50 free days out this summer
Also known as The Druid’s Altar and located outside Rosscarbery in Co Cork, it overlooks a panorama of land and sea and features a prehistoric kitchen with a ‘fulacht fiadhh’ or stone cooking place, and the ruins of two huts.
www.megalithicireland.com
The remains of a Stone Age landscape of stone-walled fields, houses and megalithic tombs dating from nearly 6,000 years ago.
Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month, as this is one of the several Office of Public Works-managed Heritage Sites around the country. For more information see www.heritageireland.ie A full list of OPW sites free to the public on these Wednesdays is on www.heritageireland.ie
This medieval fortified castle boasts a square keep, high walls, moat, and Great Hall with 13th century windows.
Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month.
www.heritageireland.ie
Drive to the picturesque Co Kerry Island of Valentia or motor through windswept Co Mayo island of Achill, with its megalithic tombs and promontory forts dating back 5,000 years.
Visit www.valentiaisland.ie ; www.achilltourism.com or www.discoverireland.ie/Ireland-s-Islands
Just a few miles from Union Hall feature crafted fairy houses located in some of the trees by the paths along the water’s edge.
The fairies’ Tipperary cousins have moved in at the Templemore Park in Templemore - little houses and doors can be spotted tucked away in some of the ancient trees. Details: www.templemoreparkfairytrail.com
The famous Salthill Prom which runs along the sea from the edge of Galway city along Salthill.
Follow the local tradition of ‘kicking the wall’ across from the diving boards before enjoying a dip.
: This 5,000 year-old Stone Age monument in Co Meath’s Boyne Valley is older than Stonehenge or the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Access through the Brú na Boinne Visitor Centre. Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month.
www.newgrange.com
Visit Leinster House - free tours of Government buildings run Monday to Friday can be booked through your local TD’s office.
www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/visitsevents/visitleinsterhouse/ or email colm.orourke@oireachtas.ie or phone 01 618 3271/3781
The Gunpowder Mills are the largest industrial archaeological site in Ireland with more than 60 ruins, including 24 grinding mills for manufacturing gunpowder. The Regional Park offers a skate-park, outdoor gym equipment and some lovely river and canal walks.
www.ballincolligheritage.org/site_gunpowder_mills.htm
Workshops on everything from nature to history, heritage and arts and crafts at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre.
Suitable for six to 12-year-olds, they run from 11 am to noon. Materials provided, adult supervision necessary.
Call 01 6770095 or email phoenixparkvisitorcentre@opw.ie
The spectacular main reception rooms of Aras an Uachtaráin, are free to visit by guided tour on Saturdays.
Phone 01 6183066; oireachtas.ie/01 6770095 or visit www.president.ie/en/explore-visit/tours-visits
This ancient Christian site features the ruins of a cathedral, seven churches (10th -13th century), two round towers, three high crosses and the largest collection of Early Christian grave-slabs in Western Europe.
Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month.
www.heritageireland.ie
With 49 beaches, scenic Fenor Bog, the Comeragh Mountains and the finest example of a glacial lake in Europe, the Coumshingaun, what more could you ask for?
www.discoverwaterfordcity.ie
Visit your local urban park – check out Cork’s Fitzgerald’s Park with its Sky Garden, Pod, children’s playground, ponds, walks and Public Museum.
Dublin’s Phoenix Park in Dublin offers everything from from Aras an Uachtaráin to the Victorian People’s Flower Garden, orna mental lakes, children’s playground, woodland walks and picnic areas, while the People’s Park in Waterford has two playgrounds and a skate park as well as a bandstand.
www.phoenixpark.ie/about/ ; www.discoveringcork.ie/fitzgerald-park/ www.waterfordcity.ie/city/peoples-park.htm
Forget the rusting artefacts which comprised your childhood playgrounds – today’s amenities are colourful, well-designed and fun.
www.playinireland.ie/playgrounds/cocork.htm
For tips on top favourites visit : www.mykidstime.com/things-to-do/favourite-playgrounds-in-ireland/
The award-winning Country Life Museum at Castelebar Co Mayo is home to a Folklife Collection giving an authentic taste of how our ancestors lived.
