The Heritage Park

1798 NATIONAL VISITORS CENTRE
The National 1798 Visitor centre traces the Rebellion of 1798 in County Wexford together with events in Europe, the United States and Australia.  The Revolution Experience is a dramatic audio visual display using a curved screen to simulate the battle of Vinegar Hill and is the highlight of the show. Email: info@1798centre.ie

ROSSLARE BURROW:
You can walk or run from the Hotel to the Burrow and back by Rosslare Beach; it is a 9k trip.  It is a beautiful walk just at our doorstep. Enjoy a nice cup of coffee/tea with delicious cake on your return.

KILMORE QUAY MARITIME MUSEUM
The Maritime Museum is situated in Kilmore Quay, a fishing village 13 miles from Rosslare. The museum is housed on board the “Guillemot” – the last remaining complete lightship.

HOOK LIGHTHOUSE
Visit one of the oldest operational lighthouses globally – guided tours of the lighthouse, multi-lingual literature, café, craft shop and car parking available onsite.

JFK TRUST DUNBRODY SHIP
Dunbrody, a full-scale reproduction ship of the famine, is docked at the quay in New Ross, County Wexford. Board the authentic replica of the Three Masked Barque built in 1845 and walk in the footsteps of famine emigrants on their journey of hope across the Atlantic. Visitors centre audio-visual tour. Open: Times vary. Tel: (051) 425239  www.dunbrody.com Email: info@dunbrody.com

JOHN F. KENNEDY ARBORETUM
It includes 200 forest plots, a visitor centre, signposted walks and a picnic area. A pony and trap transport system and miniature railway operate during the season, and the café and shop are open from May to September.

IRISH NATIONAL HERITAGE PARK

The Irish National Heritage Park depicts many settlements in Ireland from 7000BC to the arrival of the Normans in the 12th century. Stroll through the park with its homesteads, places of ritual, burial modes and long-forgotten remains. Your senses come alive with sights and sound stretching back almost 9,000 years. Restaurant, Craft Shop, Audio Visual and Guided Tours. Open: May – Aug 9.30am – 6.30pm/ Sept – Apr 9.30am – 5.30 pm Tel:053 9120733 Email: info@inhp.com www.inhp.co

JOHNSTON CASTLE GARDENS & THE IRISH AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM

Eight miles from Rosslare, Johnstown Castle has fifty acres of garden around castellated mansions and three ornamental lakes. The Irish Agricultural Museum is within the grounds of the castle. The award-winning museum has 25,000 sq. feet of displays on agriculture, rural transport, country furniture, etc. Open: Daily 9.00am – 4.00pm Tel: 0539171247 Email: info@irishagrimuseum.ie

LOFTUS HALL

Loftus Hall is reported to be the most haunted house in Ireland. Take our guided tour of the ground floor: hear the history and Legend of Loftus Hall! They offer guided house tours and have a café, gift shop, walled gardens, bike hire, a courtyard, and private beach, along with ample parking, toilet facilities, free wifi, & is fully accessible for wheelchairs. Our spooky interactive ground floor tours are informative, entertaining and often chilling. Family-friendly day-time, adult only Saturday night-time, and extra scary Halloween themed tours (available during the Halloween period) are available. See our website www.loftushall.ie for opening dates/ times/ prices/ on-line bookings & much more. Please note Loftus Hall is a haunted house, and we can not take any responsibility for any distress caused!

KENNEDY HOMESTEAD

The original homestead and farmyard of J.F. Kennedy’s great-grandfather and famous for President Kennedy’s visit in July 1963. Audio visual display and unique Collection of JFK’s memorabilia. While on holiday at Kelly’s Resort Hotel, an enjoyable part of your stay can be a visit to many interesting and beautiful places found in the surrounding areas of Wexford Town.

KILMOKEA GARDENS

Kilmokea Gardens are beautifully laid out around a pretty Georgian house overlooking the River Barrow. Topiary, lawns, herbaceous and mixed plantings combined with architectural features and ornaments provide an enchanting series of enclosures. A large water garden extends into woodland planted with rare and tender trees and shrubs. There is also a large organic fruit and vegetable garden amidst a box hedge maze. Opened from 17th March – 10.00 am to 5 pm daily. info@kilmokeagardens.com 

 

WEXFORD WILDFOWL RESERVE

Convenient to Wexford Town, this is an excellent visitor centre with a video history of the reserve, and splendid views of the wildlife can be seen from the observation tower. The Wexford Slobs are internationally famous for wild geese that spend the winter months. The visitor centre has many interesting exhibitions and an Audio-visual show titled “Greenland Goose” – Winter Visitor”. Guided tour on request. Tel: 0539123406 • www.wexfordwildfowlreserve.ie

 

NATIONAL OPERA HOUSE WEXFORD

The National Opera House is a specifically commissioned state-of-the-art opera house and home to the world-famous Wexford Festival Opera. The Opera Festival has been running since 1951, playing a central role in the cultural life of Ireland, in the world of Opera and Arts internationally. From small and humble beginnings, it has achieved worldwide success and critical acclaim by demonstrating passion, innovation and a willingness to lead audiences and artists into neglected territories to explore the rich vein of operatic work worldwide. It is just a 20-minute drive from the Europort at Rosslare Harbour and is well signposted from the Rosslare. www.wexfordopera.com

OUR LADY’S ISLAND

Our Lady’s Island is an ancient place of pilgrimage in the southeast corner of Ireland in the diocese of Ferns. One famous pagan shrine, possibly a temple to the sun, stood at Carnsore Point, where a natural stone structure believed to have been a Druid’s altar. In penal times this was used as a Mass Rock. In a list of Irish place-names published in iis-leabha, i na Gaeilge, the Irish name for Our Lady’s Island is Cluain-na-mBan – ‘the meadow of the women’. Considering that this locality was the centre of druidical worship, it would not be far-fetched to suggest that Female druids in pre- Christian times inhabited our Lady’s Island. This place of pilgrimage dates from the Third Crusade, over 8oo years ago. Visit the remains of the Augustinian Church of St. Mary or the parish Church (1867) that showcases the work of Pugin and Ashlin. On this renowned sedimentary lagoon, you can spot breeding terns and black-healed gulls. Winter visitors include whooper swans, light-bellied Brent geese, wigeons, gadwall, and more. Rare plants include cottonweed, lesser centaury, foxtail, stonewort and ’lagoon specialists’ invertebrates.

 

SALTEE ISLANDS

If you are interested in ’getting back to nature, this is a most interesting and exciting trip, a famous Sea-Bird sanctuary. Take an hour’s trip around the islands or spend four to five hours on the Island, providing a pleasant break to relax and enjoy the only large sea-bird colony in the South East of Ireland. Tel: (053) 9237596  www.salteeislands.com