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Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow

Rathdrum is an attractive village that is pitched high on the western side of the beautiful Avonmore valley in County Wicklow. Rathdrum is served by mainline train and bus from Dublin and Rosslare.

It offers the tourist majestic views of the River Avonmore, which flows through the Vale of Clara. The town has fine shops, crafts, restaurants and evening entertainment and is the film location of films like “Michael Collins”, “A Love Divided” and “Durango” shot here. Rathdrum is an ideal base for exploring Wicklow by car, bike, horse or best of all, on foot. Right in the heart of Wicklow’s mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers and lakes, the whole area is an activity paradise.

Rathdrum was the birthplace of Charles Stewart Parnell, one of the greatest political leaders of modern Irish history. Visitors are introduced to Avondale House by way of a video presentation of the life of Parnell, which is followed by a stroll around this historic house. The house is set amongst the Avondale Forest, which is excellent for both picnics and walking. In the town there is the Parnell National Memorial Park.

Rathdrum is an ideal location for hill walkling, cycling, canoeing and touring.

West of Rathdrum lies the scenic valley of Glenmalure, the longest glacier valley in either Ireland or Britain. Shadowed by the mighty Lugnaquilla (927m) its inhospitable terrain provided safe haven for rebels like Fiach McHugh O’Byrne who in 1580 defeated 800 English soldiers in the Battle of Glenmalure. Now a walkers paradise it is situated on the famous Wicklow Way Walk.

Gardens

Powerscourt Gardens

Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow

Justly famous for the glory of its setting and the grandeur of its scale, Powerscourt is Ireland’s most visited garden. Parts of the plan date back to the 1740s when Richard Cassel, also architect of Leinster House, designed a series of ter ...

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Golf

Powerscourt Golf Club

Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow
Course Type: Parkland

Just half an hour south of Dublin, set in breath taking surroundings of one of the finest estates in Europe, in the county known as the Garden of Ireland, Powerscourt is one of Ireland’s premier golfing centres. Comprising of 36 extremely c ...

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Self Catering

Avon Ri Blessington Resort

Blessington, Co. Wicklow

For centuries, the hill where Avon Rí is now located looked out over a valley created by the Liffey and King's River. Avon Rí has taken its name from the latter and now looks out of the Blessington Lakes – a reservoir created ...

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What's On

BrookLodge Farmers Market - County Wicklow

Brooklodge Farmers Market

BrookLodge Hotel, Macreddin village, County Wicklow

Organic food markets, held on the first Sunday of the month, noon-5pm (April - October).

M ...

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Tourist Attractions

Dwyer McAllister Cottage

Donard, Co. Wicklow

Dwyer McAllister Cottage is is a cottage dedicated to the memory of Michael Dwyer, a celebrated 1798 leader. The cottage nestles in the shade of Kaedeen mountain at the top of a grassy lane off the Donard to Rathdangan road and it was here in win ...

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Wedding Venues

Roundwood Inn

Roundwood, Co. Wicklow

Jurgen and Aine Schwalm’s 17th century inn in the highest village in the Wicklow Hills has a style that is all its own, and a dedicated band of followers who love everything about it: the public bar with its own snug and open fire, the stur ...

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