Cracking activities to have some fun this Easter
HOW did Easter egg hunts get so popular? Not so long ago, it seems, the Easter Bunny was content to stash a few Cadbury’s Creme Eggs among spring buds around the garden. Today, they’re multiplying like ... erm, bunnies. Here’s some of the best.
Airfield has just reopened after a €11m redevelopment. The reboot fulfils the vision of its former owners, the Overend sisters, who left Ireland’s largest urban farm to the State with a mission to reconnect people with food and the land it comes from. It’s got food gardens, a café, interactive heritage centre, play area and milking parlour. Visitors over Easter weekend can join an egg hunt and felt-making workshops with artist Joanna Kidney.
airfield.ie; €10/€5pp (family rates available).
The Girls’ Club Cork cancer support group has an Easter Egg Hunt planned at Ballincollig Regional Park from 2-5pm this Sunday. A bouncing castle, face painting and lots more surprises are planned, and the €5pp entry fee goes to a really great cause.
Meanwhile, the Irish Guide Dogs HQ is hosting an Easter egg hunt (€5) on Cork’s Model Farm Road. It runs from 12-2pm on Easter Monday, with lots of children’s entertainment to boot.
facebook.com/thegirlsclub.cork; guidedogs.ie.
It’s 1,000 years since Brian Boru banished the Vikings during the Battle of Clontarf. Anniversary celebrations see living history re-enactment in St Anne’s Park, the largest ever held in Ireland with 40,000 visitors expected to watch some 500 modern-day vikings on the rampage. The Dublin suburb isn’t the only Irish location with links to the famous king. Killaloe & Ballina were the seat of Brian Boru’s Kingship in Ireland (1001-1014AD), and Easter sees a Welcome to the Vikings Weekend (April 19-20) with events including a Guinness World Record attempt at hosting the most Vikings in one place (bring your costume and horns!).
A Brian Ború Easter Egg Hunt should slake that chocolate craving.
brianborumillennium.ie; discoverireland.ie.
Edward Cecil Guinness and Queen Elizabeth are among the famous faces to have stayed at Farmleigh, but this weekend, Bugsy the Rabbit is in residence. The house and gardens host a series of cracking events including a magic show and face painting, as well as an Easter Egg Quiz Hunt with Bugsy at 3pm.
farmleigh.ie; free.
Leahy’s has a monster egg hunt running this weekend, with the Easter Bunny dropping eggs continuously over Saturday, Sunday and Monday — so no matter what time you arrive there should be something to find. Another pet farm offering a little egg-stra this Easter is Stonehall in Kilcornan, Co Limerick. It invites children to search for chicks, which they can trade for Easter eggs.
leahysopenfarm.ie; €9pp stonehallvisitorfarm.ie; €8pp
Limerick’s Strand Hotel has a good deal this Easter, with two nights’ B&B, one dinner, kids’ check-in with an Easter egg and a day pass to Bunratty Castle Folk Park bundled together from just €115pp, with kids under 12 going free. Accommodation is in a family room (490 sq ft), and you’re close to the Milk Market, where a Mad Hatter Tea Party on Easter Sunday (11am-4pm) includes an egg hunt, face painters, DJs, and loads of games.
strandlimerick.ie; milkmarketlimerick.ie.
Sometimes, an egg just isn’t enough. If you’re looking for a real splash, check out the two-night Easter Break on offer at Hayfield Manor. The five-star Blue Book property has a chocolate and bubbles gift awaiting in your luxury bedroom on arrival, a four-course meal in Orchids or Perrott’s Garden Bistro, and there’s an Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning.
hayfieldmanor.ie; from €496 per room