www.museumsofmayo.com/country-life-museum.htm or www.museum.ie/en/list/calendar-of-events.aspx phone 094 031755
Formerly Kilbarry landfill, Waterford Nature Park offers 50 acres of walking trails, play equipment, exercise spaces, integrated wetlands, wildflower meadows and otters, a two-kilometre walkway and network of little paths.
www.waterfordnaturepark.ie/about/index.htm
Wildlife isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when you’re in town, but Birdwatch Ireland has plenty of suggestions – visit www.birdwatchireland.ie
If you’re in West Cork and interested in spotting more exotic species, check out the Jungle City trail in picturesque Clonakilty – elephants, tigers, crocodiles and orang-utans are on the prowl.
Explore the Burren in Co Clare through the Free Burren National Park Bus Service and a series of free guided walks which run until August.
The bus operates from the Information Pont in Corofin, providing hop-on, hop-off access to various sections of the National Park.
www.burrennationalpark.ie/visit.html
..and head to the park for a picnic and old-fashioned games like Tag, Bulldog, Freeze Tag, Rounders, Sticks, Balloon Sandwiches and Kick-The-Can.
www.fundays.ie/fun-at-home/ideas.asp
The Leaning Tower at Kilmacduagh Monastery features a round tower more than 30 metres tall – and very a noticeable lean!
visit www.megalithicireland.com/Kilmacduagh
Puppies, kittens, goats, cute pot-bellied black pigs, donkeys, ponies and rabbits, Limer
ick’s Field of Dreams Animal Sanctuary is a wonderful place to visit. For more information, visit hwww.limerickanimalwelfare.ie/
Saturdays until July between 12-1pm at the HUB, Limerick City Gallery of Art.
First come basis, materials provided, though children must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of the workshop.
http://gallery.limerick.ie/Events/Crafternoons.html
There’s nowhere nicer on a rainy Saturday afternoon than the library. Browse the bookshelves, sit in on a story-telling session, or log on to a PC for a child-friendly game.
Visit www.askaboutireland.ie/libraries
This commanding edifice was built in the 13th century on a site previously settled by the Vikings.
It has functioned as a military fortress, a prison, treasury, courts of law and the seat of English Administration in Ireland for 700 years. These days it hosts important State receptions and Presidential Inaugurations. Avail of free admission on the first Wednesday of every month.
www.dublincastle.ie
This panoramic walking loop, which begins at the entrance to Glenstal Woods in Murroe, Co Limerick, offers spectacular views of north Co Limerick and South Tipperary before descending into a flurry of scenic woodland and spectacular rhododendrons!
www.discoverireland.ie/Activities-Adventure/glenstal-woods-loop/74122
Four centuries of Irish history are in the collection gathered over a lifetime by Ballina Co Mayo businessman and history buff, the facility houses artefacts from some 400 years of Irish history.
www.clarkecollection.ie
A dip in the sea won’t cost you a cent.
From Curracloe In Wexford to Inchydoney in North Cork, Fanore Beach in County Clare to Kells in Caherciveen Co Kerry and Dublin’s 40-Foot, there’s a treasure chest of beautiful beaches all along the Irish coastline. www.discoverireland.ie/beaches?gclid
A hidden gem is Ardgillan Castle and Demesne in Balbriggan. Admission to the Cromwellian Plantation and Hutton Coach Transport exhibitions is free, and there’s a state-of-the-art playground. www.ardgillancastle.ie
Also known as St. Patrick’s Rock or Cashel of the Kings, this is one old boulder - long before the Norman invasion The Rock of Cashel was the seat of the High Kings of Munster.
Gain free admission to this cultural jewel on the first Wednesday of every month.
www.cashel.ie/
Over two-thirds of Ireland’s wildflowers are located in the Burren – the founders of the Burren Perfumery use them plants to create their soaps, perfumes and body scrubs. Visit the workshop or stroll through the scented gardens. www.burrenperfumery.com
Eighty 80 acres of natural woodland and lakes - pack a picnic and pick up your complimentary park map. www.discoverypark.ie
Dominating the city since the early thirteenth century Kilkenny Castle was the principal Irish residence of the powerful Butler family for almost 600 years.
