Wexford Partnership website “the key may be obtained in the nearby shop”. The windmill in Blennerville was a thriving concern in its day, with granaries and storehouses near its ideal location at the quay, and would have been used for grinding corn both for the local population and for export to Britain. After falling into disuse in the 1850s following the completion of the Tralee Ship Canal in 1846, it fell into disrepair until Tralee Urban Council purchased it in 1982 and began restoration of the structure in 1984. It’s now a beautiful reminder of Ireland’s industrial history and a spectacular location to visit, with views across Tralee Bay and the mountains of the Dingle Peninsula.

Across the River Lee is the Tralee Ship Canal, which runs from Tralee Bay in to the Marina at the edge of the town itself. On 15 February 1828, a petition was made on behalf of the gentry and merchants of Tralee to the House of Commons by Maurice Fitzgerald, the Knight of Kerry. This petition sought the sanction and aid of Parliament towards the completion of a ship canal from the town to the sea. A Bill was introduced, and was finally sanctioned by a local Act in June 1829, whereby funds were allowed to be raised, by taxation on local shipping, to build the canal. There were a number of local-politics problems with the building of the canal itself, and at one point work was stopped for several years due to a quarrel between some of the major players, but the canal was finally completed in 1846, running from about half a mile out past Blennerville in to the basin on the edge of the town at Princes Quay. In the early 1850s, proposals began to be put forward to build a railway line between Tralee and Dingle not far from the canal, and the Tralee and Dingle Light Railway was incorporated on 17 September 1888. A section of the railway has been restored, and despite difficulty with the restored steam engine, a diesel engine has apparently been sourced and the train runs between Blennerville and the AquaDome in Tralee.

The Ship Canal allowed ships of up to 300 tonnes to navigate up to the edge of the town at Princes Quay from its opening in 1846 until it fell into disuse in the 1930s due to silt buildup and the opening of the deepwater quay at Fenit. With the restoration project of the windmill at Blennerville, attention was given to the old ship canal and it was restored in the 1990s/early 2000s, with the lock restored and a swing bridge installed over the canal. There’s a lovely path along the north side of the canal with benches provided, and much of the land north of the canal is now a nature preserve, with a huge variety of birds.

My favourite walk that includes the Tralee Ship Canal and a visit to Blennerville starts from Tralee, near the Brandon Hotel. If you walk up from Princes Street along James Street and O’Rahillys Villas to Strand Road, a left followed by a right onto Spa Road will bring you out of town. Walking up Spa Road past Knockanacuig, you will soon be treated to wonderful views across the fields to Tralee Bay, with the white of the windmill beautiful against the backdrop of the Dingle Peninsula. A left along Cockleshell Road (which looks more of a one-lane track than a full road) will bring you down to Cockleshell Beach on Tralee Bay, with gorgeous views out to the Dingle Peninsula. It’s a quiet, rocky beach, and generally a very peaceful spot to spend some time. A short walk along Cockleshell Beach will bring you to the bay end of the ship canal; if you walk up along the canal you’ll shortly come to a bridge leading to the Tralee-Dingle Road, and the bridge across the estuary to Blennerville itself. Stop in to the Visitor Centre for a bite to eat if you’re peckish and a look around, then to the left as you’re facing the visitor centre is Windmill Lane, which will bring you to the 19th-century windmill and the older limestone quay, which is still in excellent condition. Returning across the bridges to the path along the canal, it’s a lovely walk into town with the nature preserve to your left, the canal to your right and often swans and all sorts of birds on the water.

View from Cockleshell beach:

Limestone quay at Blennerville:

Windmill and Visitor Centre:

Links:
blennervilleattractions.ie
Tralee and Dingle Light Railway info
Tralee blog
Tralee town.com site
Tralee.ie