Go Ireland:School's out for summer. So why not take off for a day or two to celebrate? Sandra O'Connellpicks her 10 top spots to head for
Wide open Wexford
If the forecast is good, few places on earth are lovelier for a day out in the fresh air than JFK Arboretum, near New Ross.
Spreading over 250 hectares of parkland it has 4,500 types of trees and shrubs from all over the world, grouped by continent. That’s for the grown-ups.
For the kids there is a playground, a maze and a miniature train through the forest. There’s also a horse-drawn carriage to ferry legs too little to circumvent the park.
Make a break of it with a two-night family stay at the Maldron (maldronhotels.com) just outside Wexford town for €299 including one evening meal and vouchers for a nearby activity centre.
- JFK Arboretum, New Ross, Co Wexford, 051-388171, heritageireland.ie. Open 10am to 8pm, family ticket €8.
Killarney Lake breaks
For a quick burst of fun skip to Kerry’s premier tourist town where the resident funfair is back for the summer, illuminating the town centre by night and sending shrieks of delight out over the lake.
By day, slow things down with a picnic on said lake, with a visit to Killarney National Park. Boatmen will drop you on deserted Innisfallen island and come back for you when you’re finished.
Lazier still, get them to head straight across to Dinis Island and you won’t even have to pack a picnic. This island is deserted save for a tearoom full of freshly-baked cakes.
A three-night family stay at the nearby Brehon Hotel (the brehon.com) including BB for two adults and two children, with family ticket to Crag Caves and Muckross Traditional Farms, costs €579.
- Killarney National Park, Killarney town, Co Kerry, killarney nationalpark.ie, or contact National Parks Wildlife Service, 7 Ely Place Dublin 2, 01-8882000.
Miniatures at Malahide
For a great family day out, head for Malahide Castle near Dublin, whose demesne is one of the few surviving 18th-century landscaped parks.
Take a guided tour of the Talbot family seat or scoot around the Museum of Childhood, the centrepiece of which is Tara’s Palace, a scaled model of a typical Irish “great house”.
There are antique dolls, toys and other dolls houses, including one from 1700 and one from the family of Oscar Wilde.
There is also the Fry Model Railway, a 230sq m working miniature rail display from the 1920s including stations.
Back outdoors, the Talbot Botanic Gardens have several hectares of plants, a walled garden and seven glasshouses, including a Victorian conservatory. There’s a playground too, so everyone’s happy.
- Malahide Castle, Malahide, Co Dublin, 01-8462184, malahidecastle.com. Open 10am-5pm, family tickets to tour house €18.
Spooks in Wicklow
Into every garden a little rain must fall, so if you happen to be in the Garden County in inclement weather this summer, head indoors to Wicklow town’s Historic Gaol.
Thanks to frequent appearances on ghost-busting TV shows, the jail is almost as well known for its ghosts as it is for its history, which only adds to the excitement for older children.
Costumed staff mix with wax figures depicting early 18th-century prison life, bringing to life the true stories of former inmates. There are audio visual displays and a replica of a famine ship interior, as well as a coffee shop to ease you back to the present day.
If you fancy staying over, the centrally located Grand Hotel (grandhotel.ie) has rooms from €46.50 per person while Hunters Hotel (hunters.ie), in Rathnew, has BB for €95 per person.
- Wicklow's Historic Gaol, Kilmantin Hill, Wicklow town, 0404-61599, wicklowshistoric gaol.com. Open 10.30am-4.30pm, family ticket €19.
Splash out in Drogheda
In the admittedly inauspicious surroundings of an industrial estate on the outskirts of Drogheda, you’ll find one of the best family fun venues in the country. And it’s weather-proof to boot.
The Funtasia Water Park has 2,800sq m not so much of swimming pools as water gushing, inflatable floating, chute sliding, flume riding fun. It isn’t all watery fun, there’s an indoor climbing wall leading up to a roof filled with zip wires, hanging logs, swinging rungs and rope ladders. Nerves of steel only need apply.
If you fancy making an event of it, midweek self catering prices start at about €300 at Carlingford Accommodation (car lingfordaccommodation.com), which has atmospheric properties in the centre of historic Carlingford.
- Funtasia Waterpark, Unit 1, Donore Business Park, Donore Road, Drogheda, Co Louth, 041-9898000, funtasia.ie. Tickets from €11.
