There’s one month left in the school holidays which means there’s only one more chance for families to take advantage of the Office of Public Works (OPW) free admission day.
The government body has agreed to give free access on the first Wednesday of every month to most of the sites it manages. For a list of sites taking part in the free scheme, see heritageireland.ie. The offer is available for the rest of the year but most children will be back at school.
The OPW manages over 750 sites all over the country so there’s bound to be one next Wednesday that’d you’d like to visit. In Dublin the places worth visiting include the State apartments in Dublin Castle, the Casino at Marino and Kilmainham Gaol.
In Galway they include Athenry Castle and Patrick Pearse’s Cottage while in Kilkenny places of great interest and worth a lengthy visit include Jerpoint Abbey and Kilkenny Castle (pictured).
As the first week of August is very much high season the sites might be particularly busy and it’s also worth noting that some sites are accessed by guided tour only and tickets will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.