Ireland Guide
Around Dublin: Wicklow, Kildare and Meath
The modern counties of Wicklow, Kildare and Meath equate roughly – Wicklow's wild mountains were always something of a no-man's-land – with the Pale, the fortified area around Dublin to which the English colonists retreated after 1300. The colonists coined the expression "beyond the pale" and implanted the language, customs and government of lowland England in these "obedient shires", leaving today's visitors a rich architectural legacy of castles, abbeys and, from a later period, stately homes. Wicklow, Kildare and Meath are much sought after by modern-day settlers, too: unable to afford Dublin's astronomical property prices, thousands of the capital's workers have recently set up home in the hinterland, making these counties the fastest-growing in the Republic in terms of population.
Highlights
1 Powerscourt Beautiful ornamental gardens and the highest waterfall in Ireland.
2 Walking in the Wicklow Mountains Wild and desolate terrain, traversed by the Wicklow Way, within easy reach of Dublin.
3 Glendalough Hidden deep in this remote valley lies one of the best-preserved and most spiritual monastic sites in the country.
4 The National Stud, Kildare town Learn all about one of Ireland's major industries at the national horse-breeding centre and enjoy the quirky gardens.
5 Castletown Just west of Dublin, a Palladian mansion of unrestrained extravagance.
6 Trim A historic town boasting the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland and other fine medieval remains.
7 Loughcrew Cairns These Neolithic mounds are slightly less impressive than Brú na Bóinne, but far less touristy and with great views.
8 Brú na Bóinne Don't miss the extraordinary prehistoric passage graves of Newgrange and Knowth.