Brain teasers in Boyle
Lots of attractions say they have something for everyone, but Lough Key Forest Park really does.
The park itself is beautiful simply to walk through, while history buffs will enjoy the audio guide re-enactment of life in a “big house”. There’s a treetop canopy walk out over the forest and, down low, there’s a well equipped playground.
Best of all however, particularly if the weather’s bad, is the Boda Borg. An indoor activity, the Boda Borg comprises an endless series of rooms, each of which requires a puzzle to be solved, an obstacle to be traversed or a code to be cracked, before proceeding to the next.
Make a mistake or run out of time and you’re back out in the hallway starting all over again. It’s infuriating and exhilarating in equal parts. And it’s addictive.
- Lough Key Forest Activity Park, Rockingham, Boyle, Co Roscommon, 071-9673122, lough key.ie. An all-day pass for the Boda Borg costs €16.50. Family tent pitches cost €22.
Surf’s up in Sligo
If there is any pursuit that is more fun than learning to surf, we’ve yet to find it. Even surfing itself can’t be as much fun as figuring out how to stay on that wobbly board and knowing that you’re about to take a ducking trying.
Sligo has some of the best beaches in the country, not to mention waves. Take a family lesson with the Perfect Day Surf School in Strandhill, where classes sizes are limited and the pupil teacher ratio safely high, or book yourself into the Clarion Hotel in Sligo town for a surf and accommodation package.
- Surf lessons start at €30 at Perfect Day Surf School, Strandhill, 087-2029399, perfectday surfing.com. A surfing break at the Clarion Hotel, starts at €109pps midweek, including two nights BB and a two-hour surf lesson. Clarion Hotel, Clarion Road, Sligo, 071-9119000, clarionhotelsligo.com.
Killary capers
For more thrills per square metre than any other part of the country, Killary Harbour has become, in business parlance, an outdoor pursuits centre of excellence.
Stay at Delphi Mountain Resort and enjoy the spa facilities while the kids rough it up in the wild or, better still, join them. Or make the most of the giant swing and bungee jumping set at the Killary Adventure Company in Leenane.
Prices at Delphi start at €45 per half day for adults and €25 for kids. A family adventure package gets you a night’s BB in a family room, plus a half-day adventure for four for €199.
At Killary Adventure Company three nights’ B&B in a four bedroom dorm at its centre, K2, with two lunches, two dinners and two days of activities costs €550, plus €99 for each extra child.
- Delphi Mountain Resort, Leenane, Connemara, Co Galway, 095-42208, delphi mountainresort.com and Killary Adventure Company, Leenane, Co Galway, 095-43411, killary adventure.com.
Gravity in Gorey
The big new attraction in Courtown this year, as if there weren’t enough attractions, is Gravity, at the Forest Park centre.
Billed as having the largest adventure rope course in Ireland, it has a 13m high speed drop, a Jacob’s Ladder team challenge, a toppling crate-stacking challenge and one of the country’s longest – and fastest – zip lines.
In one event the whole family has to balance on a 30cm sq platform which would be hard enough if it weren’t on top of a 10m telegraph pole.
Back on terra firm, of sorts, the centre has a 25m swimming pool with 65m water slide.
To make a break of it, stay at Marlfield House (marlfield house.com) nearby. It has a three-night BB offering including two dinners and complimentary afternoon tea, available midweek, for €400 per adult with one child aged under 10 years staying free.
- Forest Park Leisure Centre, Courtown, Gorey, Co Wexford, 053-9424849, gravityforestpark.ie. Multi-activity tickets €20.
Get away to Galway
For generations of staycationers, summer has been synonymous with Salthill and ice creams on the promenade. Thanks to Leisureland, you don’t even need ice cream weather to enjoy it.
The centre has a 25m pool, a tots pool with pirate ship, a 65m waterslide and a terrific outdoor amusement which turn it into a version of Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens.
There’s a roller coaster, big wheel, miniature train, crazy golf and all sorts of waltzers and whirligigs to sicken and enthral in equal measure.
The Connemara Coast Hotel (connemaracoast.ie) has two-night midweek breaks in a family room for €180 per adult and €60 per child in July and August.
- Leisureland, Salthill, Galway, tel 091-521455, leisureland.ie. Family tickets€18.80.