Throughout 2013, Ireland is opening its arms to hundreds of thousands of friends and family from all over the world, calling them home to gatherings in villages, towns and cities.

Communities throughout Ireland are showcasing the very best of Irish culture, tradition, business, sport, fighting spirit and the uniquely Irish sense of fun.

Over 70 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry. The Gathering Ireland 2013 provides the perfect excuse to reach out to those who have moved away, their relatives, friends and descendants, and invite them home.

The Gathering is the people’s party. It kicked off in spectacular style at the New Year’s Eve Festival in Dublin and is being celebrated through gatherings of the people and Ireland’s major festivals during 2013. So now it is over to you. It is in your hands. Be part of it.

Kildare Gatherings

Wicklow Gatherings

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The Gathering 2013

Throughout 2013, Ireland is opening its arms to hundreds of thousands of friends and family from all over the world, calling them home to gatherings in villages, towns and cities.

Communities throughout Ireland are showcasing the very best of Irish culture, tradition, business, sport, fighting spirit and the uniquely Irish sense of fun.

Over 70 million people worldwide claim Irish ancestry. The Gathering Ireland 2013 provides the perfect excuse to reach out to those who have moved away, their relatives, friends and descendants, and invite them home.

The Gathering is the people’s party. It kicked off in spectacular style at the New Year’s Eve Festival in Dublin and is being celebrated through gatherings of the people and Ireland’s major festivals during 2013. So now it is over to you. It is in your hands. Be part of it.

Kildare Gatherings

Wicklow Gatherings

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The Grand tour is the classic driving route of Kildare Wicklow taking in the finest attractions and significant discovery points that these counties combine to offer – its Ireland in a nutshell.  And because there is so much to do and see the Grand Tour also offers a series of Themed Driving routes, designed to suit all tastes and that can be mixed and matched for those who fancy something a little more tailored.  However you use it, the idea is to make it easy and ensure you don’t miss the very best sights, sounds and attractions of some of Ireland’s East Coast located on Dublin’s doorstep.

The driving routes have been developed so that a visitor can easily navigate through the areas sampling activities and attractions along or close to the route.

Click to download Brief Introduction >>

Click to download trade Manual >>

Click to download Kildare Wicklow – A Guide To Our Brand>>

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Tee Off at Powerscourt

Offer Valid: Until 31st December 2012
Price: from €270 per couple sharing

Combine a relaxing stay at the Ritz Carlton, Powerscourt with a challenging round of golf at Powerscourt Golf Club.

Details:
*Overnight accommodation for 2 people sharing
*Full Irish breakfast in the restaurant
*One round of golf per guest at Powerscourt Golf Club
*Complimentary golf club hire at time of booking, subject to availability
*Serive of 3D Concierge

Tel.: 00353 1 2749710

More Details/How to Book: visit www.ritzcarlton.com/Powerscourt

Powerscourt Garden & Waterfall can be found on the following routes:

• Grand Tour
• Coastal Views
• Great Houses
• Wilds of Wicklow

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Offer Valid: Until 31st December 2012
Price: Boat Tour – €10 per adult, €5 per child.
Special Family rates – 2 adults & 2 children €25 for one hour cruise.

Join us aboard the Riverboat ‘Zingara’ and tour Blessington Lake.

Details
Guided tour of the Blessington Lakes with commentary on local history. Usually one hour tour but longer available by prior arrangement. Also Picnic Cruises. You can also hire boats from us for your own use for rowing or with engine.

Tel. 00353 87 3552403

More Details/How to book: Visit www.blessingtonlakeboathire.com

Blessington Lakes can be found on the following routes:

• Grand Tour
• Coastal Views
• Country Gardens
• Pilgrims, Saints & Scholars
• Wilds of Wicklow

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Grand Tour

Approximate Distance: 201.3 miles / 324km

It’s Ireland in a nutshell.

Picture it. Just you, the open road, and a classic touring route that sweeps from the wilds of Wicklow to the horse-peppered plains of Kildare.

The Grand Tour is the quintessential circuit of Kildare and Wicklow, taking in the most spectacular scenery, the most beautiful big houses and gardens and the most intriguing Early Christian heritage sites… in a route as suited to a short visit as a long, leisurely meander.

Historically, the ‘Grand Tour’ was a European sojourn undertaken by young aristocrats, a rite of passage soaking up the continental highlights. Kildare Wicklow recaptures that, offering a complete Irish experience within a short drive of Dublin.

Roam from St. Kevin’s sixth century monastic settlement at Glendalough to great mansions like Russborough and Carton House. Stop to smell the flowers in ravishing Irish gardens, savour warm village welcomes, or soak up epic scenery ranging from grassy plains, glacial lakes and wild mountain passes to a surprising eastern coastline.

Along with the hotspots you’ll find plenty of hidden gems: a Givenchy dress worn by Princess Grace at the Newbridge Museum of Style Icons; a submerged townland beneath the Blessington Lakes, a fairy bower at Lullymore, at the heart of the Bog of Allen. Get ready for an unforgettable adventure right on Dublin’s doorstep.

