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Odds n' Ends..! |
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County Wicklow is what Ireland is all about - The snow covered Wicklow mountains bisect the county down the middle, and it has wild glens and
forests covered in heather, deep rugged Loughs, beautiful beaches, rolling lush green countryside and stately old houses and mansions, and
is only a half hour or so drive from Dublin. This is very much the local Dubliners playground with great pubs and restaurants, outdoor
adventures ranging from rock climbing to canoeing, white water rafting to orienteering, and a lovely coastline from the Victorian resort
towns of Bray and Greystones down to picturesque Arklow founded in the 10th century.
Click on the headings to find out more:
Powerscourt estate in County Wicklow, a short drive along the N11 south of Dublin, is a wonder to behold. The magnificent stately home there, an
18th Century Palladian mansion, is being slowly restored after burning down in 1974, but the estate's enormous gardens at the base of Great
Sugar Loaf Mountain are fabulous - the finest in Ireland - and a must on any itinerary. A team of 100 Irish workmen toiled for 12 years to
create the Italian Garden alone - and it is just one of several gardens. Triton Lake is graced by a fountain modelled on a 17th century
original in Rome by Bernini. Scenes in Stanley Kubrick's movie Barry Lyndon and John Boorman's Excalibur were filmed here, as was the
1943 movie version of Shakespeare's Henry V, starring Sir Laurence Olivier.
Enjoy a good walk? The Wicklow Mountains are a great place for it and The Wicklow Way is renowned. If you're really fit, try climbing
Lugnaquilla, Wicklow's highest peak.
Glendalough (not far from Dublin) is a fabulously atmospheric ancient monastery, founded by St Kevin in the 6th century and built on the
wooded slopes of a valley with two lakes. Attractions include the round tower, Priest's House, St Kevin's Cross and St Kevin's Bed. Forget
any notion of a four-poster bed - St Kevin's Bed is just a rocky ledge carved into the side of a cliff. That's a saint for you!
Huntington Castle, movie fans might remember this castle, with its famous lime tree avenue was used by Stanley Kubrick for the setting of his
film Barry Lyndon. Also interestingly enough, this castle is reputed to be the most haunted building in Ireland, with over 10 resident ghosts.
This of course puts a whole new spin on the phase that it has a `lived-in' feel, despite a truly magnificent abandoned decrepitude derived in
no small part from the often overwhelming assortment of human derived debris left by many previous generations. The castle has an abundance
of stories about it, and Alexander Durdin-Robertson, whose ancestors built the castle supplies a great story telling tour! Located at the
junction of the Derry and Slaney rivers, the castle was of great strategic importance from the early 17th century when it was built. - It
was still in the thick of things until the early 20th century, when the IRA used it as their local headquarters.
Russborough House is an 18th century Palladian house where the world-famous Beit Art Collection is located, with paintings by Gainsborough,
Vernet, Rubens, Guardi, Bellotto, and Reynolds. The house is superbly furnished with antique European `objet d' art', beautiful tapestries,
and fine Francini plasterwork. Sadly and obviously enough Russborough House has had three high profile art thefts since 1974, with the most
recent a robbery in June 2001 that took about three minutes in total, with the discerning thieves pinching a Gainsborough and a Bellotto, worth
together over �3.81 million, ($3.45 US million). On an upbeat note however, most of the stolen artwork from the other two previous raids were
eventually recovered.
The Vale of Avoca is where the Avonmore and Avonbeg rivers meet immortalized in the poem by Thomas Moore "The Meeting of the Waters". Its
truly superb scenery around here and you can see why poets such as Thomas Moore and William Wordsworth were potty about it. Nearby is the
famous Motte stone, a huge granite boulder left over from glacial erosion perched on top of the 800 foot high Croneblane Ridge. Great for
taking photographs for the sweeping vistas of the surrounding countryside seen from up here.
The biggest attraction in the area however is man made. Seen around the world, and filmed on location at the nearby town of Avoca, "Ballykissangel",
is a long running and much loved BBC produced TV serial drama set in the 1950s/early 60s about a local policeman in a small village. Although
the series is now currently no longer in production (they tried to kill off Star Trek too in the 60s!) Avoca now attracts tens of thousands of
visitors a year wanting to visit the home of Ballykissangel. - When you pop in don't forget of course to visit Fitzgerald's Pub also made
famous by the series. Even without the series hype, it's a lovely friendly little pub with great food. Also in Avoca (and worth visiting
just for this) is the Avoca Handweaver Mill, the oldest mill in Ireland, which produces beautiful Avoca weave rugs.
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