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Last Updated
03/10/2005
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SIGHTSEEING IN IRELAND
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As you may have
seen from movies, pictures, and TV, Ireland is a beautiful place to
visit. Besides having some of the most lavish natural sights and
rolling green hillsides, it is also rich in history and culture with
plenty of interesting relics to visit. Here we have listed some of
our favorite locations near Bray and in Dublin as well as some sights to
see in the rest of the 24 counties of the Republic of Ireland. For
some tips on travel around Ireland and some notable things to be careful
of...please go here. BRAY
AND COUNTY WICKLOW Bray
is south of Dublin in the county of Wicklow. It is known as the
gateway to the garden of Ireland and is a seaside town with a mile of
beachfront. It is relatively small but it certainly is
self-contained and has plenty to offer. A few of the things we like
to do when we are there are:
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Drink -
Along the Bray seafront and on the Main street are several
well-established pubs and nightclubs. For a good-old
fashioned pub, you may like to grab a pint in either the Porterhouse,
Martello (on the seafront), Hollands or Duff's (Main
street). Or for late night drinking and like to hear some
of Europe's best pop music, Jim Doyles, the Porterhouse backbar,
and Koo, all on the seafront, are open to the wee hours.
Be warned that you should arrange for transportation early as there is
a mad dash for cabs after the clubs close!
-
Eat - For
being such a small town, Bray does offer some very nice eating establishments.
A few of our favorites include Sopranos (Main street, Italian), Vevay
Bistro (bistro-style, Vevay Rd.), Porterhouse (meat and potatoes
type of place, seafront), Jasmine House (Chinese, Main street)
(As a side note, the Chinese food in Ireland is the best in the
world...including China!), Barracuda (seafood and bistro-style,
seafront) and Escape (Unique Vegetarian with awesome desserts!,
seafront)
-
Shop - Bray
main street has several nice little mom and pop stores as well as few
other chain stores. For some of the best Irish jewelry and
crystal, Bannon's has a nice selection including the increasingly
popular History of Ireland jewelry collection. If you happen to
like some of the music you hear in Koo, you can pick it up at the
Golden Discs. 
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Nature walks -
A nice trip is to take a walk up Bray Head (right). For those of
you who have been to our house recently, we have a painting of Bray
Head done by a great local Bray artist. From the top of Bray
Head you can see some great views of Bray city as well as the sea
front. On a good day, you may be able to see all the way to
Wales, UK! It also makes for a great mountain biking or
jogging experience for those of you who may want to work off those
drinking calories during you stay!
-
Historical
sites - Right smack in the middle of Main street is Holy
Redeemer church with history dating back to 1792. And just
up from the church is the original town hall. Right now it is
currently a McDonald's but it still has the original structure
intact.
-
Dalkey - This
is the Beverly Hills of Ireland! Singers Bono from U2 and Enya
take up residence here and it used to be the home of writer James
Joyce. It is a quaint little town on the seafront between Bray and
Dublin City Center readily accessible by the DART just four stops away
from Bray as you can see on the Map
of Dalkey. It is also home to some of the finest restaurants
such as the Guinea Pig, Regazzi's, Monkberry's and the Queen's.
The Queen's restaurant is actually almost as old as the US of A!
You can also take a tour of Dalkey Castle and James Joyce's house is
nearby.
The rest of county
Wicklow also has a lot to offer. For a brochure on Wicklow, here is
the scanned version or
just contact us and we would be happy to send you a full color
copy. Here is another great brochure
full of more specific information. In addition, the Wicklow
County website also has a good fair bit of information. Some of
our favorite spots include:
-
Kilquade -
Besides being the town of the church we will be wedding, there is also
the National Garden Exhibition Centre nearby. See the center's website
for opening hours and tour times.
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Tinakilly
House- Of course as our guest, you will be going here but we still
need to mention it as one of our favorites!
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Glendalough - A
picture of Glendalough is at the top of the page and as you can see it
is a very scenic landscape. With rolling hills and a
glass lake in the valley, it makes for a great hike and sight seeing
trip. On the site of Glendalough are ruins from an ancient
village and church with graves dating back to the middle of the 1st millenium (I guess we are in the 3rd millenium now).
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Powerscourt -
This was our 2nd choice for our wedding as it is a gorgeous historic
home with a vast expanse of gardens. You can tour the house and
the gardens then have a gourmet lunch in the cafe' and if your wallet
can handle it, then there are some great shops on the premises with
everything from Irish wool, to linens, to garden fixtures.
Everytime we go there, we end up buying something! And if you
must bring back Irish souveniers, this is one of the best places to
get them. It is much better than the shops in Dublin.
-
Roundwood -
This makes for a great driving tour as the name suggests, by going
round and round up into the countryside.
DUBLIN
Dublin of course is
the only major city of Ireland with a population of almost 3
million. With being one of Europe's oldest cities, it of
course has a plenty of historical locations, but it also has a modern
flair about it as being one of the hottest places to party.
Europeans frequently make Dublin their spot for fun weekend getaways and
bachelor or bachelorette parties. A scanned
version of the Dublin tourism brochure can be found here to help you
plan your travel. These maps (City
East and City
West) also help locate the hot spots. A few of our favorite
spots are:
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Guinness Hop
Store - The birthplace of the notoriously famous beer! You can
see the history of the beer, have a look into the production process
for you beer geeks, and of course, top it off with a pint right from
the source.
-
Jameson
Distillery - The birthplace of Jameson and Bushmill's whiskeys!
You get to see how it is made and best of all, you get to sample
almost all of their stock. Be sure to volunteer to taste the
rare stocks of whiskey they have!