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Maps

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Coastal Views

Approximate Distance: 79 miles / 126km

Like coastal views? Then you’ll love this scenic driving route.

Kicking off in Bray, where a Victorian promenade connects with a stunning cliff walk, it proceeds through Wicklow, throwing up mile after mile of remarkably underrated eastern coastline.

Within a short distance of Dublin, you’ll pass the 18th century Wicklow lighthouse on its headland perch. You can explore (and even surf) hidden beaches like Mahermore. You can break out the picnic blanket on sandy, family-friendly strips like Brittas Bay.

If you want a sense of life in the Irish Sea, pop into the National Sealife Aquarium in Bray. Or what about a visit to the Maritime Museum in Arklow, followed by a stroll on the beach or jetty?

Of course, driving along the coastline isn’t your only route to stunning sea views. Returning north through the Wicklow Mountains, you’ll ascend to some mouth-watering vistas over the Irish Sea. Climb the Great Sugar Loaf, and you might even see Snowdonia in Wales.

Every great driving route also needs its pit-stops, and this one is no different. From snap-fresh seafood in Greystones’ merry clutch of restaurants to fish n’ chips on the prom in Bray, or good old-fashioned Irish stews in Laragh, appetites will certainly be satisfied.

Maps

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Country Gardens

97 MILES/ 149 KM

Wicklow is known as Ireland’s Garden County. In Kildare, you’ll find a garden dedicated to St. Fiachra, the patron saint of gardeners. Little wonder this touring route blossoms.

You’ll find formal gardens surrounding stately homes, like those at Powerscourt House, where cascading terraces and Italianate formations were the work of Daniel Robertson. Robertson, said to have suffered from gout, directed operations from a wheelbarrow, fortified by a bottle of sherry. When the sherry was finished, work ceased for the day!

The Robinsonian gardens at Mount Usher strike a contrasting note to this elegant estate. Here, you’ll find rusty-red Japanese maple, Himalayan magnolia and a dainty Wedding Cake Tree amongst other exotic highlights appearing to grow naturally along the River Vartry’s banks.

Or take the Irish National Stud. Yes, the primary business here is bloodstock. But there are delicately manicured Japanese Gardens here too, created by the Japanese master horticulturist Tassa Eida. A century old, they are amongst the finest of their kind in Europe.

Fittingly, you’ll also find a garden dedicated to Saint Fiachra, patron saint of gardeners at the National Stud. Lakes, rocks and monastic beehive huts here echo the wild Irish landscape that unfolds as you drive from the Curragh Plains to the eastern seaboard.

Isn’t it time you took some gardening leave?

Maps

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They did things differently in 1903.

Back then, the speed limit in Ireland was 12mph, and the prospect of The Gordon Bennett Cup, for which daredevil motorists would race each other around a 104-mile circuit of Kildare, Laois and Carlow, was enough to bring half the country to a standstill.

A fully signed route makes it easy to retrace the route today and check out the Gordon Bennett display at the Athy Heritage Centre.  In Kildare, the course runs through Athy and on to Kilcullen, before crossing the plains of the Curragh into Kildare Town. St. Brigid’s Cathedral, the Irish National Stud and The Curragh itself are just some of the potential stops along the way.

Who was Gordon Bennett? The flamboyant son of a New York Media Baron, as it turns out. Bennett ended up in Europe after his playboy antics scandalized New York society. His passion for motor cars led him to sponsor the first-ever international motoring competition, which debuted in 1900, and arrived in Ireland three years later.

Back then, of course, racing cars were a tremendous novelty. Thousands of visitors came by boat to view the race, and an estimated 1,500 supporters brought their own vehicles, with the intention of touring the countryside themselves once the dashing drivers had finished.

Today, you can follow in their tyre tracks – at your own sweet pace.

Maps

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Great Houses

Approximate Distance: 74 miles / 118km

Stately houses and sweeping country estates are a dramatic – and often surprising – feature of the Irish landscape… and you’ll find the absolute highlights in Kildare Wicklow.

Think of Killruddery House & Gardens, Ireland’s finest Elizabethan Revival mansion and lately a location to movies like ‘Becoming Jane’ and ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’. Or what about the home of Charles Stewart Parnell at Avondale House, or the Robinsonian gardens at Mount Usher – recently voted favourite in Ireland by BBC Gardeners’ World magazine?

Kildare Wicklow also boasts four fabulous statements of Irish Palladian-style architecture. Powerscourt House, Russborough House, Carton House and Castletown House are all based on the classical temple architecture of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, an 18th century style whose elegance and symmetry reaches its highpoint on Dublin’s doorstep.

All are open to visit (check websites for times and seasons), revealing not just stunning interiors and formal gardens, but several surprises too. Carton House, built for the Earl of Kildare, is today a hotel. Russborough has some amazing artwork… and an absorbing maze. Powerscourt boasts tempting shopping and a terrace cafe, and Castletown even hosts concerts.

It’s not all grand estates, of course. Driving this route, you’ll also pass monastic marvels and landscape treats ranging from the Blessington Lakes to Brittas Bay.

Kildare Wicklow: it’s where history meets the here-and-now.

Maps

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