Ireland 2006

Saturday, 26 August 2006 Transfer Dublin Airport to Merrion.

Sunday, 27 August 2006

Dublin Sights

Orientation tour of Dublin to Georgian Squares, St Patrick’s Cathedral, and Trinity College See St. Michan's church where George Frederic Handel's organ on which he first performed the Messiah is to be found.

Trinity	Jameson	St Patrick's

Lunch and sightseeing at the Old Jameson Distillery. 

Finish in Grafton Street (shopping area, though not all shops will be open on a Sunday) at circa 3.00 pm

Option 2  Walking tour of Historic Dublin - 3 hour walking tour of the city centre with top guide 

Historic Dublin

Option 3 Malahide Castle, Tara and Newgrange

Malahide	Newgrange	Tara

Malahide Castle is set on 250 acres of parkland in the pretty seaside town of Malahide. The Castle has been both a fortress and a family home for nearly eight hundred years. The house, which has been the home of the Talbot family from 1185 till 1973, is an interesting mix of architectural styles. Furnished with beautiful period furniture, it is home to an extensive collection of Irish paintings, mainly from the National Gallery, the family portraits in particular telling their own story of Irelands turbulent history.

Though best known as the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, the Hill of Tara has been an important site since the late Stone Age when a passage-tomb was constructed there. Tara was at the height of its power as a political and religious centre in the early centuries after Christ.

Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre interprets the Neolithic monuments of Newgrange, Knowth and Downth. The extensive exhibition includes a full scale replica of the chamber at Newgrange as well as fully model of one of the smaller tombs at Knowth.

Return to Dublin

Kilruddery	Powerscourt	Kilruddery

Monday, 28 August 2006

Visit to Kilruddery. Home to the Brabazon Family (the Earls of Meath) since 1618 Killruddery House is the most successful Elizabethan-Revival mansion in Ireland and also one of the earliest. In the 1820s the 10th Earl engaged the fashionable architects of the day - Richard Morrison and his son William - to remodel Killruddery. In the 1950s the house was greatly reduced to its present day proportions, but much of the Morrisons' design and architecture still remain. Killruddery is unique in having the most extensive early formal gardens, still in their original style, surviving in Ireland, largely laid out in the 17th century and added to in the 19th century. The gardens at Killruddery are the oldest in Ireland and are amongst the most important of their type. 

On to Powerscourt, which is one of the world's great gardens situated 20km south of Dublin in the foothills of the Wicklow mountains. The garden were begun by Richard Wingfield, Viscount Powerscourt, in the 1740s. The word garden belies the magnitude of this creation which stretches out over 20ha. It is a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statuary and ornamental lakes with secret hollows, rambling walks, walled gardens and over 200 variations of trees and shrubs. This is an extensive range of retail outlets located within the renovated Powerscourt House, offering the complete Avoca Handweavers range of clothing, knitwear, crafts, ceramics, jewellery and more. Lunch at leisure here in one of the restaurants.

Glendalough

On to Glendalough. Famed for its beautiful scenery and historic monuments, Glendalough has been a centre for pilgrims and visitors for the time of the founding of its monastery by Saint Kevin in the 6th century. The monastic settlement expanded and flourished for about 600years before finally being destroyed in 1398. The present remains tell only a small part of the monastic story. The buildings which survive probably date from between the 8th and 12th centuries, the most notable being a superb Round Tower, Cathedral, stone churches and decorated crosses. 

Return to Dublin

Optional – for any with Irish ancestors we can offer them the opportunity to discuss their family history with experienced genealogists in the National Library.