Let JJ Kavanagh & Sons make your Autumn Special!
Autumn is one of the most atmospheric seasons to visit Ireland: outdoor activities and incredible birdlife abound, local festivals and sporting events pack the calendar, and toe-tapping traditional music sessions in cosy pubs take place around crackling turf fires.
Ireland’s exceptional museums also make wonderful refuges from the elements. Best of all, as the leaves start to fall, so do accommodation prices!
Festivals
Kilkenny Arts Festival (5th – 14th August)
Kilkenny’s oldest and largest non-profit festival now draws more than 50,000 visitors annually who come and partake in all that Kilkenny has to offer. So come to Kilkenny, be part of the festival and experience the Arts in a way you will never forget!
Waterford Harvest Food Festival (9th – 11th September)
All roads lead to Waterford City in September for the fab foodie festival. The streets come alive with sights, smells and sounds of all things food and food related. The three-day Waterford Harvest Food Festival in, County Waterford includes food markets and open-air picnics.
Irish Craft Beer Festival (8th – 10th September)
Ireland’s largest craft beer festival is back with an exciting programme of events on the cards. There are Meet The Brewer sessions, panel discussions, live music and of course, delicious craft beer and food to make your mouth water.
Dublin Fringe Festival (10th – 25th September)
Wildly innovative performances take place during the two-week Fringe Festival, which is the precursor for the renowned 18-day Dublin Theatre Festival. A festival worth popping up to Dublin for!
Walking/Cycling
Glorious walking trails wend through the variegated fall landscape, from short walks to long-distance routes, and the weather can be surprisingly blue-skied, crisp and dry!
St Patrick’s Well in Clonmel were an underground stream bubbles through the limestone and forms a beautiful brook that flows serenely into the river Suir. The walk isn’t to long but the stillness of the place is beautiful and is something you have to witness to really enjoy.
Trail Kilkenny offers a range of Scenic Walks throughout the county. Each has its own character and the terrain will suit different fitness levels. Some; like the O’Gorman’s Lane Loop is a leisurely walk , taking you through leafy country lanes and across fields to the riverbank, others like Brandon Hill offer a more challenging walk up hillside paths to the top of the Hill with super views of the surrounding countryside.
Another way to explore a new City is to enjoy a fun and easy paced two hour guided cycling tour. Kilkenny Cycling Tours visit historical and cultural sites around Kilkenny including Kilkenny Castle, The Kilkenny Design Centre, Shee Alms House, The Tholsel, St. Mary’s Church and Rothe House & Gardens.
Family Activities
Sport also seizes the spotlight: crowds of over 80,000 cram Dublin’s Croke Park on the second and fourth Sundays of September for the finals of the hurling and Gaelic football championships respectively. Also, Croke Park has a Skyline Tour which is the best way for your family to see Dublin, from 17 storeys high on the roof of Ireland’s most famous sporting arena. The Etihad Skyline Rooftop Tour at Croke Park offers visitors unmatched panoramic city views and insights into Dublin’s celebrated landmarks combined with the thrill of walking on top of Europe’s third largest stadium.
On the way to Kilkenny or Clonmel it’s a lovely place that makes the perfect day out! Bring the kids, bring your friends, you’re in for a treat! Castlecomer Discovery Park is in a huge natural woodland over an old mine and you can still see tributes to the coal miners that spent hours underground; in fact there’s a brilliant exhibition that documents their work and lives you should definitely check out.
Other related post:
Take the bus to Croke Park for Hurling Semi – Final – Click here