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Temple Bar -
Just up from the Tara Street DART station (make sure you remember how
to get back to it as it will become very difficult after hitting
Temple bar) on the south side of the Liffey, this is a collection of
over 40 bars (and growing!) and pubs over about 8 city blocks.
It is the ultimate in Pub Crawling! Just be sure to arrange
transport beforehand as it becomes quite chaotic when the bars close!
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Trinity College
and the Book of Kells - For you religious history buffs, the original
Book of Kells is stored at the Trinity College library in
the heart of downtown Dublin. It makes for a deeply moving
experience to take the tour of the library and see the book.
-
Grafton Street
and Henry Street - These are the two main shopping streets in
Dublin. It often makes for a pretty chaotic experience as this
is pretty much the only shopping areas of the country but if you want
to get the latest European fashions, then this is the place.
There are also some nice restaurants near the street so that you won't
be for lack of energy while you shop til you drop!
-
St. Patrick's
Church (right) - One of Ireland's oldest churches which has welcomed
many of the world's religious leaders in its prominent history.
We highly recommend attending the full choral mass.
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Dublin Castle -
Another historical site which makes for a great tour.
-
The GPO
(General Post Office) - The site of the founding of the Republic of
Ireland in 1916 as the Irish Citizen Army seized the Post Office
from the British and Patrick Kearse read out the Proclamation of
Independence from the steps. A monumentous day indeed!
-
Botanical
Gardens and Phoenix Park Zoo - For the botanist or the zoologist in
you. The Botanic Gardens (right) are a beautiful collection of
some of the best gardens in all of the world. And while you are
there...you can make your way over to the zoo.
THE REST OF IRELAND
Take any of the N
roads (N7, N11, N3, etc) from Dublin and you will be taken to some of the
most gorgeous sites in the world. For ease, we have
grouped them here by direction from Dublin:
SOUTH - These
are the counties (besides Wicklow) of Waterford, Kilkenny and Carlow with
the N11 and the N9 being the main roads down there. This area is
home to some of the nicest beaches and camping areas (especially in
Kilkenny) such as the Wexford beach (picture at right). It is also home to
the Waterford
Crystal Visitor Center near Waterford city.
   SOUTHWEST
- These are the counties of Kerry and Cork with the
N7 being the main road to get you there. Most
of the movies that show
the Irish green hills take their footage from Kerry. The most famous
part of this area is the Ring of Kerry which is a path stretching through
all of Kerry's historic castles and breathtaking landscapes. To the
left and right, you will find examples of many of the spots on the
Ring. In addition to the ring is the Dingle penninsula which houses
many good fishing locations, nice beaches, and more awesome scenery.
In addition, you can go play hide and go seek with a curious
Dingle resident, Fungi the dolphin! County Cork seems to be where
most of the Irish immigrants to the US are from and as a result, there is
a Irish heritage center in the city of Cork in case you wish to seek your
Irish roots. And for mussel afectionados, Cork's renowned for
its mussels. There is a mussel festival in May every year but you
can always get a good mussel dish in Cork city.
CENTER- These
are the counties of Offaly, Westmeath, Kildare, and Roscommon with the N4
and N5 being the main roads to get you there. Here you will find
many of the religious sites and ancient relics. Clonmacnoise is site
founded by St. Kieran on the banks of the Shannon river with the ruins of
several ancient churches and a cathedral. Pope John Paul II visited
and blessed this site in 1979. You can also see a Stonehendge like
stone structure in Dromberg near to Clonmacnoise (see picture at
right).
WEST- These
are the counties of Clare, Galway, and Mayo accessible via the N4.
By far, one of the most spectular natural land formations in the world at
the Cliffs of Moher on the Clare coast (see picture at right). The
Cliffs are nearly a vertical drop 700 ft down to the ocean. At least
as late as 2000, you were able to walk right up to the edge and look
straight down off them to the water below. It is actually quite
scary! Then in Galway city, you can stay in a nice
oceanfront B&B and enjoy the fresh ocean air. Just as
Cork is known for its mussels, Galway is known for its oysters with a big
Oyster festival every September. Although you may not be  there
for it, there are plenty of nice restaurants in Galway to obtain a good
bit of oysters. Also in the West, they tend to actually speak Gaelic
in normal conversation. Maybe not so much in the city of Galway but
as you get to the outskirts. If you attend a mass there it will
definitely be in Gaelic. Other areas of interest are the Connemara
State Park where the Red Deer runs free and you can leanr all about
Ireland's large peat industry. Nearby is the Bendictine Convent
which is a beautiful mansion on a reflective lake (see picture at right).
Also along the way is the Birr Castle with its beautiful gardens (picture
at left). A must see!
   
NORTH- These
are the counties of Meath, Donegal, Cavan, and the Northern Ireland
counties accessible by the M1, N2, and N3. Of course this area
involves the controversial Belfast but you really should have no problem
going there. Just remember to bring your passport and you will be
fine. The north is home to some of the more peculiar land structures
such as the Giant Causeway (right) and the
white cliffs of Larrybane (left) in Northern Ireland's Antrim
county. You also can venture over the Rope Bridge also in
Antrim.  For
a taste of the way life used to be, you may want to wander into Donegal
where they keep to the old traditions and leader a gentler way of life.
The cliffs in Donegal are also quite spectacular and are definitely worth
the short drive up there (see picture at left). For something
closer to Dublin, Co. Meath has vast flat green fields dotted with ancient
ruins (see picture at right).
Well that is a
taste of what Ireland has to offer. This surely would be more than
enough for a 1 week trip! So you may have to stay a month!
Once you go to Ireland, we will fall in love with it and want to come back
again to experience everything it has to offer. To help you in your
journey, please make sure to check out the travel suggestions.
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