Gain free admission on the first Wednesday of every month www.kilkennycastle.ie
Enjoy a wild day out on what is fondly dubbed ‘Ireland’s Eden’. This unspoilt peninsula in West Cork is beloved by celebrities such as comedian Graham Norton, who owns a summer home there.
www.muintirbhairecc.com ; www.livingthesheepsheadway.com
Situated on the west shore of Bannow Bay in Co. Wexford, spectacular Tintern Abbey was once one of the most powerful Cistercian foundations in the South East. Well worth a visit. Free admission on the first Wednesday of every month. www.wexfordweb.com/tintern.htm
A place of tranquillity and pilgrimage since St Finbarr built his little monastery on the lake island in the 6th century, Gougane Barra is full of wildlife, and birds, and offers walking trails across a breath-taking landscape of mountain, forest and lakeshore www.gouganebarra.com
At The National Gallery’s eye-wateringly beautiful collection of classical and modern art and its collection of Celtic and medieval treasures including the Tara Brooch and the Ardagh Chalice.
www.nationalgallery.ie
Take a ramble along the one-kilometre walk to the Poolbeg Lighthouse. Stroll by the South Wall stretching into Dublin Bay – unbeatable at sunset on a warm summer’s evening.
Rich in history and archaeology as well as boasting beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife, this eye-catching valley is home to one of Ireland’s most important monastic sites. Go on the first Wednesday of the month and get in free. www.glendalough.ie
: Tipperary’s most scenic holiday destination offers loop walks, lake walks, unlimited trekking as well as cycling and fishing - if you’re a history buff, there are several holy wells worth checking out.
www.aherlow.com/walking/
We’ve got our own Hollywood, complete with giant sign in Co Wicklow.
Believed to have given its name to the California Hollywood, it’s been the set for several blockbusters - “Dancing at Lughnasa” with Meryl Streep, or “Michael Collins” with Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts.
www.wicklowfilmcommission.com
This intensely atmospheric valley about five kilometres from the West Cork town of Skibbereen features a marine lake and is home to a rich variety of rare plants and animals.
www.skibbheritage.com/hyne.htm
The 26,000 acres which comprise Killarney National Park are an unforgettable combination of mountains, lakes, woods and waterfalls – not to mention red deer - offering wonderful walks and picnicking opportunities.
www.killarneynationalpark.ie
Achill Island The Achill Yawl, a traditional wooden sailing boat with a solid hull and a single mast, is unique to the island of Achill.
Races take place on weekends throughout summer as part of the Achill Yawl Festival (Cruinniú Bádóirí Acla) along Achill Sound,.
www.achilltourism.com or www.achillyawl.com/
Check out the ensembles sported by celebrities like Michael Jackson, or Marilyn Monroe in the Newbridge Museum of Style Icons at Newbridge Visitor Centre in Co Kildare, now rated as one of the top five free tourist attractions in Ireland.
Visit: www.newbridgesilverware.com
Dublin Glasnevin’s botanic gardens are free, as are its exhibitions and many kids’ activities.
Near the city centre, the Gardens are also a top scientific institution with the National Herbarium and several historic wrought-iron glasshouses
Details: www.botanicgardens.ie ; www.visit-belfast.com
Magnificent Emo Court was designed by the architect James Gandon in 1790 for the Earls of Portarlington.
Located in Emo, Co Laois, this fabulous mansion is surrounded by beautiful gardens and parkland laid out in the 18th Century.
Free admission on the first Wednesday of each month, Visit www.discoverireland.ie/Arts-Culture-Heritage/emo-court-house-gardens/1568
Grab the chance to listen to what could be the music industry’s next big name – for free. As the home of greats like U2 and Thin Lizzy, Dublin is world-famous for the buskers who perform at locations around the city.
This off-road, 42-km cycling trail links Westport to Achill Island, running along the Atlantic coast between Westport town and Achill Island, passing some dramatic mountain ranges and offering magnificent views of Clew Bay.
Visit www.greenway.ie
Upstream from Galway’s Salmon Weir Bridge, the river cascades down the great weir, one of its final descents before reaching Galway Bay. This weir controls the water levels above it so grab the chance to see the salmon waiting for their chance to jump before swimming upriver to spawn.
Most of the fish pass through the weir during May and June – so keep a weather eye out this month…
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