Wicklow Wexford & Waterford Ireland

Travel south of Dublin along the East Coast and you'll discover many wondrous sights and experiences.

For your first stop, you might want to consider Wicklow Mountains National Park. One of Ireland's Heritage Sites, it has varied forms of wildlife, from rare orchids to the Peregrine Falcon, and it has large areas of mountain blanket bogs. Thee are many garden sites, giving Wicklow County title of the Garden of Ireland. From there, make your way to Glendalough, just north of Wicklow town, where you'll find a monastic site founded in the 6th century. Further on to Kilmacurragh and you'll be at a splendid arboretum famous for conifers and calcifuges. Again, all of these are Irish Heritage Sites.

Wicklow Town itself is a lovely gem, perched on the coast overlooking a wide bay fringed by a piece of the coast. The town was settled in the 9th century by Vikings, and it has some interesting history to explore. Black Castle is just one such place. It was built in the 1170s by the Fitzgerald family, attacked on numerous occasions by local clans, and finally destroyed by fire in the late 1640s. The town has a great harbor, home to a sailing and yacht club. There is a hotel there and pubs and restaurants to visit.

Wicklow County, as with so much of the country, has an abundance of golf courses, including Druid's Glen Golf Club, which hosted four Irish Open tournaments, and Druids Heath Golf Course, described as Nature's Gift to Golf.

Continue your tour south, driving along the Coast for some spectacular scenery. You'll travel past Brittas Bay, to Arklow through Gorey to reach another Heritage Site, the 13th century Ferns Castle.

Into Wexford now, where they brag that they get more annual sunshine than any other county in Ireland. As you might expect, there are at least a dozen beautiful golf courses, many with spectacular ocean views. Fishing and horseback riding are very popular here, as well, and the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve is internationally famous for the waterfowl that winter there. Wexford Town, at the mouth of the River Slaney, was a Viking trading center where Anglo-Normans landed in 1169 to overtake and capture the town. To the south, Rosslare Harbour has regular ferry sailing services between Ireland and the United Kingdom and Mainland Europe.

Three miles from Wexford Town you will find the Irish National Heritage Park, where re-enactments of Celtic and Viking life take you through 9000 years of of Irish History. The Park features sites re-created from the beginning of Irish settlement during the Stone Age (around 7000 B.C.), the Bronze Age (2000 - 5000 B.C.), Celtic/Early Christian Age (500 B.C. - 1169 A.D.), and the early Norman Period (1169 - 1180). Visitors literally travel through time as they see each era recreated to reflect life at that time. It's an absolutely fascinating way to spend a couple of hours, and it's a must-see for anyone even remotely interested in Irish History.

Further south now, and west to Waterford, probably best known, at least outside of Ireland, for the exquisite cut crystal that bears its name. You can take a tour of the factory to get an idea of how this lovely glass is produced, and, of course, the opportunity to purchase your own piece of beauty. It comes as no surprise that Waterford is the Crystal County, but it would be a mistake to believe that glass is the only interest here.

On the way to Waterford City, you'll have the opportunity to stop to visit the JFK Arboretum, in New Ross, a Heritage Site that offers 4,500 types of trees and shrubs, 200 forest plots, rhoddodendrons and dwarf conifers. Waterford City itself was established in Viking times and so carries a medieval flavor, as well as its riverside vibrancy. The city was host to the Tall Ships Race in 2005. You'll find Reginald's Tower at the Quay in the city. A Heritage Site co-managed by the Waterford Corporation, it is a restored 13th century tower with a colorful history.

As you can see, a trip to the Southeast of Ireland offers much to see and do for a memorable vacation.